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sec  #10,932  V.2 
Charnock,  Stephen,  162  8- 

1680. 
Discourses  upon  the 

existence  and  attributes  of 


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omyr^^/r...L 


DISCOURSES 


UPON    THE 


EXISTENCE  AND  ATTRIBUTE 

OF    GOD.    (i%tPi9iv. 

y 

BY  STEPHEN  CHARNOCK,  B.D., 

,  FELLOW   OF    NEW    COLLEGE,    OXFORD. 


WITH    HIS   LIFE   AND   CHAHACTER^ 

BY  WILLIAM  SYMINGTON,  D.D. 


IN    TWO    VOLUMES. 

VOL.  II. 


NEW  YORK: 
ROBERT    CARTER    &    BROTHERS, 

No.    285    BROADWAY. 

1853. 


ST].;HKOTyf  ED    RY  ^^^■""~  ■' 

THOMAS  B.   SMITH,.  vnirrvFo  nr 

yi(i  William  St.  N.  Y.      '"  JOHN  A     GFiAY, 

87  Cliff  St. 


CONTENTS    OF    VOL.   II. 


DISCOUESE  X. 
/   / 

''  6,  ON  THE   POWER   OF   GOD. 

FAOB 

Job,  XXVI.  14. — Lo  !  these  are  parts  of  his  ways  :  but  how  Httle  a  portion  is  heard  of  ^ 

him  \  but  the  thuuder  of  his  power  who  can  understand  ? 5 


DISCOUESE  XI. 

ON   THE   HOLINESS   OF   GOD, 

Exodus,  xv.  1 1.— Who  is  like  unto  thee,  O  Lord,  among  the  gods  ?     Who  is  hke  thee, 
glorious  in  holiness,  fearful  in  praises,  doing  wonders  ? 108 


DISCOUESE  XII 

^/  7 


ON  THE   GOODNESS   OF   GOD. 


Mark,  x.  18. — And  Jesus  said  unto  him.  Why  callest  thou  me  good  ?  Ttiere  is  none 
good  but  one,  that  is,  God ♦. 209 


DISCOUESE  XIII.  ,  ,    .- 

ON  god's  dominion. 

Psalm,  cm.  1 9. — The  Lord  hath  prepared  his  throne  in  the  heavens  :  and  his  kingdom 
ruleth  over  all 356 


DISCOUESE  XIV. 

ON  GOD'S   PATIENCE. 

Namvm,  I.  3. — The  Lord  is  slow  to  anger,  and  great  in  power,  and  will  not  at  all 
acquit  the  wicked:  the  Lord  hath  his  way  in  the  whirlwiml  and  in  the  storm,  and 
till-  clouds  are  the  dust  of  his  feet 472 


Index ^-^ 

OF  Texts '^^^ 


DISCOURSE    X. 
ON    THE    POWER    OF    GOD. 


Job  xxvi.  14. — Lo  1  these  are  parts  of  his  vrays :    but  how  little  a  portion  is  hoard  of 
him  ?  but  the  thunder  of  his  jDower  who  can  understand  ? 

BiLDAD  had,  in  tlie  foregoing  chapter,  entertained  Job  with  a  dis- 
course of  the  dominion  and  power  of  God,  and  the  purity  of  his 
righteousness,  whence  he  argues  an  impossibihty  of  tlie  justification 
of  man  in  liis  presence,  who  is  no  better  than  a  worm.  Job,  in  this 
chapter,  acknowledges  the  greatness  of  God's  power,  and  descants 
more  largely  upon  it  than  Bildad  had  done  ;  but  doth  preface  it  with 
a  kind  of  ironical  speech,  as  if  he  had  not  acted  a  friendly  part,  or 
wSpake  little  to  the  purpose,  or  the  matter  in  hand:  the  subject  of 
Job's  discourse  was  the  worldly  happiness  of  the  wicked,  and  the 
calamities  of  the  godly :  and  Bildad  reads  him  a  lecture,  of  the  ex- 
tent of  God's  dominion,  the  number  of  his  armies,  and  the  unspotted 
rectitude  of  his  nature,  in  comparison  of  which  the  purest  creatures 
are  foul  and  crooked.  Job,  therefore,  from  yer.  1 — 4,  taxeth  him  in 
a  kind  of  scoffing  manner,  that  he  had  not  touched  the  point,  but 
rambled  from  the  subject  in  hand,  and  had  not  applied  a  salve  pro- 
jjer  to  this  sore  (ver.  2) :  "  How  hast  thou  helped  him  that  is  without 
power  ?  how  savest  thou  the  arm  of  him  that  hath  no  strength  ?"  &c. ; 
your  discourse  is  so  impertinent,  that  it  will  neither  strengthen  a 
weak  person,  nor  instruct  a  simple  one.""  But  since  Bildad  would 
take  up  the  argument  of  God's  power,  and  discourse  so  short  of  it, 
Job  would  show  that  he  wantect  not  his  instructions  in  that  kind, 
and  that  he  had  more  distinct  conceptions  of  it  than  his  antagonist 
had  uttered :  and  therefore  from  ver,  5  to  the  end  of  the  chapter,  he 
doth  magnificently  treat  of  the  power  of  God  in  several  branches. 
And  (ver.  5)  he  begins  with  the  lowest.  "  Dead  things  are  formed 
from  under  the  waters,  and  the  inhabitants  thereof:"  You  read  me 
a  lecture  of  the  power  of  God  in  the  heavenly  host :  indeed  it  is  visi- 
ble there,  yet  of  a  larger  extent ;  and  monuments  of  it  are  found  in 
the  lower  parts.  What  do  you  think  of  those  dead  things  under  the 
earth  and  waters,  of  the  corn  that  dies,  and  by  the  moistening  influ- 
ences of  the  clouds,  springs  up  again  with  a  numerous  progeny  and 
increase  for  the  nourishment  of  man  ?  What  do  you  think  of  those 
varieties  of  metals  and  minerals  conceived  in  the  bowels  of  the  earth ; 
those  pearls  and  riches  in  the  depths  of  the  waters,  midwifed  by  this 
power  of  God  ?     Add  to  these  those  more  prodigious  creatures  in  the 

"■  Munster. 


6  CHARNOCK   ON  THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

sea,  the  inlicabitants  of  the  waters,  Avith  their  vastness  and  variety, 
which  are  all  the  births  of  God's  power  ;  both  in  their  first  creation 
by  his  mighty  voice,  and  their  propagation  by  his  cherishing  provi- 
dence. Stop  not  here,  but  consider  also  that  his  power  extends  to 
hell ;  either  the  graves  the  repositories  of  all  the  crumbled  dust  that 
hath  yet  been  in  the  world  (for  so  hell  is  sometimes  taken  in  Scrip- 
ture: ver.  6,  "Hell  is  naked  before  him,  and  destruction  hath  no 
■".overing.")  The  several  lodgings  of  deceased  men  are  known  to 
liim  :  no  screen  can  obscure  them  from  his  sight,  nor  their  dissolu- 
tion be  any  bar  to  his  power,  when  the  time  is  come  to  compact 
those  mouldered  bodies  to  entertain  again  their  departed  souls,  either 
for  weal  or  woe.  The  grave,  or  hell,  the  place  of  punishment,  is 
naked  before  him ;  as  distinctly  discerned  by  him,  as  a  naked  body 
in  all  its  lineaments  by  us,  or  a  dissected  body  is  in  all  its  parts  by  a 
skilful  eye. 

Destruction  hath  no  covering;  none  can  free  himself  from  the 
power  of  his  hand.  Every  person  in  the  bowels  of  hell ;  every  per- 
son punished  there  is  known  to  him,  and  feels  the  power  of  his 
wrath.  From  the  lower  parts  of  the  world  he  ascends  to  the  con- 
sideration of  the  power  of  God  in  the  creation  of  heaven  and  earth ; 
"He  stretches  out  the  north  over  the  empty  places"  (ver.  7).  The 
north,  or  the  north  pole,  over  the  air,  which,  by  the  Greeks,  was 
called  void  or  empty,  because  of  the  tenuity  and  thinness  of  that 
element;  and  he  mentions  here  the  north,  or  north  pole,  for  the 
whole  heaven,  because  it  is  more  known  and  apparent  than  the 
southern  pole.  "  And  hangs  the  earth  upon  nothing :"  the  massy 
and  weighty  earth  hangs  like  a  thick  globe  in  the  midst  of  a  thin 
air,  that  there  is  as  much  air  on  the  one  side  of  it,  as  on  the  other, 
'i'he  heavens  have  no  prop  to  sustain  them  in  their  height,  and  the 
earth  hath  no  basis  to  supj^ort  it  in  its  place.  The  heavens  are  as  if 
you  saw  a  curtain  stretched  smooth  in  the  air  without  any  hand  to 
hold  it ;  and  the  earth  is  as  if  you  saw  a  ball  hanging  in  the  air  with- 
out any  solid  body  to  under-prop  it,  or  any  line  to  hinder  it  from 
falling ;  both  standing  monuments  of  the  omnipotence  of  God.  He 
then  takes  notice  of  his  daily  power  in  the  clouds  ;  "  He  binds  up 
the  waters  in  his  thick  clouds,  and  the  cloud  is  not  rent  under  them" 
(ver.  8).  He  compacts  the  waters  together  in  clouds,  and  keeps  them 
by  his  power  in  the  air  against  the  force  of  their  natural  gravity  and 
heaviness,  till  they  are  fit  to  flow  down  upon  the  earth,  and  perform 
his  pleasure  in  the  places  for  which  he  designs  them.  "  The  cloud 
is  not  rent  under  them ;"  the  thin  air  is  not  split  asunder  by  the 
weight  of  the  waters  contained  in  the  cloud  above  it.  He  causes 
them  to  distil  by  drops,  and  strains  them,  as  it  were,  through  a 
thin  lawn,  for  the  refreshment  of  the  earth ;  and  suffers  them  not 
to  fall  in  the  whole  lump,  with  a  violent  torrent,  to  waste  the 
industry  of  man,  and  bring  famine  upon  the  world,  by  destroy- 
ing the  fruits  of  the  earth.  What  a  wonder  it  would  be  to  see 
but  one  entire  drop  of  Avater  hang  itself  but  one  inch  above  the 
ground,  unless  it  be  a  bubble  which  is  preserved  by  the  air  en- 
closed within  it !  What  a  wonder  would  it  be  to  see  a  gallon 
of  water  contained  in   a   thin   cobweb  as  strongly  as  in  a  vessel 


ON  THE  POWER  OF  GOD.  7 

of  brass !  Greater  is  tlie  wonder  of  Divine  power  in  tliose  tliin 
bottles  of  heaven,  as  tbey  are  called  (Job  xxxviii.  37) ;  and  therefore 
called  his  clouds  here,  as  being  daily  instances  of  his  omnipotence : 
that  the  air  should  sustain  those  rolling  vessels,  as  it  should  seem, 
weightier  than  itself;  that  the  force  of  this  mass  of  waters  should 
not  break  so  thin  a  prison,  and  hasten  to  its  proper  place,  which  is 
below  the  air:  that  they  should  be  daily  confined  against  their 
natural  inclination,  and  held  by  so  slight  a  chain  ;  that  there  should 
be  such  a  gradual  and  successive  falling  of  them,  as  if  the  air  were 
pierced  with  holes  like  a  gardener's  watering-pot,  and  not  fall  in  one 
entire  body  to  drown  or  drench  some  parts  of  the  earth.  These  are 
hourly  miracles  of  Divine  power,  as  little  regarded  as  clearly  visible. 
He  proceeds  (ver.  9),  "  He  holds  back  the  face  of  his  throne,  and 
spreads  the  clouds  upon  it."  The  clouds  are  designed  as  curtains  to 
cover  the  heavens,  as  well  as  vessels  to  water  the  earth  (Ps.  cxlvii. 
8).  As  a  tapestry  curtain  between  the  heavens,  the  throne  of  God 
(isa.  Ixvi.  1),  and  the  earth  his  footstool :  the  heavens  are  called  his 
throne,  because  his  power  doth  most  shine  forth  there,  and  magnifi- 
cently declare  the  glory  of  God ;  and  the  clouds  are  as  a  screen  be- 
tween the  scorching  heat  of  the  sun,  and  the  tender  plants  of  the 
earth,  and  the  weak  bodies  of  men.  From  hence  he  descends  to  the 
sea,  and  considers  the  Divine  power  apparent  in  the  bounding  of  it 
(ver.  10) ;  "  He  hath  compassed  the  waters  with  bounds,  till  the  day 
and  ni^ht  come  to  an  end."  This  is  several  times  mentioned  in 
Scripture  as  a  signal  mark  of  Divine  strength  (Job  xxxviii.  8 ;  Pro  v. 
viii.  27).  He  hath  measured  a  place  for  the  sea,  and  struck  the  lim- 
its of  it  as  with  a  compass,  that  it  might  not  mount  above  the  sur- 
face of  the  land,  and  ruin  the  ends  of  the  earth's  creation ;  and  this, 
while  day  and  night  have  their  mutual  turns,  till  he  shall  make  an 
end  of  time  by  removing  the  measures  of  it.  The  bounds  of  the 
tumultuous  sea  are,  in  many  places,  as  weak  as  the  bottles  of  the 
upper  waters ;  the  one  is  contained  in  thin  air,  and  the  other  re- 
strained by  weak  sands,  in  many  places,  as  well  as  by  stubborn  rocks 
in  others ;  that,  though  it  swells,  foams,  roars,  and  the  waves,  en- 
couraged and  egged  on  by  strong  winds,  come  like  mountains  against 
the  shore ;  they  overflow  it  not,  but  humble  themselves  when  they 
come  near  to  those  sands,  which  are  set  as  their  lists  and  limits,  and 
retire  back  to  the  womb  that  brought  them  forth,  as  if  they  were 
ashamed  and  repented  of  their  proud  invasion :  or  else  it  may  be 
meant  of  the  tides  of  the  sea,  and  the  stated  time  God  hath  set  it  for  its 
ebbing  and  flowing,  till  night  and  day  come  to  an  end  ;«  both  that 
the  fluid  waters  should  contain  themselves  within  due  bounds,  and 
keep  their  perpetually  orderly  motion,  are  amazing  arguments  of 
Divine  power.  He  passes  on  to  the  consideration  of  the  commo- 
tions in  the  air  and  earth,  raised  and  stilled  by  the  power  of  God  ; 
"  The  pillars  of  heaven  tremble,  and  are  astonished  at  his  reproof" 
By  pillars  of  heaven  are  not  meant  angels,  as  some  think,  but  either 
the  air,  called  the  pillars  of  heaven  in  regard  of  place,  as  it  continues 
and  knits  together  the  parts  of  the  world,  as  pillars  do  the  upper 
and  nether  parts  of  a  building :  as  the  lowest  parts  of  the  earth  are 

'  Coccei  in  loc. 


8  CHARNOCK   ON   THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

called  the  foundations  of  tlie  earth,  so  the  lowest  parts  of  the 
heaven  may  be  called  the  pillars  of  heaven  :'  or  else  by  that  phrase 
may  be  meant  mountains,  which  seem,  at  a  distance,  to  touch  the 
sky,  as  pillars  do  the  top  of  a  structure  ;  and  so  it  may  be  spoken, 
according  to  vulgar  capacity,  which  imagines  the  heavens  to  be  sus- 
tained by  the  two  extreme  parts  of  the  earth,  as  a  convex  body,  or 
to  be  arched  by  pillars  ;  whence  the  Scripture,  according  to  common 
apprehensions,  mentions  the  ends  of  the  earth,  and  the  utmost  parts 
of  the  heavens,  though  they  have  properly  no  end,  as  being  round. 
The  power  of  God  is  seen  in  those  commotions  in  the  air  and  earth, 
by  thunders,  lightnings,  storms,  earthquakes,  which  rack  the  air, 
and  make  the  mountains  and  hills  tremble  as  servants  before  a  frown- 
ing and  rebuking  master.  And  as  he  makes  motions  in  the  earth 
and  air,  so  is  his  power  seen  in  their  influences  upon  the  sea  ;  "  He 
judges  the  sea  with  his  j)ower,  and  by  his  understanding  he  smites 
through  the  proud"  (ver.  12).  At  the  creation  he  put  the  waters 
into  several  channels,  and  caused  the  dry  land  to  appear  barefaced 
for  a  habitation  for  man  and  beasts  ;  or  rather,  he  splits  the  sea  by 
storms,  as  though  he  would  make  the  bottom  of  the  deep  visible, 
and  rakes  up  the  sands  to  the  surface  of  the  waters,  and  marshals 
the  waves  into  mountains  and  valleys.  After  that,  "  he  smites 
through  the  proud,"  that  is,  humbles  the  proud  waves,  and,  by 
allaying  the  storm,  reduceth  them  to  their  former  level :  the  power 
of  God  is  visible,  as  well  in  rebuking,  as  in  awakening  the  winds  ; 
he  makes  them  sensible  of  his  voice,  and,  according  to  his  pleasure, 
exasperates  or  calms  them.  The  "  striking  through  the  proud" 
here,  is  not,  probably,  meant  of  the  destruction  of  the  Egyptian 
army,  for  some  guess  that  Job  died  that  year,"  or  about  the  time  of 
the  Israelites  coming  out  of  Egypt ;  so  that  this  discourse  here, 
being  in  the  time  of  his  affliction,  could  not  point  at  that  which  was 
done  after  his  restoration  to  his  temporal  prosperity.  And  now,  at 
last,  he  sums  up  the  power  of  God,  in  the  chiefest  of  his  works 
above,  and  the  gTcatest  Avonder  of  his  works  below  (ver.  13) ;  "  By 
his  Spirit  he  hath  garnished  the  heavens  ;  his  hand  hath  formed  the 
crooked  serpent,"  &c.  The  greater  and  lesser  lights,  sun,  moon,  and 
stars,  the  ornaments  and  furniture  of  heaven  ;  and  the  whale,  a  pro- 
digious monument  of  God's  power,  often  mentioned  in  Scripture  to 
this  purpose,  and,  in  particular,  in  this  book  of  Job  (ch.  xli.) ;  and 
called  by  the  same  name  of  crooked  serpent  (Isa.  xxvii.  1),  where  it 
is  applied,  by  way  of  metaphor,  to  the  king  of  Assyria  or  Egypt,  or 
all  oppressors  of  the  church.  Various  interpretations  there  are  of 
this  crooked  serpent :  some  understanding  that  constellation  in 
heaven  which  astronomers  call  the  dragon  ;  some  that  combination 
of  weaker  stars,  which  they  call  the  galaxia,  which  winds  about  the 
heavens :  but  it  is  most  probable  that  Job,  drawing  near  to  a  con- 
clusion of  his  discourse,  joins  the  two  greatest  testimonies  of  God's 
power  in  the  world,  the  highest  heavens,  and  the  lowest  leviathan, 
which  is  here  called  a  bar  serpent, ^  in  regard  of  his  strength  and 
hardness,  as  mighty  men  are  called  bars  in  Scripture  (Jer.  li.  80) ; 
"Her  bars  are  broken  things."     And  in  regard  of  this  power  of  God 

*  Coccei.  "  Dnisius  «'n  loc.  "  As  the  worJ  signifies  iu  tbe  Hebrew. 


ON  THE   POWER   OF   GOD.  9 

in  tlie  creation  of  this  creature,  it  is  particularly  mentioned  in  the 
catalogue  of  God's  works  (Gen.  i.  21);  "And  God  created  great 
whales ;"  all  the  other  creatures  being  put  into  one  sum,  and  not 
particularly  expressed.  And  now  he  makes  use  of  this  lecture  in 
the  text,  "  Lo,  these  are  parts  of  his  ways  ;  but  how  little  a  portion 
is  heard  of  him  ?  but  the  thunder  of  his  power  who  can  understand?" 
This  is  but  a  small  landscape  of  some  of  his  works  of  power ;  the 
outsides  and  extremities  of  it ;  more  glorious  things  are  within  his 
palaces  :  though  those  things  argue  a  stupendous  power  of  the  Crea- 
tor, in  his  worJcs  of  creation  and  providence,  yet  they  are  nothing 
to  what  may  be  declared  of  his  power.  And  what  may  be  declared, 
is  nothing  to  what  may  be  conceived ;  and  what  may  be  conceived, 
is  nothing  to  what  is  above  the  conceptions  of  any  creature.  These 
are  but  little  crumbs  and  fragments  of  that  Infinite  Power,  which 
is,  in  his  nature,  like  a  drop  in  comparison  of  the  mighty  ocean  ;  a 
hiss  or  whisper  in  comparison  of  a  mighty  voice  of  thunder.y  This, 
which  I  have  spoken,  is  but  like  a  spark  to  the  fiery  region,  a  few 
lines,  by  the  by,  a  drop  of  speech. 

llie  thunder  of  his  power.  Some  understand  it  of  thunder  literally, 
for  material  thunder  in  the  air:  "  The  thunder  of  his  power,"  that 
is,  according  to  the  Hebrew  dialect,  "  his  powerful  thunder."  This 
is  not  the  sense ;  the  nature  of  thunder  in  the  air  doth  not  so  much 
exceed  the  capacity  of  human  understanding ;  it  is,  therefore,  rather 
to  be  understood  metaphorically,  "the  thunder  of  his  power,"  that 
is,  the  greatness  and  immensity  of  his  power,  manifested  in  the  mag- 
nificent miracles  of  nature,  in  the  consideration  whereof  men  are  as- 
tonished, as  if  they  had  heard  an  unusual  clap  of  thunder.  So 
thunder  is  used  (Job  xxxix.  25),  "  The  thunder  of  the  captains ;" 
that  is,  strength  and  force  of  the  captains  of  an  army  :  and  (ver.  19), 
God,  speaking  to  Job  of  a  horse,  saith,  "  Hast  thou  clothed  his  neck 
with  thunder  ?"  that  is,  strength  :  and  thunder  being  a  mark  of  the 
power  of  God,  some  of  the  heathen  have  called  God  by  the  name 
of  a  Thunderer. z  As  thunder  pierceth  the  lowest  places,  and  alters 
the  state  of  things,  so  doth  the  power  of  God  penetrate  into  all  things 
whatsoever ;  the  thunder  of  his  power,  that  is,  the  greatness  of  his 
power;  as  "the  strength  of  salvation"  (Ps.  xx.  6),  that  is,  a  mighty 
salvation. 

Who  can  understand?  Who  is  able  to  count  all  the  monuments 
of  his  power  ?  How  doth  this  little,  which  I  have  spoken  of,  exceed 
the  capacity  of  our  understanding,  and  is  rather  the  matter  of  oiu- 
astonishment,  than  the  object  of  our  comprehensive  knowledge. 
The  power  of  the  greatest  potentate,  or  the  mightiest  creature,  is  but 
of  small  extent :  none  but  have  their  limits ;  it  may  be  understood 
how  far  they  can  act,  in  what  sphere  their  activity  is  bounded  :  but 
when  I  have  spoken  all  of  Divine  power  that  I  can,  when  you  have 
thought  all  that  you  can  think  of  it,  your  souls  will  prompt  you  to 

y  Oecolamp. 

^  The  ancient  Gauls  worshipped  him  under  the  name  of  Taranis.  Tlie  Gi'ceks  e;illcd 
Jupiter  BQOvraioc,  and  Thor  ;  whence  our  Thurschxy  is  derived,  siguifieth  Thunderer,  a 
title  the  Germans  gave  their  God.  And  Toran,  in  the  British  Language,  signifies  thuu- 
der.     Yoss.  Idolo.  lib.  ii.  cap.  33.  Camb.  Britan.  p.  17. 


10  CHARNOCK  ON  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

conceive  sometliing  more  beyond  wliat  I  liave  spoken,  and  what  you 
have  thought.  His  power  shines  in  everything,  and  is  beyond  every- 
thing. There  is  infinitely  more  power  lodged  in  his  nature,  not  ex- 
pressed to  the  world.  The  understanding  of  men  and  angels,  cen- 
tred in  one  creature,  would  fall  short  of  the  perception  of  the 
inliniteness  of  it.  All  that  can  be  comprehended  of  it,  are  but  little 
fringes  of  it,  a  small  portion.  No  man  ever  discoursed,  or  can,  of 
God's  power,  according  to  the  magnificence  of  it.  No  creature  can 
conceive  it ;  God  himself  only  comprehends  it ;  God  himself  is  only 
able  to  express  it.  Man's  power  being  limited,  his  line  is  too  short 
to  measure  the  incomprehensible  omnipotence  of  God.  "  The  thun- 
der of  his  power  who  can  understand?"  that  is,  none  can.  The  text 
is  a  lofty  declaration  of  the  Divine  power,  with  a  particular  note  of 
attention,  Lo  !  I.  In  the  expressions  of  it,  in  the  works  of  creation 
and  providence,  Zo,  these  are  his  ways ;  ways  and  works  excelling 
any  created  strength,  referring  to  the  little  summary  of  them  he  had 
made  before.  II.  In  the  insufficiency  of  these  ways  to  measure  his 
power.  But  how  little  a  portion  is  heard  of  him.  III.  In  the  incom- 
prehensibleness  of  it.  The  thunder  of  his  power,  who  can  understand? 
Doctrine.  Infinite  and  incomjjrehensible  power  pertains  to  the  nature 
of  God,  and  is  expressed,  in  part,  in  his  works;  or,  though  there  be 
a  mighty  expression  of  Divine  power  in  his  works,  yet  an  incompre- 
hensible power  pertains  to  his  nature.  "  The  thunder  of  his  power, 
who  can  understand  ?" 

His  power  glitters  in  all  his  works,  as  well  as  his  wisdom  (Ps. 
Ixii.  11) :  "  Twice  have  I  heard  this,  that  power  belongs  unto  God." 
In  the  law  and  in  the  prophets,  say  some;  but  why  power  twice,  and 
not  mercy,  which  he  speaks  of  in  the  following  verse  ?  he  had  heard 
of  power  twice,  from  the  voice  of  creation,  and  from  the  voice  of 
government.  Mercy  was  heard  in  government  after  man's  fall,  not 
creation ;  innocent  man  was  an  object  of  God's  goodness,  not  of  his 
mercy,  till  he  made  himself  miserable ;  power  was  expressed  in  both ; 
or,  twice  have  I  heard  that  power  belongs  to  God,  that  is,  it  is  a  cer- 
tain and  undoubted  truth,  that  power  is  essential  to  the  Divine  nature. 
It  is  true,  mercy  is  essential,  justice  is  essential;  but  power  more  ap- 
parently essential,  because  no  acts  of  mercy,  or  justice,  or  wisdom, 
can  be  exercised  by  him  without  power ;  the  repetition  of  a  thing 
confirms  the  certainty  of  it.  Some  observe,  that  God  is  called  Al- 
mighty seventy  times  in  Scripture.^  Though  his  power  be  evident 
in  all  his  works,  yet  he  hath  a  power  beyond  the  expression  of  it  in 
his  works,  which,  as  it  is  the  glory  of  his  nature,  so  it  is  the  comfort 
of  a  believer.  To  which  purpose  the  apostle  expresseth  it  by  an  ex- 
cellent paraphrasis  for  the  honor  of  the  Divine  nature  (Eph.  iii,  20) : 
"  Now  unto  him  that  is  able  to  do  exceeding  abundantly  above  all 
that  we  can  ask  or  think,  unto  him  be  glory  in  the  churches."  We 
have  reason  to  acknowledge  him  Almighty,  who  hath  a  power  of 
acting  above  our  power  of  understanding.  Who  could  have  imag- 
ined such  a  powerful  operation  in  the  propagation  of  the  gospel,  and 
the  conversion  of  the  Gentiles,  which  the  apostle  seems  to  hint  at  in 
that  place  ?     His  power  is  expressed  by  "  horns  in  his  hands"  (Hub. 

•^  Lessius,  de  i'orfect.  Divin.  lib.  \.  cap.  1. 


ON   THE   POWER  OF   GOD.  H 

iii,  4) ;  because  all  the  works  of  his  hands  are  wrought  with  Almighty 
strength.  Power  is  also  used  as  a  name  of  God  (Mark.  xiv.  62 ) : 
"The  Son  of  Man  sitting  on  the  right  hand  of  power,"  that  is,  at  the 
riglit  hand  of  God;  God  and  power  are  so  inseparable,  that  they 
are  reciprocated.  As  his  essence  is  immense,  not  to  be  confined  in 
place ;  as  it  is  eternal,  not  to  be  measured  by  time ;  so  it  is  Almighty, 
not  to  be  limited  in  regard  of  action. 

1.  It  is  ingenuously  illustrated  by  some  by  a  unit  -j^  all  numbers  de- 
pend upon  it ;  it  makes  numbers  by  addition,  multiplies  them  unexpres- 
sibly ;  when  one  unit  is  removed  from  a  number,  how  vastly  doth  it 
diminish  it !  It  gives  perfection  to  all  other  numbers,  it  receives  per- 
fection from  none.  If  you  add  a  unit  before  100,  how  doth  it  mul- 
tiply it  to  1,100  !  If  you  set  a  unit  before  20,000,000,  it  presently 
makes  the  number  swell  up  to  120,000,000 ;  and  so  powerful  is  a 
unit,  by  adding  it  to  numbers,  that  it  will  infinitely  enlarge  them  to 
such  a  vastness,  that  shall  transcend  the  capacity  of  the  best  arithme- 
tician to  count  them.  By  such  a  meditation  as  this,  you  may  have 
some  prospect  of  the  power  of  that  God  who  is  only  unity ;  the  be- 
ginning of  all  things,  as  a  unit  is  the  beginning  of  all  numbers  ;  and 
can  perform  as  many  things  really,  as  a  unit  can  numerically ;  that 
is,  can  do  as  much  in  the  making  of  creatures,  as  a  unit  can  do  in 
the  multiplying  of  numbers.  The  omnipotence  of  God  was  scarce 
denied  by  any  heathen  that  did  not  deny  the  being  of  a  God ;  and 
that  was  Pliny,  and  that  upon  weak  arguments. 

2.  Indeed  we  cannot  have  a  conception  of  God,  if  we  conceive 
1dm  not  most  powerful,  as  well  as  most  wise;  he  is  not  a  God  that 
cannot  do  what  he  will,  and  perform  all  his  pleasure.  If  we  imag- 
ine him  restrained  in  his  power,  we  imagine  him  limited  in  his  es- 
sence ;  as  he  hath  an  infinite  knowledge  to  know  what  is  possible, 
he  cannot  be  without  an  infinite  power  to  do  what  is  possible ;  as  he 
hath  a  will  to  resolve  what  he  sees  good,  so  he  cannot  want  a  power 
to  effect  what  he  sees  good  to  decree ;  as  the  essence  of  a  creature 
cannot  be  conceived  without  that  activity  that  belongs  to  his  nature ; 
as  when  you  conceive  fire,  you  cannot  conceive  it  without  a  power 
of  burning  and  Avarming  ;  and  when  you  conceive  water,  you  cannot 
conceive  it  without  a  power  of  moistening  and  cleansing :  so  you 
cannot  conceive  an  infinite  essence  without  an  infinite  power  of  ac- 
tivity ;  and  therefore  a  heathen  could  say,  "  If  you  know  God,  you 
know  he  can  do  all  things ;"  and  therefore,  saith  Austin,  "  Give  me 
not  only  a  Christian,  but  a  Jew ;  not  only  a  Jew,  but  a  heathen,  that 
will  deny  God  to  be  Almighty."  A  Jew,  a  heathen,  may  deny 
Christ  to  be  omnipotent,  but  no  heathen  will  deny  God  to  be  omnip- 
otent, and  no  devil  will  deny  either  to  be  so  :  God  cannot  be  con- 
ceived without  some  power,  for  then  he  must  be  conceived  without 
action.  Whose,  then,  are  those  products  and  effects  of  power,  which 
are  visible  to  us  in  the  world  ?  to  whom  do  they  belong  ?  who  is  the 
Father  of  them  ?  God  cannot  be  conceived  without  a  power  suitable 
to  his  nature  and  essence.  If  Ave  imagine  him  to  be  of  an  infinite 
essence,  we  must  imagine  him  to  be  of  an  infinite  power  and 
strength. 

''  Fotherby,  Atheomastic,  pp.  306,  307. 


12  CHARNOCK  ON  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

In  particular,  I  sliall  sliow — I.  The  nature  of  God's  power.  II. 
Eeasons  to  prove  that  God  must  needs  be  powerful.  III.  How  his 
power  appears  in  creation,  in  government,  in  redemption.  lY.  The  Use. 

I.  What  this  power  is ;  or  the  nature  of  it. 

1,  Power  sometimes  signifies  authority  :  and  a  man  is  said  to  be 
mighty  and  powerful  in  regard  of  his  dominion,  and  the  right  he 
hath  to  command  multitudes  of  other  persons  to  take  his  part;  but 
power  taken  for  strength,  and  power  taken  for  authority,  are  distinct 
things,  and  may  be  separated  from  one  another.  Power  may  be 
without  authority ;  as  in  successful  invasions,  that  have  no  just  foun- 
dation. Authority  may  be  without  power ;  as  in  a  just  prince,  ex- 
pelled by  an  unjust  rebellion,  the  authority  resides  in  him,  though 
he  be  overpowered,  and  is  destitute  of  strength  to  support  and  exer- 
cise that  authority.  The  power  of  God  is  not  to  be  understood  of 
his  authority  and  dominion,  but  his  strength  to  act ;  and  the  word  in 
the  text  properly  signifies  strength. «= 

2.  This  power  is  divided  ordinarily  into  absolute  and  ordinate. 
Absolute,  is  that  power  whereby  God  is  able  to  do  that  which  he 
will  not  do,  but  is  possible  to  be  done ;  ordinate,  is  that  power 
whereby  God  doth  that  which  he  hath  decreed  to  do,  that  is,  which 
he  hath  ordained  or  appointed  to  be  exercised  ;'^  which  are  not  dis- 
tinct powers,  but  one  and  the  same  j)ower.  His  ordinate  power  is  a 
part  of  his  absolute  ;  for  if  he  had  not  a  power  to  do  every  thing  that 
he  could  will,  he  might  not  have  the  power  to  do  everything  that  he 
doth  will.  The  object  of  his  absolute  power  is  all  things  possi- 
ble ;  such  things  that  imply  not  a  contradiction,  such  that  aie  not 
repugnant  in  their  own  nature  to  be  done,  and  such  as  are  not  con- 
trary to  the  nature  and  perfections  of  God  to  be  done.  Those  things 
that  are  repugnant  in  their  own  nature  to  be  done  are  several,  as  to 
make  a  thing  which  is  past  not  to  be  past.  As,  for  example,  the 
world  is  created ;  God  could  have  chose  whether  he  would  create 
the  world,  and  after  it  is  created  he  hath  power  to  dissolve  it ;  but 
after  it  was  created,  and  when  it  is  dissolved,  it  will  be  eternally 
true,  that  the  world  was  created,  and  that  it  was  dissolved  ;  for  it  is 
impossible,  that  that  which  was  once  true,  should  ever  be  false :  if  it 
be  true  that  the  world  was  created,  it  will  forever  be  true  that  it  was 
created,  and  cannot  be  otherwise.  And  also,  if  it  be  once  true  that 
God  hath  decreed,  it  is  impossible  in  its  own  nature  to  be  true  that 
God  hath  not  decreed.  Some  things  are  repugnant  to  the  nature 
and  perfections  of  God ;  as  it  is  impossible  for  his  nature  to  die  and 
perish ;  impossible  for  him,  in  regard  of  truth,  to  lie  and  deceive. 
But  of  this  hereafter ;  only  at  present  to  understand  the  object  of 
God's  absolute  power  to  be  things  possible,  that  is,  possible  in  nature ; 
not  by  any  strength  in  themselves,  or  of  themselves ;  for  nothing 
hath  no  strength,  and  everything  is  nothing  before  it  comes  into 
being  -^^  so  God,  by  his  absolute  power,  might  have  prevented  the 
sin  of  the  fallen  angels,  and  so  have  preserved  them  in  their  first 
liabitation.  He  might,  by  his  absolute  power,  have  restrained  the 
^  Icvil  from  tempting  of  Eve,  or  restrained  her  and  Adam  from  swal- 

"  imTia  Sept.  odevoc.  ^  Sealiger,  Publ.  Exercit.  365,  §  8. 

«  Estius  iu  Sent.  lib.  i.  dist,  43.  8  2. 


ON  THE   POWER   OF   GOD.  13 

lowing  tlie  bait,  and  joining  hands  with  the  temptation.  By  his  alj- 
solute  power,  Grod  might  have  given  the  reins  to  Peter  to  betray  iiis 
blaster,  as  well  as  to  deny  him ;  and  employed  Judas  in  the  sanu 
glorious  and  suceessful  service,  wherein  he  employed  Paul.  By  Ins 
absolute  power,  he  might  have  created  the  world  millions  of  years 
before  he  did  create  it,  and  can  reduce  it  into  its  empty  nothing  this 
moment.  This  the  Baptist  affirms,  when  he  tells  us,  "  That  God  is 
able  of  these  stones  (meaning  the  stones  in  the  wilderness,  and  not 
the  people  which  came  out  to  him  out  of  Judea,  which  were  children 
of  Abraham)  to  raise  up  children  to  Abraham"  (Matt.  iii.  9) ;  that  is, 
there  is  a  possibility  of  such  a  thing  there  is  no  contradiction  in  it, 
but  that  God  is  able  to  do  it  if  he  please.  But  now  the  object  of  his 
ordinate  power,  is  all  things  ordained  by  him  to  be  done,  all  things 
decreed  by  him ;  and  because  of  the  Divine  ordination  of  things, 
this  power  is  called  ordinate  ;  and  what  is  thus  ordained  by  him  he 
cannot  but  do,  because  of  his  unchangeableness.  Both  those  powers 
are  expressed  (Matt.  xxvi.  53,  54),  "  My  Father  can  send  twelve 
legions  of  angels,"  there  is  his  absolute  power  ;  "  but  how  then  shall 
the  Scriptures  be  fulfilled,  that  thus  it  must  be  ?"  there  is  his  ordi- 
nate power.  As  his  power  is  free  from  any  act  of  his  will,  it  is  called 
absolute  ;  as  it  is  joined  with  an  act  of  his  will,  it  is  called  ordinate. 
His  absolute  power  is  necessary,  and  belongs  to  his  nature  ;  his  ordi- 
nate power  is  free,  and  belongs  to  his  will ; — a  power  guided  by  his 
will, — not,  as  I  said  before,  that  they  are  two  distinct  powers,  both 
belonging  to  his  nature,  but  the  latter  is  the  same  with  the  former, 
only  it  is  guided  by  his  wdll  and  wisdom. 

3.  It  follows,  then,  that  the  power  of  God  is  that  ability  and 
strength,  whereby  he  can  bring  to  pass  whatsoever  he  please  ;  what- 
soever his  infinite  wisdom  can  direct,  and  whatsoever  the  infinite 
purity  of  his  will  can  resolve.  Power,  in  the  primary  notion  of  it, 
doth  not  signify  an  act,  but  an  ability  to  bring  a  thing  into  act ;  it 
is  power,  as  able  to  act  before  it  doth  actually  produce  a  thing  :  as 
God  had  an  ability  to  create  before  he  did  create,  he  had  power  be- 
fore he  acted  that  power  without.  Power  notes  the  principle  of  the 
action,  and,  therefore,  is  greater  than  the  act  itself  Power  exercised 
and  diflused,  in  bringing  forth  and  nursing  in  its  particular  objects 
without,  is  inconceivably  less  than  that  strength  which  is  infinite  in 
himself,  the  same  with  his  essence,  and  is  indeed  himself:  by  his 
power  exercised  he  doth  whatsoever  he  actually  wills ;  but  by  the 
power  in  his  nature,  he  is  able  to  do  whatsoever  he  is  able  to  will. 
The  will  of  creatures  may  be,  and  is  more  extensive  than  their 
power ;  and  their  power  more  contracted  and  shortened  than  their 
will :  but,  as  the  prophet  saith,  "  His  counsel  shall  stand,  and  he 
will  do  all  his  pleasure"  (Isa.  xlvi.  10).  His  power  is  as  great  as  his 
will,  that  is,  whatsoever  can  fall  within  the  verge  of  his  will,  fulls 
within  the  compass  of  his  power.  Though  he  will  never  actually 
will  this  or  that,  yet  supposing  he  should  will  it,  he  is  able  to  per- 
form it :  so  that  you  must,  in  your  notion  of  Divine  power,  enlarge 
it  further  than  to  think  God  can  only  do  what  he  hath  resolved  to 
do ;  but  that  he  hath  as  infinite  a  capacity  of  power  to  act,  as  he  hath 
an  infinite  capacity  of  will  to  resolve.     Besides,  this  power  is  of  that 


14  CHAENOCK   ON   THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

nature,  that  lie  can  do  whatsoever  lie  pleases  without  difficulty,  with- 
out resistance  ;  it  cannot  be  checked,  restrained,  frustrated/  As  he 
can  do  all  things  possible  in  regard  of  the  object,  he  can  do  all  things 
easily  iu  regard  of  the  manner  of  acting :  what  in  human  artificers 
is  knowledge,  labor,  industry,  that  in  God  is  his  will ;  his  will  works 
without  labor  ;  his  works  stand  forth  as  he  wills  them.  Hands  and 
arms  are  ascribed  to  him  for  our  conceptions,  because  our  power  of 
acting  is  distinct  from  our  will ;  but  God's  power  of  acting  is  not 
really  distinct  from  his  will ;  it  is  sufficient  to  the  existence  of  a 
thing  that  God  wills  it  to  exist ;  he  can  act  what  he  will  only  by  his 
will,  without  any  instruments.  He  needs  no  matter  to  work  upon, 
because  he  can  make  something  from  nothing  ;  all  matter  owes  itself 
to  his  creative  power  :  he  needs  no  time  to  work  in,  for  he  can  make 
time  when  he  pleases  to  begin  to  work  :  he  needs  no  copy  to  work 
by  ;  himself  is  his  own  pattern  and  copy  in  his  works.  All  created 
agents  want  matter  to  work  upon,  instruments  to  work  with,  copies 
to  work  by ;  time  to  bring  either  the  births  of  their  minds,  or  the 
works  of  their  hands,  to  perfection :  but  the  power  of  God  needs 
none  of  these  things,  but  is  of  a  vast  and  incomprehensible  nature, 
beyond  all  these.  As  nothing  can  be  done  without  the  compass  of 
it,  so  itself  is  without  the  compass  of  every  created  understanding. 

4.  This  power  is  of  a  distinct  conception  from  the  wisdom  and 
will  of  God.  They  are  not  really  distinct,  but  according  to  our  con- 
ceptions. We  cannot  discourse  of  Divine  things,  without  observing 
some  proportion  of  them  with  human,  ascribing  unto  God  the  per- 
fections, sifted  from  the  imperfections  of  our  nature.  In  us  there 
are  three  orders — of  understanding,  will,  power ;  and,  accordingly, 
tliree  acts,  counsel,  resolution,  execution  ;  which,  though  they  are 
distinct  in  us,  are  not  really  distinct  in  God,  In  our  conceptions,  the 
apprehension  of  a  thing  belongs  to  the  understanding  of  God  ;  de- 
termination, to  the  will  of  God ;  direction,  to  the  wisdom  of  God ; 
execution,  to  the  power  of  God.  The  knowledge  of  God  regards  a 
thing  as  possible,  and  as  it  may  be  done ;  the  wisdom  of  God  re- 
gards a  thing  as  fit,  and  convenient  to  be  done  ;  the  will  of  God  re- 
solves that  it  shall  be  done  ;  the  power  of  God  is  the  application  of 
his  will  to  effect  what  it  hath  resolved.  Wisdom  is  a  fixing  the 
being  of  things,  the  measures  and  perfections  of  their  several  beings; 
power  is  a  conferring  those  perfections  and  beings  upon  them.  His 
power  is  his  ability  to  act,  and  his  wisdom  is  the  director  of  his  ac- 
tion :  his  will  orders,  his  wisdom  guides,  and  his  power  effects.  His 
will  as  the  spring,  and  his  power  as  the  worker,  are  expressed  (Ps. 
cxv.  3).  "  He  hath  done  whatsoever  he  pleased.  He  commanded, 
and  they  were  created"  (Ps.  cxl.  5)  ;  and  all  three  expressed  (Eph.  i. 
11),  "  Who  works  all  things  according  to  the  counsel  of  his  own 
will :"  so  that  the  power  of  God  is  a  perfection,  as  it  were,  subor- 
dinate to  his  understanding  and  will,  to  execute  the  results  of  his 
wisdom,  and  the  orders  of  his  will ;  to  his  wisdom  as  directing,  be- 
cause he  works  skilfully  ;  to  his  will  as  moving  and  applying,  be- 
cause he  works  voluntarily  and  freely.  The  exercise  of  his  power 
depends  upon  his  will :  his  will  is  the  supreme  cause  of  everything 

f  Cra.  Syutag.  lib.  iii.  cap.  17.  p.  611. 


ON   THE   POWER   OF   GOD,  15 

that  stands  up  in  time,  and  all  things  receive  a  being  as  he  wills 
them.  His  power  is  but  will  perpetually  working,  and  diifusino-  it- 
self  in  the  season  his  will  hath  fixed  from  eternity ;  it  is  his  eternal 
will  in  perpetual  and  successive  springs  and  streams  in  the  creatures; 
it  is  nothing  else  but  the  constant  efficacy  of  his  omnipotent  will. 
This  must  be  understood  of  his  ordinate  power ;  but  his  absolute 
power  is  larger  than  his  resolving  will :  for  though  the  Scripture 
tells  us,  "  He  hath  done  whatsoever  he  will,"  3^et  it  tells  us  not,  that 
he  hath  done  whatsoever  he  could :  he  can  do  things  that  he  will 
never  do.  Again,  his  power  is  distinguished  from  his  will  in  regard 
of  the  exercise  of  it,  which  is  after  the  act  of  his  will :  his  will  was 
conversant  about  objects,  when  his  power  was  not  exercised  about 
them.  Creatures  were  the  objects  of  his  will  from  eternity,  but  they 
were  not  from  eternity  the  effects  of  his  power.  His  purpose  to 
create  was  from  eternity,  but  the  execution  of  his  purpose  was  in 
time.  Now  this  execution  of  his  will  we  call  his  ordinate  power : 
his  wisdom  and  his  will  are  supposed  antecedent  to  his  power,  as  the 
counsel  and  resolve ;  as  the  cause  precedes  the  performance  of  the 
purpose  as  the  efiect.  Some  "  distinguish  his  power  from  his  under- 
standing and  will,  in  regard  that  his  understanding  and  will  are 
larger  than  his  absolute  power  ;  for  God  understands  sins,  and  wills 
to  ]3ermit  them,  but  he  cannot  himself  do  any  evil  or  unjust  action, 
nor  have  a  power  of  doing  it.  But  this  is  not  to  distinguish  that 
Divine  power,  but  impotence ;  for  to  be  unable  to  do  evil  is  the  per- 
fection of  power;  and  to  be  able  to  do  things  unjust  and  evil,  is  a 
weakness,  imperfection,  and  inability.  Man  indeed  wills  many  things 
that  he  is  not  able  to  perform,  and  understands  many  things  that  he 
is  not  able  to  effect ;  he  understands  much  of  the  creatures,  some- 
thing of  sun,  moon,  and  stars ;  he  can  conceive  many  suns,  many 
moons,  yet  is  not  able  to  create  the  least  atom :  but  there  is  nothing 
that  belongs  to  power  but  God  understands,  and  is  able  to  effect.  To 
sum  this  up,  the  will  of  God  is  the  root  of  all,  the  wisdom  of  God 
is  the  copy  of  all,  and  the  power  of  God  is  the  framer  of  all. 

5.  The  power  of  God  gives  activity  to  all  the  other  perfections 
of  his  nature,  and  is  of  a  larger  extent  and  efficacy,  in  regard 
of  its  objects,  than  some  perfections  of  his  nature.  1  put  them  both 
together. 

(1.)  It  contributes  life  and  activity  to  all  the  other  perfections  of 
his  nature.  How  vain  would  be  his  eternal  counsels,  if  power  did 
not  step  in  to  execute  them !  His  mercy  would  be  a  feeble  pity,  if 
he  were  destitute  of  power  to  relieve;  and  his  justice  a  slighted 
scarecrow,  without  power  to  punish ;  his  promises  an  empty  sound, 
without  power  to  accomplish  them.  As  holiness  is  the  beaut}^,  so 
jDOwer  is  the  life  of  all  his  attributes  in  their  exercise  ;  and  as  holi- 
ness, so  power,  is  an  adjunct  belonging  to  all,  a  term  that  may  be 
given  to  all.  God  hath  a  powerful  wisdom  to  attain  his  ends  with- 
out interruption  :  he  hath  a  powerful  mercy  to  remove  our  misery ; 
a  powerful  justice  to  lay  all  misery  upon  offenders :  he  hath  a  pow- 
erful truth  to  perform  his  promises ;  an  infinite  power  to  bestow  re- 
wards, and  inflict  penalties.     It  is  to  this  purpose  joower  is  first  put 

B  Gainaebeus. 


16  CHAENOCK   ON  THE  ATTEIBUTES. 

in  tlie  two  things  wliicli  tlie  Psalmist  had  heard  (Ps.  Ixii,  11,  12). 
"  Twice  have  I  heard,"  or  two  things  have  I  heard  ;  first  power,  then 
mercy  and  justice,  included  in  that  expression,  "  Thou  renderest  to 
every  man  according  to  his  work :"  in  every  perfection  of  God  ho 
heard  of  power.  This  is  the  arm,  the  hand  of  the  Deity,  which  all 
his  other  attributes  lay  hold  on,  when  they  would  appear  in  their 
glory ;  this  hands  them  to  the  world :  by  this  they  act,  in  this  they 
triumph.  Power  framed  every  stage  for  their  appearance  in  crea- 
tion, providence,  redemption. 

(2.)  It  is  of  a  larger  extent,  in  regard  of  its  objects,  than  some 
other  attributes.  Power  doth  not  alway  suppose  an  object,  but  con- 
stitutes an  object.  It  supposeth  an  object  in  the  act  of  preservation, 
but  it  makes  an  object  in  the  act  of  creation  ;  but  mercy  supposeth 
an  object  miserable,  yet  doth  not  make  it  so.  Justice  supposeth  an 
object  criminal,  but  doth  not  constitute  it  so  :  mercy  supposeth  him 
miserable,  to  relieve  him ;  justice  supposeth  him  criminal,  to  punish 
him :  but  power  supposeth  not  a  thing  in  real  existence,  but  as  pos- 
sible ;  or  rather,  it  is  from  power  that  any  thing  hath  a  possibility, 
if  there  be  no  repugnancy  in  the  nature  of  the  thing.  Again,  power 
extends  further  than  either  mercy  or  justice.  Mercy  hath  particu- 
lar objects,  which  justice  shall  not  at  last  be  willing  to  punish  ;  and 
justice  hath  particular  objects,  which  mercy  at  last  shall  not  be  will- 
ing to  refresh :  but  power  doth,  and  alway  will,  extend  to  the  ob- 
jects of  both  mercy  and  justice.  A  creature,  as  a  creature,  is 
neither  the  object  of  mercy  nor  justice,  nor  of  rewarding  goodness: 
a  creature,  as  innocent,  is  the  object  of  rewarding  goodness ;  a  crea- 
ture, as  miserable,  is  the  object  of  compassionate  mercy ;  a  creature, 
as  criminal,  is  the  object  of  revenging  justice :  but  all  of  them  the 
objects  of  power,  in  conjunction  with  those  attributes  of  goodness, 
merc}^,  and  justice,  to  which  they  belong.  All  the  objects  that 
mercy,  and  justice,  and  truth,  and  wisdom,  exercise  themselves 
about,  hath  a  possibility  and  an  actual  being  from  this  perfection  of 
Divine  power.  It  is  power  first  frames  a  creature  in  a  capacity  of 
nature  for  mercy  or  justice,  thougli  it  doth  not  give  an  immediate 
Cjualification  for  the  exercise  of  either.  Power  makes  man  a  ra- 
tional creature,  and  so  confers  upon  him  a  nature  mutable,  which 
may  be  miserable  by  its  own  fault,  and  punishable  by  God's  justice; 
or  pitiable  by  God's  compassion,  and  relievable  by  God's  mercy : 
but  it  doth  not  make  him  sinful,  whereby  he  becomes  miserable  and 
punishable.  Again,  power  runs  through  all  the  degrees  of  the 
states  of  a  creature.  As  a  thing  is  possible,  or  may  be  made,  it  is 
the  object  of  absolute  power ;  as  it  is  factibile,  or  ordered  to  be 
made,  it  is  the  object  of  ordinate  power :  as  a  thing  is  actually  made, 
and  brought  into  being,  it  is  the  object  of  preserving  power.  So 
that  power  doth  stretch  out  its  arms  to  all  the  works  of  God,  in  all 
I  heir  circumstances,  and  at  all  times.  When  mercy  ceaseth  to  relieve 
a  creature,  when  justice  ceaseth  to  punish  a  creature,  power  ceaseth 
not  to  preserve  a  creature.  The  blessed  in  heaven,  that  are  out  of 
the  reach  of  punishing  justice,  are  forever  maintained  by  power  in 
that  blessed  condition :  the  damned  in  hell,  that  are  cast  out  of  the 


ON  THE   POWER   OF   GOD.  17 

bosom  of  entreating  mercj,  are  forever  sustained  in  those  remediless 
torments  by  tlie  Arm  of  Power, 

6.  This  power  is  originally  and  essentially  in  the  nature  of  God 
and  not  distinct  from  his  essence.  It  is  originally  and  essentially  in 
God.  The  strength  and  power  of  great  kings  is  originally  in  their 
people,  and  managed  and  ordered  by  the  authority  of  the  prince  for 
the  common  good.  Though  a  prince  hath  authority  in  his  person  to 
command,  yet  he  hath  not  sufficient  strength  in  his  f)erson,  without 
the  assistance  of  others,  to  make  his  commands  to  be  obeyed.  He 
hath  not  a  single  strength  in  his  own  person  to  conquer  countries 
and  kingdoms,  and  increase  the  number  of  his  subjects :  he  must 
make  use  of  the  arms  of  his  own  subjects,  to  overrun  other  places, 
and  yoke  them  under  his  dominion :  but  the  power  of  all  things 
that  ever  were,  are,  or  shall  be,  is  originally  and  essentially  in  God. 
It  is  not  derived  from  any  thing  without  him,  as  the  power  of  the 
greatest  potentates  in  the  world  is:  therefore  (Ps.  Ixii.  11)  it  is  said, 
"  Power  belongs  unto  God,"  that  is,  solely  and  to  none  else.  He 
hath  a  power  to  make  his  subjects,  and  as  many  as  he  pleases ;  to 
create  worlds,  to  enjoin  precepts,  to  execute  penalties,  without  call- 
ing in  the  strength  of  his  creatures  to  his  aid.  The  strength  that 
the  subjects  of  a  mortal  prince  have,  is  not  derived  to  them  from 
the  prince,  though  the  exercise  of  it  for  this  or  that  end,  is  ordered 
and  directed  by  the  authority  of  the  prince :  but  what  strength  so- 
ever any  thing  hath  to  act  as  a  means,  it  hath  from  the  power  of 
God  as  Creator,  as  well  as  whatsoever  authority  it  hath  to  act  is  from 
God,  as  a  Rector  and  Governor  of  the  world.  God  hath  a  strength 
to  act  without  means,  and  no  means  can  act  any  thing  without  his 
power  and  strength  communicated  to  them.  As  the  clouds,  in  ver. 
8,  before  the  text,  are  called  God's  clouds,  "his  clouds:"  so  all  the 
strength  of  creatures  may  be  called,  and  truly  is,  God's  strength  and 
power  in  them :  a  drop  of  power  shot  down  from  heaven,  originally 
only  in  God.  Creatures  have  but  a  little  mite  of  power ;  somewhat 
communicated  to  them,  somewhat  kept  and  reserved  from  them,  of 
what  they  are  capable  to  possess.  They  have  limited  natures,  and 
therefore  a  limited  sphere  of  activity.  Clothes  can  warm  us,  but 
not  feed  us ;  bread  can  nourish  us,  but  not  clothe  us.  One  plant 
hath  a  medicinal  quality  against  one  disease,  another  against  an- 
other ;  but  God  is  the  possessor  of  universal  power,  the  common 
exchequer  of  this  mighty  treasure.  He  acts  by  creatures,  as  not 
needing  their  power,  but  deriving  power  to  them :  what  he  acts  by 
them,  he  could  act  himself  without  them :  and  what  they  act  as 
from  themselves,  is  derived  to  them  from  him  through  invisible  chan- 
nels. And  hence  it  will  folloAV,  that  because  power  is  essentially  in 
God,  more  operations  of  God  are  possible  than  are  exerted.  And 
as  power  is  essentially  in  God,  so  it  is  not  distinct  from  his  essence. 
It  belongs  to  God  in  regard  of  the  inconceivable  excellency  and 
activity  of  his  essence.^  And  omnipotent  is  nothing  but  the  Divine 
essence  efficacious  ad  extra.  It  is  his  essence  as  operative,  and  the 
immediate  principle  of  operation  :  as  the  power  of  enlightening  in 
the  sun,  and  the  power  of  heating  in  the  fire,  are  not  things  distinct 

''  Ratione  sximmaB  actualitatis  essentiss.     Suarez,  Vol,  I.  pp.  150,  151. 
VOL.  II. — 2 


18  CIIAKNOCK   ON  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

from  the  nature  of  tliem ;  but  the  nature  of  the  sun  bringing  forth 
light,  and  the  nature  of  the  fire  bringeth  forth  heat.  The  power  of 
acting  is  the  same  with  the  substance  of  God,  though  the  action 
from  that  jDOwer  be  terminated  in  the  creature.  If  the  power  of 
God  were  distinct  from  his  essence,  he  were  then  compounded  of 
substance  and  power,  and  would  not  be  the  most  simple  being.  As 
when  the  understanding  is  informed  in  several  parts  of  knowledge, 
it  is  skilled  in  the  government  of  cities  and  countries,  it  knows  this 
or  that  art :  it  learns  mathematics,  philosophy ;  this,  or  that  science. 
The  understanding  hath  a  power  to  do  this ;  but  this  power,  where- 
by it  learns  those  excellent  things,  and  brings  forth  excellent  births, 
is  not  a  thing  distinct  from  the  understanding  itself;  we  may  rather 
call  it  the  understanding  powerful,  than  the  power  of  the  under- 
standing ;  and  so  we  may  rather  say,  God  powerful,  than  say,  the 
power  of  God ;  because  his  power  is  not  distinct  from  his  essence. 
From  both  these,  it  will  follow,  that  this  omnipotence  is  incommuni- 
cable to  any  -creature  ;  no  creature  can  inherit  it,  because  it  is  a  con- 
tradiction for  any  creature  to  have  the  essence  of  God.  This  om- 
nipotence is  a  peculiar  right  of  God,  wherein  no  creature  can  share 
with  him.  To  be  omnipotent  is  to  be  essentially  God.  And  for  a 
creature  to  be  omnipotent,  is  for  a  creature  to  be  its  own  Creator. 
It  being  therefore  the  same  with  the  essence  of  the  Godhead,  it  can- 
not be  communicated  to  the  humanity  of  Christ,  as  the  Lutherans 
say  it  is,  without  the  communication  of  the  essence  of  the  God- 
head ;  for  then  the  humanity  of  Christ  would  not  be  humanity,  but 
Deity.  If  omnipotence  were  communicated  to  the  humanity  of 
Christ,  the  essence  of  God  were  also  communicated  to  his  humanity, 
and  then  eternity  would  be  communicated.  His  humanity  then  was 
not  given  him  in  time ;  his  humanity  would  be  uncompounded,  that 
is,  his  body  would  be  no  body,  his  soul  no  soul.  Omnipotence  is 
essentially  in  God ;  it  is  not  distinct  from  the  essence  of  God,  it  is 
his  essence,  omnipotent,  able  to  do  all  things. 

7.  Hence  it  follows,  that  this  power  is  infinite  (Eph.  i.  19) ; 
"  What  is  the  exceeding  greatness  of  his  power,"  &c.  "  according  to 
the  working  of  his  mighty  power."  God  were  not  omnipotent,  un- 
less his  power  were  infinite ;  for  a  finite  power  is  a  limited  power, 
and  a  limited  power  cannot  effect  everything  that  is  possible. 
Nothing  can  be  too  difficult  for  the  Divine  power  to  efiect ;  he  hath 
a  fullness  of  power,  an  exceeding  strength,  above  all  human  capa- 
cities ;  it  is  a  "  mighty  power"  (Eph.  i.  19),  "  able  to  do  above  all  that 
we  can  ask  or  think"  (Eph.  iii.  20) :  that  which  he  acts,  is  above  the 
power  of  any  creature  to  act.  Infinite  power  consists  in  the  bring- 
ing things  forth  from  nothing.  No  creature  can  imitate  God  in  this 
prerogative  of  power.  Man  indeed  can  carve  various  forms,  and 
erect  various  pieces  of  art,  but  from  pre-existent  matter.  Every 
artificer  hath  the  matter  brought  to  his  hand,  he  only  brings  it  forth 
in  a  new  figure.  Chemists  separate  one  thing  from  another,  but 
create  nothing,  but  sever  those  things  which  were  before  compacted 
and  crudled  together:  but  when  God  speaks  a  powerful  word, 
nothing  begins  to  be  something :  things  stand  forth  from  the  womb 
of  nothing,  and  obey  his  mighty  command,  and  take  what  forms  he 


ON   THE   POWER   OF   GOD.  19 

is  pleased  to  give  them.  The  creating  one  thing,  though  never  so 
small  and  minute,  as  the  least  fly,  cannot  be  but  by  an  infinite 
power ;  much  less  can  the  producing  of  such  variety  we  see  in  the 
world.  His  power  is  infinite,  in  regard  it  cannot  be  resisted  by 
anything  that  he  hath  made ;  nor  can  it  be  confined  by  anything 
he  can  will  to  make.  "  His  greatness  is  unsearchable"  (Ps.  cxlv.  3). 
It  is  a  greatness,  not  of  quantity,  but  qualit3^  The  greatness  of 
his  power  hath  no  end  :  it  is  a  vanity  to  imagine  any  limits  can  be 
affixed  to  it,  or  that  any  creature  can  say,  "  Hitherto  it  can  go,  and 
no  further."  It  is  above  all  conception,  all  inquisition  of  any 
created  understanding.  No  creature  ever  had,  nor  ever  can  have, 
that  strength  of  wit  and  understanding,  to  conceive  the  extent  of 
his  power,  and  how  magnificently  he  can  work. 

First,  His  essence  is  infinite.  As  in  a  finite  subject  there  is  a 
finite  virtue,  so  in  an  infinite  subject  there  must  be  an  infinite  virtue. 
Where  the  essence  is  limited,  the  power  is  so  :i  where  the  essence  is 
unlimited,  the  power  knows  no  bounds.^  Among  creatures,  the 
more  excellency  of  being  and  form  anything  hath,  the  more  activity, 
vigor,  and  power  it  hath,  to  work  according  to  its  nature.  The  sun 
hath  a  mighty  power  to  warm,  enlighten,  and  fructify,  above  what 
the  stars  have  ;  because  it  hath  a  vaster  body,  more  intense  degi'ees 
of  light,  heat,  and  vigor.  Now,  if  jou.  conceive  the  sun  made 
much  greater  than  it  is,  it  would  proportion  ably  have  greater  de- 
grees of  power  to  heat  and  enlighten  than  it  hath  now :  and  were 
it  possible  to  have  an  infinite  heat  and  light,  it  would  infinitely  heat 
and  enlighten  other  things  ;  for  everything  is  able  to  act  according 
to  the  measures  of  its  being :  therefore,  since  the  essence  of  God  is 
unquestionably  infinite,  his  power  of  acting  must  be  so  also.  His 
power  (as  was  said  before)  is  one  and  the  same  with  his.  essence : 
and  though  the  knowledge  of  God  extends  to  more  objects  than 
his  power,  because  he  knows  all  evils  of  sin,  which  because  of  his 
holiness  he  cannot  commit,  yet  it  is  as  infinite  as  his  knowledge, 
because  it  is  as  much  one  with  his  essence,  as  his  knowledge  and 
wisdom  is  :  for  as  the  wisdom  or  knowledge  of  God  is  nothing  but 
the  essence  of  God,  knowing^  so  the  power  of  God  is  nothing  but  the 
essence  of  God,  able. 

The  objects  of  Divine  power  are  innumerable.  The  objects  of 
Divine  power  are  not  essentially  infinite ;  and  therefore  we  must 
not  measure  the  infiniteness  of  Divine  power  by  an  ability  to  make 
an  infinite  being ;  because  there  is  an  incapacity  in  any  created 
thing  to  be  infinite ;  for  to  be  a  creature  and  to  be  infinite  ;  to  be 
infinite  and  yet  made,  is  a  contradiction.  To  be  infinite,  and  to  be 
God,  is  one  and  the  same  thing.  Nothing  can  be  infinite  but  God ; 
nothing  but  God  is  infinite.  But  the  power  of  God  is  infinite,  be- 
cause it  can  produce  infinite  effects,  or  innumerable  things,  such  as 
surpass  the  arithmetic  of  a  creature ;  nor  yet  doth  the  infiniteness 
consist  simply  in  producing  innumerable  effects ;  for  that  a  finite 
cause  can  produce.  Fire  can,  by  its  finite  and  limited  heat,  burn 
numberless  combustible  things  and  parcels  ;  and  the  understanding 
of  man  hath  an  infinite  number  of  thoughts  and  acts  of  intellection, 
^i)  Or'Tationes  sequuntur  essentiam.        (})  Aquin.  Part  1  Qu.  25.  Articce. 


20  CHARNOCK   ON  THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

and  tliouglits  different  from  one  another.  Who  can  number  the 
imaginations  of  his  fancy,  and  thoughts  of  his  mind,  the  space  of 
one  month  or  year  ?  much  less  of  forty  or  an  hundred  years ;  yet  all 
these  thoughts  are  about  things  that  are  in  being,  or  have  a  founda- 
tion in  things  that  are  in  being.  But  the  infiniteness  of  God's  power 
consists  in  an  ability  to  produce  infinite  effects,  formally  distinct, 
and  diverse  from  one  another ;  such  as  never  had  being,  such  as  the 
mind  of  man  cannot  conceive :  "  Able  to  do  above  what  we  can 
think"  (Eph.  iii.  20).  And  whatsoever  God  hath  made,  or  is  able  to 
make,  he  is  able  to  make  in  an  infinite  manner,  by  calling  them  to 
stand  forth  from  nothing.  To  produce  innumerable  effects  of  dis- 
tinct natures,  and  from  so  distant  a  term  as  nothing,  is  an  argument 
of  infinite  power.  Now,  that  the  objects  of  Divine  power  are  in- 
numerable, appears,  because  God  can  do  infinitely  more  than  he 
hath  done,  or  will  do.  Nothing  that  God  hath  done  can  enfeeble 
or  dull  his  power;  there  still  resides  in  him  an  ability  beyond  all 
the  settled  contrivances  of  his  understanding  and  resolves  of  his 
will,  which  no  effects  which  he  hath  wrought  can  drain  and  put  to 
a  stand.  As  he  can  raise  stones  to  be  children  to  Abraham  (Matt. 
iii.  9) ;  so  with  the  same  mighty  word,  whereby  he  made  one  world, 
he  can  make  infinite  numbers  of  worlds  to  be  the  monuments  of 
his  glory.  After  the  prophet  Jeremiah  (ch,  xxxii.  17),  had  spoke  of 
God's  power  in  creation,  he  adds,  "  And  there  is  nothing  too  hard  for 
thee."  For  one  world  that  he  hath  made,  he  can  create  millions : 
for  one  star  v/hich  he  hath  beautified  the  heavens  with,  he  could 
have  garnished  it  with  a  thousand,  and  multiplied,  if  he  had 
pleased,  every  one  of  those  into  millions,  "for  he  can  call  things  that 
are  not"  (Eom.  iv.  17) ;  not  some  things,  but  all  things  possible.  The 
barren  womb  of  nothing  can  no  more  resist  his  power  now  to  educe 
a  world  from  it,  than  it  could  at  first :  no  doubt,  but  for  one  angel 
which  he  hath  made,  he  could  make  many  worlds  of  angels.  He 
that  made  one  with  so  much  ease,  as  by  a  word,  cannot  want  power 
to  make  many  more,  till  he  wants  a  word.  The  word  that  was  not 
too  veak  to  make  one,  cannot  be  too  weak  to  make  multitudes.  If 
from  one  man  he  hath,  in  a  way  of  nature,  multiplied  so  many  in  all 
ages  of  the  world,  and  covered  with  them  the  whole  face  of  the 
earth ;  he  could,  in  a  supernatural  way,  by  one  Avord,  multiply  as 
many  more.  "  It  is  the  breath  of  the  Almighty  that  gives  life"  (Job. 
xxxiii.  4).  He  can  create  infinite  species  and  kinds  of  creatures 
more  than  he  hath  created,  more  variety  of  forms :  for  since  there 
is  no  searching  of  his  greatness,  there  is  no  conceiving  the  number- 
less possible  effects  of  his  power.  The  understanding  of  man  can 
conceive  numberless  things  possible  to  be,  more  than  have  been  or 
shall  be.  And  shall  we  imagine,  that  a  finite  understanding  of  a 
creature  hath  a  greater  omnipotency  to  conceive  things  possible, 
than  God  hath  to  produce  things  possible?  When  the  understand- 
ing of  man  is  tired  in  its  conceptions,  it  must  still  be  concluded, 
that  the  power  of  God  extends,  not  only  to  what  can  be  conceived, 
but  infinitely  beyond  the  measures  of  a  finite  faculty.  "Touching 
the  Almighty,  we  cannot  find  him  out ;  he  is  excellent  in  power 
and  in  judgment"  (Job  xxxvi.  23).      For  the  understanding  of  man, 


ON   THE   POWER   OF   GOD.  21 

in  its  conceptions  of  more  kind  of  creatures,  is  limited  to  those 
creatures  which  are:  it  cannot,  in  its  own  imagination,  conceive 
anything  but  what  hath  some  foundation  in  and  from  something 
already  in  being.  It  may  frame  a  new  kind  of  creature,  made  up 
of  a  lion,  a  horse,  an  ox  ;  but  all  those  parts  whereof  its  conception 
is  made,  have  distinct  beings  in  the  world,  though  not  in  that  com- 
position as  his  mind  mixes  and  joins  them  ;  but  no  question  but 
God  can  create  creatures  that  have  no  resemblance  with  any  kind 
of  creatures  yet  in  being.  It  is  certain  that  if  God  only  knows 
those  things  which  he  hath  done,  and  will  do,  and  not  all  things 
possible  to  be  done  by  him,  his  knowledge  were  finite ;  so  if  he 
could  do  no  more  than  what  he  hath  done,  his  power  would  be 
finite. 

(1.)  Creatures  have  a  power  to  act  about  more  objects  than  they 
do.  The  understanding  of  man  can  frame  from  one  principle  of 
truth,  many  conclusions  and  inferences  more  than  it  doth.  Why 
cannot,  then,  the  power  of  God  frame  from  one  first  matter,  an  infi- 
nite number  of  creatures  more  than  have  been  created?  The 
Almightiness  of  God  in  producing  real  effects,  is  not  inferior  to  the 
understanding  of  man  in  drawing  out  real  truths.  An  artificer  that 
makes  a  watch,  supposing  his  life  and  health,  can  make  many  more 
of  a  difierent  form  and  motion;  and  a  limner  can  draw  many 
draughts,  and  frame  many  pictures  with  a  new  variety  of  colors,  ac- 
cording to  the  richness  of  his  fancy.  If  these  can  do  so,  that  require 
a  pre-existent  matter  framed  to  their  hands,  God  can  much  more, 
who  can  raise  beautiful  structures  from  nothing.  As  long  as  men 
have  matter,  they  can  diversity  the  matter,  and  make  new  figures 
from  it ;  so  long  as  there  is  nothing,  God  can  produce  out  of  that 
nothing  whatsoever  he  pleases.  We  see  the  same  in  inanimate  crea- 
tures. A  spark  of  fire  hath  a  vast  power  in  it :  it  will  kindle  other 
things,  increase  and  enlarge  itself ;  nothing  can  be  exempt  from  the 
active  force  of  it.  It  will  alter,  by  consuming  or  refining,  whatso- 
ever you  offer  to  it.  It  will  reach  all,  and  refuse  none  ;  and  by  the 
efiicacious  power  of  it,  all  those  new  figures  which  we  see  in  metals, 
are  brought  forth ;  when  you  have  exposed  to  it  a  multitude  of 
things,  still  add  more,  it  will  exert  the  same  strength  ;  yea,  the  vigor 
is  increased  rather  than  diminished.  The  more  it  catcheth,  the  more 
fiercely  and  irresistibly  it  will  act ;  you  cannot  suppose  an  end  of  its 
operation,  or  a  decrease  of  its  strength,  as  long  as  you  can  conceive 
its  duration  and  continuance :  this  must  be  but  a  weak  shadow  of 
that  infinite  power  which  is  in  God.  Take  another  instance,  in  the 
sun :  it  hath  power  every  year  to  produce  flowers  and  plants  from 
the  earth ;  and  is  as  able  to  produce  them  now,  as  it  was  at  the  first 
lighting  it  and  rearing  it  in  that  sphere  wherein  it  moves.  And  if 
there  were  no  kind  of  flowers  and  plants  now  created,  the  sun  hath 
a  power  residing  in  it,  ever  since  its  first  creation,  to  afford  the  same 
warmth  to  them  for  the  nourishing  and  bringing  them  forth.  What- 
soever you  can  conceive  the  sun  to  be  able  to  do  in  regard  of  plants, 
that  can  God  do  in  regard  of  worlds  ;  produce  more  worlds  than  the 
sun  doth  plants  every  year,  without  weariness,  without  languishment. 
The  sun  is  able  to  influence  more  things  than  it  doth,  and  produce 


22  CHARNOCK   ON   THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

numberless  effects ;  but  it  doth  not  do  so  mucli  as  it  is  able  to  do, 
because  it  wants  matter  to  work  upon.  God,  therefore,  who  wants 
no  matter,  can  do  much  more  than  he  doth ;  he  can  either  act  bj 
second  causes  if  there  were  more,  or  make  more  second  causes  if  he 
pleased. 

(2.)  God  is  the  most  free  agent.  Every  free  agent  can  do  more 
than  he  will  do.  Man  being  a  free  creature,  can  do  more  than  ordi- 
narily he  doth  will  to  do.  God  is  most  free,  as  being  the  spring  of 
liberty  in  other  creatures ;  he  acts  not  by  a  necessity  of  nature,  as 
the  waves  of  the  sea,  or  the  motions  of  the  wind ;  and,  therefore,  is 
not  determined  to  those  things  which  he  hath  already  called  forth 
into  the  world.  If  God  be  intinitely  wise  in  contrivance,  he  could 
contrive  more  than  he  hath,  and  therefore,  can  effect  more  than  he 
hath  effected.  He  doth  not  act  to  the  extent  of  his  power  upon  all 
occasions.  It  is  according  to  his  will  that  he  works  (Eph.  i.).  It  is 
not  according  to  his  work  that  he  wills  ;  his  work  is  an  evidence  of 
his  v/ill,  but  not  the  rule  of  his  will.  His  power  is  not  the  rule  of 
his  will,  but  his  will  is  the  disposer  of  his  power,  according  to  the 
light  of  his  infinite  Avisdom,  and  other  attributes  that  direct  his  will ; 
and  therefore  his  power  is  not  to  be  measured  by  his  actual  will. 
No  doubt,  but  he  could  in  a  moment  have  produced  that  world  which 
he  took  six  days'  time  to  frame ;  he  could  have  drowned  the  old 
world  at  once,  without  prolonging  the  time  till  the  revolution  of 
forty  days  ;  he  was  not  limited  to  such  a  term  of  time  by  any  weak- 
ness, but  by  the  determination  of  his  own  will.  God  doth  not  do 
the  hundred  thousandth  part  of  what  he  is  able  to  do,  but  what  is 
convenient  to  do,  according  to  the  end  which  he  hath  proposed  to 
himself  Jesus  Christ,  as  man,  could  have  asked  legions  of  angels  ; 
and  God,  as  a  sovereign,  could  have  sent  them  (Matt.  xxvi.  58). 
God  could  raise  the  dead  every  day  if  he  pleased,  but  he  doth  not : 
he  could  heal  every  diseased  person  in  a  moment,  but  he  doth  not. 
As  God  can  will  more  than  he  doth  actually  will,  so  he  can  do  more 
than  he  hath  actually  done  ;  he  can  do  whatsoever  he  can  will ;  he 
can  will  more  worlds,  and  therefore  can  create  more  worlds.  If  God 
hath  not  ability  to  do  more  than  he  will  do,  he  then  can  do  no  more 
than  what  he  actually  hath  done ;  and  then  it  will  follow,  that  he  is 
not  a  free,  but  a  natural  and  necessary  agent,  which  cannot  be  sup- 
posed of  God. 

Second.  This  power  is  infinite  in  regard  of  action.  As  he  can 
produce  numberless  objects  above  what  he  hath  produced,  so  he 
could  produce  them  more  magnificently  than  he  hath  made  them. 
As  he  never  works  to  the  extent  of  his  power  in  regard  of  things,  so 
neither  in  regard  of  the  manner  of  acting ;  for  he  never  acts  so  but 
he  could  act  in  a  higher  and  perfecter  manner. 

(1.)  His  power  is  infinite  in  regard  of  the  independency  of  action: 
he  wants  no  instrument  to  act.  When  there  was  nothing  but  God, 
there  was  no  cause  of  action  but  God ;  when  there  Avas  nothing  in 
being  but  God,  there  could  be  no  instrumental  cause  of  the  being  of 
anything.  God  can  perfect  his  action  without  dependence  on  any 
thing  ;i  and  to  be  simply  independent,  is  to  be  simply  infinite.     In 

'  Suarez,  Vol.  I,  de  Deo.  p.  151. 


ON  THE   POWER   OF   GOD.  23 

tliis  respect  it  is  a  power  incommunicable  to  any  creature,  though 
you  conceive  a  creature  in  higher  degrees  of  perfection  than  it  is.  A 
creature  cannot  cease  to  be  dependent,  but  it  must  cease  to  be  a  crea- 
ture ;  to  be  a  creature  and  independent,  are  terms  repugnant  to  one 
another. 

(2.)  But  the  infiniteness  of  Divine  power  consists  in  an  abihty  to 
give  higher  degrees  of  perfection  to  everything  which  he  hath' made. 
As  his  power  is  infinite  extensive,  in  regard  of  the  muUitude  of  ob- 
jects he  can  bring  into  being,  so  it  is  infinite  intensive,  in  regard  of 
the  manner  of  operation,  and  the  endowments  he  can  bestow  upon 
them.'"     Some  things,  indeed,  God  doth  so  perfect,  that  higher  de- 
grees of  perfection  cannot  be  imagined  to  be  added  to  them.n     As 
the  liumanity  of  Christ  cannot  be  united  more  gloriously  than  to  the 
person  of  the  Son  of  God,  a  greater  degree  of  perfection  cannot  be 
conferred  upon  it.     Nor  can  the  souls  of  the  blessed  have  a  nobler 
object  of  vision  and  fruition  than  God  himself,  the  infinite  Being:  no 
higher  than  the  enjoyment  of  himself  can  be  conferred  upon  a  crea- 
ture, respectu  termini.     This  is  not  want  of  power ;  he  cannot  be 
greater,    because  he  is  greatest;  not  better,   because  he   is  best; 
nothing  can  be  more  than  infinite.     But  as  to  the  things  which  God 
hath  made  in  the  world,  he  could  have  given  them  other  manner  of 
being  than  they  have,     A  human  understanding  may  improve  a 
thouglit  or  conclusion ;  strengthen  it  with  more  and  more  force  of 
reason  ;  and  adorn  it  with  richer  and  richer  elegancy  of  language : 
why,  then,  may  not  the  Divine  providence  produce  a  world  more 
perfect  and  excellent  than  this  ?     He  that  makes  a  plain  vessel,  can 
embellish  it  more,  engrave  more  figures  upon  it,  according  to  the 
capacity  of  the  subject :  and  cannot  God  do  so  much  more  with  his 
works  ?     Could  not  God  have  made  this  world  of  a  larger  quantity, 
and  the  sun  of  a  greater  bulk  and  proportionable  strength,  to  influ- 
ence a  bigger  world  ?  so  that  this  world  would  have  been  to  another 
that  God  might  have  made,  as  a  ball  or  a  mount,  this  sun  as  a  star 
to  another  san  that  he  might  have  kindled.     He  could  have  made 
every  star  a  sun,  every  spire  of  grass  a  star,  every  grain  of  dust  a 
flower,  every  soul  an  angel.     And  though  the  angels  be  perfect 
creatures,  and  inexpressibly  more  glorious  than  a  visible  creature, 
yet  who  can  imagine  God  so  confined,  that  he  cannot  create  a  more 
excellent  kind,  and  endow  those  which  he  hath  made  with  excellen- 
cy of  a  higher  rank  than  he  invested  them  with  at  the  first  moment 
of  their  creation?     Without  question  God  might  have  given  the 
meaner  creatures  more  excellent  endowments,  put  them  into  another 
order  of  nature  for  their  own  good  and  more  diffusive  usefulness  in 
the  world.     What  is  made  use  of  by  the  prophet  (Mai.  ii.  15)  in  an- 
other case,  may  be  used  in  this  :  "  Yet  had  he  a  residue  of  Spirit." 
The  capacity  of  every  creature  might  have  been  enlarged  by  God ; 
for  no  work  of  his  in  the  world  doth  equal  his  power,  as  nothing 
that  he  hath  framed  doth  equal  his  wisdom.     The  same  matter  which 
is  the  matter  of  the  body  of  a  beast,  is  the  matter  of  a  plant  and 
flower ;  is  the  matter  of  the  body  of  a  man ;  and  so  was  capable  of 
a  higher  form  and  higher  perfections,  than  God  hath  been  pleased 

"  Becan.  Sum.  Theol.  p.  82.  ■"  Ibid.  p.  84. 


24  CHARNOCK   ON  THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

to  bestow  upon  it.  And  he  liad  power  to  bestow  tliat  perfection  on 
one  part  of  matter  which  he  denied  to  it,  and  bestowed  on  another 
part.  If  God  cannot  make  things  in  a  greater  perfection,  there 
must  be  some  limitation  of  him :  he  cannot  be  limited  by  another, 
because  nothing  is  superior  to  God.  If  limited  by  himself,  that  limi- 
tion  is  not  from  a  want  of  power,  but  a  want  of  will.  He  can,  by 
his  own  power,  raise  stones  to  be  children  to  Abraham  (Matt.  iii.  9) : 
he  could  alter  the  nature  of  the  stones,  form  them  into  human 
bodies,  dignify  them  with  rational  souls,  inspire  those  souls  with  such 
graces  that  may  render  them  the  children  of  Abraham.  But  for  the 
more  fully  understanding  the  nature  of  this  power,  we  may  observe, 

[1.]  That  though  God  can  make  everything  with  a  higher  degree 
of  perfection,  yet  still  within  the  limits  of  a  finite  being.  No  crea- 
ture can  be  made  infinite,  because  no  creature  can  be  made  God. 
No  creature  can  be  so  improved  as  to  equal  the  goodness  and  per- 
fection of  God;o  yet  there  is  no  creature  but  we  may  conceive  a 
possibility  of  its  being  made  more  perfect  in  that  rank  of  a  creature 
than  it  is :  as  we  may  imagine  a  flower  or  plant  to  have  greater 
beauty  and  richer  qualities  imparted  to  it  by  Divine  power,  without 
rearing  it  so  high  as  to  the  dignity  of  a  rational  or  sensitive  creature. 
Whatsoever  perfections  may  be  added  by  God  to  a  creature,  are  still 
finite  perfections;  and  a  multitude  of  finite  excellences  can  never 
amount  to  the  value  and  honor  of  infinite :  as  if  you  add  one  number 
to  another  as  high  as  you  can,  as  much  as  a  large  piece  of  paper  can 
contain,  yon  can  never  make  the  numbers  really  infinite,  though 
they  may  be  infinite  in  regard  of  the  inability  of  any  human  under- 
standing to  count  them.  The  finite  condition  of  the  creature  suffers 
it  not  to  be  capable  of  an  infinite  perfection.  God  is  so  great,  so 
excellent,  that  it  is  his  perfection  not  to  have  any  equal ;  the  defect 
is  in  the  creature,  which  cannot  be  elevated  to  such  a  pitch ;  as  you 
can  never  make  a  gallon  measure  to  hold  the  quantity  of  a  butt,  or 
a  butt  the  quantity  of  a  river,  or  a  river  the  fulness  of  the  sea. 

[2.]  Though  God  hath  a  power  to  furnish  every  creature  with 
greater  and  nobler  perfections  than  he  hath  bestowed  upon  it,  yet 
he  hath  framed  all  tilings  in  the  perfectest  manner,  and  most  con- 
venient to  that  end  for  which  he  intended  them.  Everything  is 
endowed  with  the  best  nature  and  quality  suitable  to  God's  end  in 
creation,  though  not  in  the  best  manner  for  itself  p  In  regard  of  the 
universal  end,  there  cannot  be  a  better ;  for  God  himself  is  the  end 
of  all  things,  who  is  the  Supreme  Goodness.  Nothing  can  be  better 
than  God,  who  could  not  be  God  if  he  were  not  superlatively  best, 
or  optimus  ;  and  he  hath  ordered  all  things  for  the  declaration  of  his 
goodness  or  justice,  according  to  the  behaviors  of  his  creatures.  Man 
doth  not  consider  what  strength  or  power  he  can  put  forth  in  the 
means  he  useth  to  attain  such  an  end,  but  the  suitableness  of  them 
to  his  main  design,  and  so  fits  and  marshals  them  to  his  grand  pur- 
pose. Had  God  only  created  things  that  are  most  excellent,  he  had 
created  only  angels  and  men ;  how,  then,  would  his  wisdom  have 

»  Gamach  in  Aquin.  Tom.  I.  Qu.  25. 

P  Best,  ex  parte  facientis  et  modi ;  but  not  ex  parte  rei.     Esti.  in  Senten.  lib.  i.  dis- 
tin.  44.  §  2. 


ON  THE   POWER  OF  GOD.  25 

been  conspicuous  in  other  works  in  tlie  subordination  and  subser- 
viency of  them  to  one  another  ?  God  therefore  determined  his  power 
by  his  wisdom :  and  though  his  absolute  power  could  have  made 
every  creature  better,  yet  his  ordinate  power,  which  in  every  step 
was  regulated  by  his  wisdom,  made  everything  best  for  his  designed 
intention.^  A  musician  hath  a  power  to  wind  up  a  string  on  a  lute 
to  a  higher  and  more  perfect  note  in  itself,  but  in  wisdom  he  will  not 
do  it,  because  the  intended  melody  would  be  disturbed  thereby  if  it 
were  not  suited  to  the  other  strings  on  the  instrument ;  a  discord 
would  mar  and  taint  the  harmony  which  the  lutenist  designed.  God, 
in  creation,  observed  the  proportions  of  nature:  he  can  make  a 
spider  as  strong  as  a  lion ;  but  according  to  the  order  of  nature  which 
he  hath  settled,  it  is  not  convenient  that  a  creature  of  so  small  a 
compass  should  be  as  strong  as  one  of  a  greater  bulk.  The  absolute 
power  of  God  could  have  prepared  a  body  for  Christ  as  glorious  as 
that  he  had  after  his  resurrection ;  but  that  had  not  been  agreeable 
to  the  end  designed  in  his  humiliation : '  and,  therefore,  God  acted 
most  perfectly  by  his  ordinate  power,  in  giving  him  a  body  that 
wore  the  livery  of  our  infirmities.  God's  power  is  alway  regulated 
by  his  wisdom  and  will ;  and  though  it  produceth  not  what  is  most 
perfect  in  itself,  yet  what  is  most  perfect  and  decent  in  relation  to 
the  end  he  fixed.  And  so  in  his  providence,  though  he  could  rack 
the  whole  frame  of  nature  to  bring  about  his  ends  in  a  more  mirac- 
ulous way  and  astonishment  to  mortals,  yet  his  power  is  usually  and 
ordinarily  confined  by  his  will  to  act  in  concurrence  with  the  nature 
of  the  creatures,  and  direct  them  according  to  the  laws  of  their  being, 
to  such  ends  which  he  aims  at  in  their  conduct,  without  violencing 
their  nature. 

[3.]  Though  God  hath  an  absolute  power  to  make  more  worlds, 
and  infinite  numbers  of  other  creatures,  and  to  render  every  creature 
a  higher  mark  of  his  power,  yet  in  regard  of  his  decree  to  the  con- 
trary, he  cannot  do  it.  He  hath  a  physical  power,  but  after  his  re- 
solve to  the  contrary,  not  a  moral  power :  the  exercise  of  his  power 
is  subordinate  to  his  decree,  but  not  the  essence  of  his  power.  The 
decree  of  God  takes  not  away  any  power  from  God,  because  the 
power  of  God  is  his  own  essence,  and  incapable  of  change ;  and  is 
as  great  physically  and  essentially  after  his  decree,  as  it  was  before ; 
only  his  will  hath  put  in  a  bar  to  the  demonstration  of  all  that  power 
which  he  is  able  to  exercise.''  As  a  prince  that  can  raise  100,000 
men  for  an  invasion,  raises  only  20  or  30,000  ;  he  here,  by  his  order, 
limits  his  power,  but  doth  not  divest  himself  of  his  authority  and 
power  to  raise  the  whole  number  of  the  forces  of  his  dominions  if  he 
pleases :  the  power  of  God  hath  more  objects  than  his  decree  hath ; 
but  since  it  is  his  perfection  to  be  immutable,  and  not  to  change  his 
decree,  he  cannot  morally  put  forth  his  power  upon  all  those  objects, 
which,  as  it  is  essentially  in  him,  he  hath  ability  to  do.  God  hath 
decreed  to  save  those  that  believe  in  Christ,  and  to  judge  unbelievers 
to  everlasting  perdition :  he  cannot  morally  damn  the  first,  or  save 
the  latter ;  yet  he  hath  not  divested  himself  of  his  absolute  power  to 

•i  Aquia.  Part  I,  Qu,  25,  art.  6.  «■  Gatnaeh  in  Aquin.  Tom.  I.  Qu.  25. 


26  CHAENOCK  ON  THE  ATTEIBUTES, 

save  all  or  damn  all.^  Or  suppose  God  hath,  decreed  not  to  create 
more  worlds  than  this  we  are  now  in,  doth  his  decree  weaken  his 
strength  to  create  more  if  he  pleased  ?  His  not  creating  more  is  not 
a  want  of  strength,  but  a  want  of  will :  it  is  an  act  of  liberty,  not  an 
act  of  impotency.  As  when  a  man  solemnly  resolves  not  to  walk  in 
such  a  way,  or  come  at  such  a  place,  his  resolution  deprives  him  not 
of  his  natural  strength  to  walk  thither,  but  fortifies  his  will  against 
using  his  strength  in  any  such  motion  to  that  place.  The  will  of 
God  hath  set  bounds  to  the  exercise  of  his  power,  but  doth  not  in- 
fringe that  absolute  power  which  still  resides  in  his  nature :  he  is 
girded  about  with  more  power  than  he  puts  forth  (Ps.  Ixv.  6). 

[4.]  As  the  power  of  God  is  infinite  in  regard  of  his  essence,  in 
regard  of  the  objects,  in  regard  of  actioti,  so,  fourthly,  in  regard  of 
duration.  The  apostle  calls  it  "  an  eternal  power"  (Rom.  i.  20).  His 
eternal  power  is  collected  and  concluded  from  the  things  that  are 
made :  they  must  needs  be  the  products  of  some  Being  which  con- 
tains truly  in  itself  all  power,  who  wrought  them  without  engines, 
without  instruments ;  and,  therefore,  this  power  must  be  infinite,  and 
possessed  of  an  unalterable  virtue  of  acting.  If  it  be  eternal,  it  must 
be  infinite,  and  hath  neither  beginning  nor  end ;  what  is  eternal  hath 
no  bounds.  If  it  be  eternal,  and  not  limited  by  time,  it  must  be 
infinite,  and  not  to  be  restrained  by  any  finite  object :  his  power 
never  begun  to  be,  nor  ever  ceaseth  to  be ;  it  cannot  languish ;  men 
are  fain  to  unbend  themselves,  and  must  have  some  time  to  recruit 
their  tired  spirits :  but  the  power  of  God  is  perpetually  vigorous, 
without  any  interrupting  qualm  (Isa.  xl.  28) :  "  Hast  thou  not  known, 
hast  thou  not  heard,  that  the  everlasting  God,  the  Lord,  the  Creator 
of  the  ends  of  the  earth,  fainteth  not,  neither  is  weary?"  That  might 
which  suffered  no  diminution  from  eternity,  but  hatched  so  great  a 
world  by  brooding  upon  nothing,  will  not  suffer  any  dimness  or  de- 
crease to  eternity.  This  power  being  the  same  with  his  essence,  is 
as  durable  as  his  essence,  and  resides  for  ever  in  his  nature. 

8.  The  eighth  consideration,  for  the  right  understanding  of  this 
attribute,  the  impossibility  of  God's  doing  some  things,  is  no  in- 
fringing of  his  almightiness,  but  rather  a  strengthening  of  it.  It  is 
granted  that  some  things  God  cannot  do ;  or,  rather,  as  Aquinas  and 
others,  it  is  better  to  say,  such  things  cannot  be  done,  than  to  say 
that  God  cannot  do  them ;  to  remove  all  kind  of  imputation  or  re- 
flection of  weakness  on  God,'  and  because  the  reason  of  the  impos- 
sibility of  those  things  is  in  the  nature  of  the  things  themselves, 

1,  Some  things  are  impossible  in  their  own  nature.  Such  are  all 
those  things  which  imply  a  contradiction ;  as  for  a  thing  to  be,  and 
not  to  be  at  the  same  time ;  for  the  sun  to  shine,  and  not  to  shine  at 
the  same  moment  of  time ;  for  a  creature  to  act,  and  not  to  act  at  the 
same  instant :  one  of  those  parts  must  be  false ;  for  if  it  be  true  that 
the  sun  shines  this  moment,  it  must  be  false  to  say  it  doth  not  shine. 
So  it  is  impossible  that  a  rational  creature  can  be  without  reason  : 
'Tis  a  contradiction  to  be  a  rational  creature,  and  yet  want  that 
which  is  essential  to  a  rational  creature.  So  it  is  impossible  that  the 
will  of  man  can  be  compelled,  because  liberty  is  the  essence  of  the 

»  Crell.  de  Deo.  cap.  22.  *  Robins.  Observ.  p.  14. 


ON  THE  POWER  OF  GOD.  27 

will ;  while  it  is  will  it  cannot  be  constrained ;  and  if  it  be  constrained, 
it  ceaseth  to  be  will.  God  cannot  at  one  time  act  as  the  author  of 
the  will  and  the  destroyer  of  the  will.«  It  is  impossible  that  vice 
and  virtue,  light  and  darkness,  life  and  death,  should  be  the  same 
thing.  Those  things  admit  not  of  a  conception  in  any  understand- 
ing. Some  things  are  impossible  to  be  done,  because  of  the  incapa- 
bility of  the  subject;  as  for  a  creature  to  be  made  infinite,  indepen- 
dent, to  preserve  itself  without  the  Divine  concourse  and  assistance. 
So  a  brute  cannot  be  taken  into  communion  with  God,  and  to  ever- 
lasting spiritual  blessedness,  because  the  nature  of  a  brute  is  incapa- 
ble of  such  an  elevation :  a  rational  creature  only  cati  understand 
and  relish  spiritual  delights,  and  is  capable  to  enjoy  God,  and  have 
communion  with  him.  Indeed,  God  may  change  the  nature  of  a 
brute,  and  bestow  such  faculties  of  understanding  and  will  upon  it, 
as  to  render  it  capable  of  such  a  blessedness ;  but  then  it  is  no  more 
a  brute,  but  a  rational  creature :  but,  while  it  remains  a  brute,  the 
excellency  of  the  nature  of  God  doth  not  admit  of  communion  with 
such  a  subject ;  so  that  this  is  not  for  want  of  power  in  God,  but  be- 
cause of  a  deficiency  in  the  creature :  to  suppose  that  God  could  make 
a  contradiction  true,  is  to  make  himself  false,  and  to  do  just  nothing. 

2.  Some  things  are  impossible  to  the  nature  and  being  of  God. 
As  to  die,  implies  a  flat  repugnance  to  the  nature  of  God ;  to  be  able 
to  die,  is  to  be  able  to  be  cashiered  out  of  being.  If  God  were  able 
to  deprive  himself  of  life,  he  might  then  cease  to  be  :  he  were  not 
then  a  necessary,  but  an  uncertain,  contingent  being,  and  could  not 
be  said  only  to  have  immortality,  as  he  is  (1  Tim.  vi.  16).  He  can- 
not die  who  is  life  itself,  and  necessarily  existent ;  he  cannot  grow 
old  or  decay,  because  he  cannot  be  measured  by  time  :  and  this  is 
no  part  of  weakness,  but  the  perfection  of  power.  His  power  is 
that  whereby  he  remains  forever  fixed  in  his  own  everlasting  being. 
That  cannot  be  reckoned  as  necessary  to  the  omnipotence  of  God 
which  all  mankind  count  a  part  of  weakness  in  themselves  :  God  is 
omnipotent,  because  he  is  not  impotent ;  and  if  he  could  die,  he 
would  be  impotent,  not  omnipotent :  death  is  the  feebleness  of  na- 
ture. It  is  undoubtedly  the  greatest  impotence  to  cease  to  be  :  who 
would  count  it  a  part  of  omnipotency  to  disenable  himself,  and  sink 
into  nothing  and  not  being  ?  The  impossibility  for  God  to  die  is 
not  a  fit  article  to  impeach  his  omnipotence ;  this  would  be  a  strange 
way  of  arguing :  a  thing  is  not  powerful,  because  it  is  not  feeble, 
and  cannot  cease  to  be  powerful,  for  death  is  a  cessation  of  all 
power.  God  is  almighty  in  doing  what  he  will,  not  in  suffering 
what  he  will  not.^  To  die  is  not  an  active,  but  a  passive  power  ;  a 
defect  of  a  power :  God  is  of  too  noble  a  nature  to  perish.  Some 
things  are  impossible  to  that  eminency  of  nature  which  he  hath 
above  all  creatures ;  as  to  walk,  sleep,  feed,  these  are  imperfections 
belonging  to  bodies  and  compounded  natures.  If  he  could  walk,  he 
were  not  everywhere  present:  motion  speaks  succession.  If  he 
could  increase,  he  would  not  have  been  perfect  before. 

3.  Some  things  are  impossible  to  the  glorious  perfections  of  God. 
God  cannot  do  anything  unbecoming  his  holiness  and  goodness ; 

»  Magalano.  de  Scientia  Dei,  Part  II.  c,  6,  g.  3.  *  Augus. 


28  CHARNOCK  ON  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

any  thing  unwortliy  of  liimself,  and  against  the  perfections  of  his 
nature.  God  can  do  whatsoever  he  can  will.  As  he  doth  actually 
do  whatsoever  he  doth  actually  will,  so  it  is  possible  for  him  to  do 
whatsoever  it  is  possible  for  him  to  will.  He  doth  whatsoever  he 
will,  and  can  do  whatsoever  he  can  will ;  but  he  cannot  do  what  he 
cannot  will :  he  cannot  will  any  unrighteous  thing,  and  therefore 
cannot  do  any  unrighteous  thing.  God  cannot  love  sin,  this  is  con- 
trary to  his  holiness ;  he  cannot  violate  his  word,  this  is  a  denial  of 
his  truth ;  he  cannot  punish  an  innocent,  this  is  contrary  to  his 
goodness  ;  he  cannot  cherish  an  impenitent  sinner,  this  is  an  injury 
to  his  justice  ;  he  cannot  forget  what  is  done  in  the  world,  this  is  a 
disgrace  to  his  omniscience ;  he  cannot  deceive  his  creature,  this  is 
contrary  to  his  faithfulness :  none  of  these  things  can  be  done  by 
him,  because  of  the  perfection  of  his  nature.  "Would  it  not  be  an 
imperfection  in  God  to  absolve  the  guilty,  and  condemn  the  inno- 
cent ?  Is  it  congruous  to  the  righteous  and  holy  nature  of  God,  to 
command  murder  and  adultery ;  to  command  men  not  to  worship 
him,  but  to  be  base  and  unthankful?  These  things  would  be  against 
the  rules  of  righteousness ;  as,  when  we  say  of  a  good  man,  he  can- 
not rob  or  fight  a  duel,  we  do  not  mean  that  he  wants  a  courage  for 
such  an  act,  or  that  he  hath  not  a  natural  strength  and  knowledge 
to  manage  his  weapon  as  well  as  another,  but  he  hath  a  righteous 
principle  strong  in  him  which  will  not  suffer  him  to  do  it ;  his  will 
is  settled  against  it :  no  power  can  pass  into  act  unless  applied  by  the 
will ;  but  the  will  of  God  cannot  will  anything  but  what  is  worthy 
of  him,  and  decent  for  his  goodness. 

(1.)  The  Scripture  saith  it  is  impossible  for  God  to  lie  (Heb.  vi. 
18) ;  and  God  cannot  deny  himself  because  of  his  faithfulness  (2 
Tim.  ii.  13).  As  he  cannot  die,  because  he  is  life  itself;  as  he  can 
not  deceive,  because  he  is  goodness  itself;  as  he  cannot  do  an  un- 
wise action,  because  he  is  wisdom  itself,  so  he  cannot  speak  a  false 
word,  because  he  is  truth  itself  If  he  should  speak  anything  as 
true,  and  not  know  it,  where  is  his  infinite  knowledge  and  compre- 
hensiveness of  understanding  ?  If  he  should  speak  anything  as 
true,  which  he  knows  to  be  false,  where  is  his  infinite  righteousness  ? 
If  he  should  deceive  any  creature,  there  is  an  end  of  his  perfection 
of  fidelity  and  veracity.  If  he  should  be  deceived  himself,  there  is 
an  end  of  his  omniscience ;  we  must  then  fancy  him  to  be  a  deceit- 
ful God,  an  ignorant  God,  that  is,  no  God  at  all.  If  he  should  lie, 
he  would  be  God  and  no  God  ;  God  upon  supposition,  and  no  God, 
because  not  the  first  truth.y  All  unrighteousness  is  weakness,  not 
power ;  it  is  a  defection  from  right  reason,  a  deviation  from  moral 
principles,  and  the  rule  of  perfect  action,  and  ariseth  from  a  defect 
of  goodness  and  power :  it  is  a  weakness,  and  not  omnipotence,  to 
lose  goodness  :  God  is  light ;  it  is  the  perfection  of  light  not  to  be- 
come darkness,  and  a  want  of  power  in  light,  if  it  should  become 
darkness  -J-  his  power  is  infinitely  strong,  so  is  his  wisdom  infinitely 
clear,  and  his  will  infinitely  pure :  would  it  not  be  a  part  of  weak- 
ness to  have  a  disorder  in  himself,  and  these  perfections  shock  one 
against  another  ?     Since  all  perfections  are  in  God,  in  the  most  sov- 

7  Becan.  sum.  Theolog.  p.  83.  *  Maximus  Tyrius. 


ON   THE    POWER   OF   GOD.  29 

ereign  height  of  perfection,  notliing  can  be  done  by  the  infiniteness 
of  one  against  the  infiniteness  of  the  otlier.  He  would  then  be  un- 
stable in  his  own  perfections,  and  depart  from  the  infinite  rectitude 
of  his  own  will,  if  he  should  do  an  evil  action.  Again,  =i  what  is  an 
argument  of  greater  strength,  than  to  be  utterly  ignorant  of  infirm- 
ity ?  God  is  omnipotent  because  he  cannot  do  evil,  and  would  not 
be  omnipotent  if  he  could  ;  those  things  would  be  marks  of  weak- 
ness, and  not  characters  of  majesty.  Would  you  count  a  sweet  foun- 
tain impotent  because  it  cannot  send  forth  bitter  streams?  or  the  sun 
weak,  because  it  cannot  diffuse  darkness  as  well  as  light  in  the  air  ? 
There  is  an  inability  arising  from  weakness,  and  an  ability  arising 
from  perfection :  it  is  the  perfection  of  angels  and  blessed  spirits, 
that  they  cannot  sin ;  and  it  would  be  the  ijnperfection  of  God,  if  he 
could  do  evil. 

(2.)  Hence  it  follows,  that  it  is  impossible  that  a  thing  past  should 
not  be  past.  If  we  ascribe  a  power  to  God,  to  make  a  thing  that  is 
past  not  to  be  past,  we  do  not  truly  ascribe  power  to  him,  but  a 
weakness ;  for  it  is  to  make  God  to  lie,  as  though  God  might  not 
have  created  man,  yet,  after  he  had  created  Adam,  though  he  should 
presently  have  reduced  Adam  to  his  first  nothing,  yet  it  would  be 
forever  true  that  Adam  was  created,  and  it  would  forever  be  false  that 
Adam  never  was  created:  so,  though  God  may  prevent  sin,  yet 
when  sin  hath  been  committed,  it  will  alway  be  true  that  sin  was 
committed  ;  it  will  never  be  true  to  say  such  a  creature  that  did  sin, 
did  not  sin ;  his  sin  cannot  be  recalled :  though  God,  by  pardon, 
take  off  the  guilt  of  Peter's  denying  our  Saviour,  yet  it  will  be  eter- 
nally true  that  Peter  did  deny  him.  It  is  repugnant  to  the  right- 
eousness and  truth  of  God  to  make  that  which  was  once  true  to  be- 
come false,  and  not  true ;  that  is,  to  make  a  truth  to  become  a  lie, 
and  a  lie  to  become  a  truth.  This  is  well  argued  from  Heb.  vi.  18  : 
"  It  is  impossible  for  God  to  lie."  The  apostle  argues,  that  what 
God  had  promised  and  sworn  will  come  to  pass,  and  cannot  but 
come  to  pass.''     Now,  if  God  could  make  a  thing  past  not  to  be 

East,  this  consequence  would  not  be  good,  for  then  he  might  make 
imself  not  to  have  promised,  not  to  have  sworn,  after  he  hath 
promised  and  sworn ;  and  so,  if  there  were  a  power  to  undo  that 
which  is  past,  there  would  be  no  foundation  for  faith,  no  certainty 
of  revelation.  It  cannot  be  asserted,  that  God  hath  created  the 
world ;  that  God  hath  sent  his  Son  to  die  ;  that  God  hath  accepted 
his  death  for  man.  These  might  not  be  true,  if  it  were  possible, 
that  that  which  hath  been  done,  might  be  said  never  to  have  been 
done  :  so  that  what  any  may  imagine  to  be  a  want  of  power  in  God, 
is  the  highest  perfection  of  God,  and  the  greatest  security  to  a  be- 
lieving creature  that  hath  to  do  with  God. 

4.  Some  things  are  impossible  to  be  done,  because  of  God's  ordi- 
nation. Some  things  are  impossible,  not  in  their  own  nature,  but  in 
regard  of  the  determined  will  of  God :  so  God  might  have  destroy- 
ed the  world  after  Adam's  fall,  but  it  was  impossible ;  not  that  God 
wanted  power  to  do  it,  but  because  he  did  not  only  decree  from 
eternity  to  create  the  world,  but  did  also  decree  to  redeem  the  world 

•  Ambrose.  ^  Becan.  sum.  Tbeol.  p.  84.     Orel,  de  Deo,  cap.  22. 


30  CHARNOCK  ON   THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

by  Jesus  Christ,  and  erected  the  world  in  order  to  the  manifestation 
of"  his  "glory  in  Christ"  (Eph.  i.  4,  5).  The  choice  of  some  in 
Christ  was  "  before  the  foundation  of  the  world."  Supposing  that 
there  was  no  hindrance  in  the  justice  of  God  to  pardon  the  sin  of  Adam 
after  his  fall,  and  to  execute  no  punishment  on  him,  jet  in  regard 
of  God's  threatening,  that  in  the  day  he  eat  of  the  forbidden  fruit 
he  should  die,  it  was  impossible :  so,  though  it  was  possible  that  the 
cup  should  pass  from  our  blessed  Saviour,  that  is,  possible  in  its  own 
nature,  yet  it  was  not  possible  in  regard  of  the  determination  of 
God's  will,  since  he  had  both  decreed  and  published  his  will  to  re- 
deem man  by  the  passion  and  blood  of  his  Son.  These  things  God, 
by  his  absolute  power,  might  have  done ;  but  upon  the  account  of 
his  decree,  they  were  impossible,  because  it  is  repugnant  to  the  na- 
ture of  God  to  be  mutable :  it  is  to  deny  his  own  wisdom  which, 
contrived  them,  and  his  own  will  which  resolved  them,  not  to  do 
that  which  he  had  decreed  to  do.  This  would  be  a  difl&dence  in  his 
wisdom,  and  a  change  of  his  will.  The  impossibility  of  them  is  no 
result  of  a  want  of  power,  no  mark  of  an  imperfection,  of  feeble- 
ness and  impotence ;  but  the  perfection  of  immutability  and  un- 
changeableness.  Thus  have  I  endeavored  to  give  you  a  right  no- 
tion of  this  excellent  attribute  of  the  power  of  God,  in  as  plain  terms 
as  I  could,  which  may  serve  us  for  a  matter  of  meditation,  admira- 
tion, fear  of  him,  trust  in  him,  which  are  the  proper  uses  we  should 
make  of  this  doctrine  of  Divine  power.  The  want  of  a  right  un- 
derstanding of  this  doctrine  of  the  Divine  power  hath  caused  many 
to  run  into  mighty  absurdities ;  I  have,  therefore,  taken  the  more 
pains  to  explain  it. 

II.  The  second  thing  I  proposed,  is  the  reasons  to  prove  God  to 
be  omnipotent.  The  Scripture  describes  God  by  this  attribute  of 
power  (Ps.  cxv.  3) :  "  He  hath  done  whatsoever  he  pleased."  It 
sometimes  sets  forth  his. power  in  a  way  of  derision  of  those  that 
seem  to  doubt  of  it.  When  Sarah  doubted  of  his  ability  to  give  her 
a  child  in  her  old  age  (Gen.  xviii.  14),  "  Is  anything  too  hard  for  the 
Lord?"  They  deserve  to  be  scoffed,  that  will  despoil  God  of  his 
strength,  and  measure  him  by  their  shallow  models.  And  when 
Moses  uttered  something  of  unbelief  of  this  attribute,  as  if  God  were 
not  able  to  feed  600,000  Israelites,  besides  women  and  children, 
which  he  aggravates  by  a  kind  of  imperious  scoff;  "  Shall  the  flocks 
and  the  herds  be  slain  for  them  to  suffice  them  ?  Or,  shall  all  the 
fish  of  the  sea  be  gathered  together  for  them  ?"  &;c.  (Numb.  xi.  22). 
God  takes  him  up  short  (ver.  23) :  "Is  the  Lord's  hand  waxed  short  ?" 
What !  can  any  weakness  seize  upon  my  hand  ?  Can  I  draw  out  of 
my  own  treasures  what  is  needful  for  a  supply  ?  The  hand  of  God 
is  not  at  one  time  strong,  and  another  time  feeble.  Hence  it  is  that 
we  read  of  the  hand  and  arm  of  God,  an  outstretched  arm ;  because 
the  strength  of  a  man  is  exerted  by  his  hand  and  arm ;  the  power  of 
God  is  called  the  arm  of  his  power,  and  the  right  hand  of  his  strength. 
Sometimes,  according  to  the  different  manifestation  of  it,  it  is  ex- 
pressed by  finger,  when  a  less  power  is  evidenced ;  by  hand,  when 
something  greater ;  by  arm,  when  more  mighty  than  the  former. 
Since  God  is  eternal,  without  limits  of  time,  he  is  also  Almighty, 


OlSr  THE   POWER   OF   GOD.  31 

without  limits  of  strength.  As  he  cannot  be  said  to  be  more  in  being 
now  than  he  was  before,  so  he  is  neither  more  nor  less  in  strength 
than  he  was  before:  as  he  cannot  cease  to  be  so,  so  he  cannot 
cease  to  bo  powerful,  because  he  is  eternal.  His  eternity  and  power 
are  linked  together  as  equally  demonstrable  (Rom.  i.  20);  God  is 
called  the  God  of  gods  El  Elohim  (Dan.  xi.  36) ;  the  Mighty  of 
mighties,  whence  all  mighty  persons  have  their  activity  and  vigor : 
he  is  called  the  Lord  of  Hosts,  as  being  the  Creator  and  Conductor 
of  the  heavenly  militia. 

Reason  1.  The  power  that  is  in  creatures  demonstrates  a  greater 
and  an  unconceivable  power  in  God.  Nothing  in  the  world  is  without 
a  power  of  activity  according  to  its  nature :  no  creature  but  can  act 
something.  The  sun  warms  and  enlightens  everything  :  it  sends  its 
influences  upon  the  earth,  into  the  bowels  of  the  earth,  into  the  depths 
of  the  sea :  all  generations  owe  themselves  to  its  instrumental  virtue. 
How  powerful  is  a  small  seed  to  rise  into  a  mighty  tree  with  a  lofty 
top,  and  extensive  branches,  and  send  forth  other  seeds,  which  can 
still  multiply  into  numberless  plants !  How  wonderful  is  the  power 
of  the  Creator,  who  hath  endowed  so  small  a  creature  as  a  seed,  with 
so  fruitful  an  activity !  Yet  this  is  but  the  virtue  of  a  limited  nature. 
God  is  both  the  producing  and  preserving  cause  of  all  the  virtue  in 
any  creature,  in  every  creature.  The  power  of  every  creature  be- 
longs to  him  as  the  Fountain,  and  is  truly  his  power  in  the  creature. 
As  he  is  the  first  Being,  he  is  the  original  of  all  being  ;  as  he  is  the 
first  Good,  he  is  the  spring  of  all  goodness ;  as  he  is  the  first  Truth, 
he  is  the  source  of  all  truth ;  so,  as  he  is  the  first  Power,  he  is  the 
fountain  of  all  power. 

1.  He,  therefore,  that  communicates  to  the  creature  what  power  it 
hath,  contains  eminently  much  more  power  in  himself.  (Ps.  xciv. 
10),  "  He  that  teaches  man  knowledge,  shall  not  he  know?"  So  he 
that  gives  created  beings  power,  shall  not  he  be  powerfid  ?  The  first 
Being  must  have  as  much  power  as  he  hath  given  to  others :  he  could 
not  transfer  that  upon  another,  which  he  did  not  transcendently 
possess  himself  The  sole  cause  of  created  power  cannot  be  destitute 
of  any  power  in  himself  We  see  that  the  power  of  one  creature 
transcends  the  power  of  another.  Beasts  can  do  the  things  that 
plants  cannot  do  ;  besides  the  power  of  growth,  they  have  a  power 
of  sense  and  progressive  motion.  Men  can  do  more  than  beasts; 
they  have  rational  souls  to  measure  the  earth  and  heavens,  and  to  be 
repositories  of  multitudes  of  things,  notions,  and  conclusions.  We 
may  well  imagine  angels  to  be  far  superior  to  man :  the  power  of  the 
Creator  must  far  surmount  the  power  of  the  creature,  and  must  needs 
be  infinite :  for  if  it  be  limited,  it  is  limited  by  himself  or  by  some 
other ;  if  by  some  other,  he  is  no  longer  a  Creator,  but  a  creature ; 
for  that  which  limits  him  in  his  nature,  did  communicate  that  nature 
to  him ;  not  by  himself,  for  he  would  not  deny  himself  any  neces- 
sary perfection :  we  must  still  conclude  a  reserve  of  power  in  him, 
that  he  that  made  these  can  make  many  more  of  the  same  kind. 

2.  All  the  power  which  is  distinct  in  the  creatures,  must  be  united 
in  God.  One  creature  hath  a  strength  to  do  this,  another  to  do  that ; 
every  creature  is  as  a  cistern  filled  with  a  particular  and  limited 


32  CHAENOCK  ON"  THE   ATTBIBUTES. 

power,  according  to  the  capacity  of  its  nature,  from  tliis  fountain ; 
all  are  distinct  streams  from  God.  But  the  strength  of  every  creature, 
though  distinct  in  the  rank  of  creatures,  is  united  in  God  the  centre, 
whence  those  lines  were  drawn,  the  fountain  whence  those  streams 
were  derived.  If  the  power  of  one  creature  be  admirable,  as  the 
power  of  an  angel,  which  the  Psalmist  saith  (Ps.  ciii.  20),  "  excelleth 
in  strength  ;"  how  much  greater  must  the  power  of  a  legion  of  angels 
be !  How  inconceivably  superior  the  power  of  all  those  numbers  of 
spiritual  natures,  which  are  the  excellent  works  of  God !  Now,  if  all 
this  particular  power,  which  is  in  every  angel  distinct,  were  com- 
l^acted  in  one  angel,  how  would  it  exceed  our  understanding,  and  be 
above  our  power  to  form  a  distinct  conception  of  it !  What  is  thus 
divided  in  every  angel,  must  be  thought  united  in  the  Creator  of 
angels,  and  far  more  excellent  in  him.  Everything  is  in  a  more  noble 
manner  in  the  fountain,  than  in  the  streams  which  distil  and  descend 
from  it.  He  that  is  the  Original  of  all  those  distinct  powers,  must  be 
the  seat  of  all  power  without  distinction :  in  him  is  the  union  of  all 
without  division;  what  is  in  them  as  a  quality,  is  in  him  as  his 
essence.  Again,  if  all  the  jDOwers  of  several  creatures,  with  all  their 
principal  qualities  and  vigors,  both  of  beasts,  plants,  and  rational 
creatures,  were  united  in  one  subject ;  as  if  one  lion  had  the  strength 
of  all  the  lions  that  ever  were ;  or,  if  one  elephant  had  tlie  strength 
of  all  the  elephants  that  ever  were ;  nay,  if  one  bee  had  all  the  power 
of  motion  and  stinging  that  all  bees  ever  had,  it  would  have  a  vast 
strength ;  but  if  the  strength  of  all  those  thus  gathered  into  one  of 
every  kind  should  be  lodged  in  one  sole  creature,  one  man,  would  it 
not  be  a  strength  too  big  for  our  conception  ?  Or,  suppose  one  can- 
non had  all  the  force  of  all  the  cannons  that  ever  were  in  the  world, 
what  a  battery  would  it  make,  and,  as  it  were,  shake  the  whole  fram_' 
of  heaven  and  earth !  All  this  strength  must  be  much  more  incompre- 
hensible in  God ;  all  is  united  in  hinu  If  it  were  in  one  individual 
created  nature,  it  would  still  be  but  a  finite  power  in  a  finite  nature : 
but  in  God  it  is  infinite  and  immense. 

Reason  2.  If  there  were  not  an  incomprehensible  power  in  God, 
he  would  not  be  infinitely  perfect.  God  is  the  first  Being ;  it  can 
only  be  said  of  him.  Est,  he  is.  All  other  things  are  nothing  to  him ; 
"  less  than  nothing  and  vanity"  (Isa.  xl.  17),  and  "  reputed  as  nothing" 
(Dan.  iv.  35).  All  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth,  with  all  their  Avit 
and  strength,  are  counted  as  if  they  were  not ;  just  in  comparison 
with  Him  and  his  being,  as  a  little  mote  in  the  sun-beams :  God, 
therefore,  is  a  pure  Being.  Any  kind  of  weakness  whatsoever  is  a 
defect,  a  degree  of  not  being ;  so  far  as  anything  wants  this  or  that 
power,  it  may  be  said  not  to  be.  Were  there  anything  of  weakness 
in  God,  any  want  of  strength  which  belonged  to  the  perfection  of 
a  nature,  it  might  be  said  of  God,  He  is  not  this  or  that,  he  wants 
this  or  that  perfection  of  Being,  and  so  he  would  not  be  a  pure  Being, 
there  would  be  something  of  not  being  in  him.  But  God  being  the 
first  Being,  the  only  original  Being,  he  is  infinitely  distant  from  not 
bsing,  and  therefore  infinitely  distant  from  anything  of  weakness. 
Again,  if  God  can  know  whatsoever  is  possible  to  be  done  by  him, 
and  cannot  do  it,  there  would  be  something  more  in  his  knowledge 


ON  THE   POWER   OF   GOD.  33 

than  in  his  po'wer.*'  What  would  then  follow?  That  the  essence  of 
God  would  be  in  some  regard  greater  than  itself,  and  less  than  itself 
because  his  knowledge  and  his  power  are  his  essence ;  his  power  as 
much  his  essence  as  his  knowledge:  and  therefore,  in  regard  of 
his  knowledge,  his  essence  would  be  greater ;  in  regard  of  his  power, 
his  essence  would  be  less ;  which  is  a  thing  impossible  to  be  con- 
ceived in  a  most  perfect  Being.  We  must  understand  this  of  those 
things  which  are  properly  and  in  their  own  nature  subjected  to 
the  Divine  knowledge ;  for  otherwise  God  knows  more  than  he  can 
do,  for  he  knows  sin,  but  he  cannot  act  it,  because  sin  belongs  not 
to  power  but  weakness ;  and  sin  comes  under  the  knowledge  of  God, 
not  in  itself  and  its  own  nature,  but  as  it  is  a  defect  from  God,  and 
contrary  to  good,  which  is  the  proper  object  of  Divine  knowledge. 
He  knows  it  also  not  as  possible  to  be  done  by  himself,  but  as  possi- 
ble to  be  done  by  the  creature.  Again,  if  God  were  not  omnipotent, 
we  might  imagine  something  more  perfect  than  God  -A  for  if  we  bar 
God  from  any  one  thing  which  in  its  own  nature  is  possible,  we  may 
imagine  a  being  that  can  do  that  thing,  one  that  is  able  to  effect  it ; 
and  so  imagine  an  agent  greater  than  God,  a  being  able  to  do  more 
than  God  is  able  to  do,  and  consequently  a  being  more  perfect  than 
God  :  but  no  being  more  perfect  than  God  can  be  imagined  by  any 
creature.  Nothing  can  be  called  most  perfect,  if  anything  of  activity 
be  wanting  to  it.  Active  power  follows  the  perfection  of  a  thing, 
and  all  things  are  counted  more  noble  by  how  much  more  of  efficacy 
and  virtue  they  possess.  We  count  those  the  best  and  most  perfect 
plants,  that  have  the  greatest  medicinal  virtue  in  them,  and  power 
of  working  upon  the  body  for  the  cure  of  distempers.  God  is  per- 
fect of  himself,  and  therefore  most  powerful  of  liimself  If  his  per- 
fection in  wisdom  and  goodness  be  unsearchable,  his  power,  which 
belongs  to  perfection,  and  without  which  all  the  other  excellencies  of 
his  nature  were  insignificant,  and  could  not  show  themselves,  (as  was 
before  evidenced,)  must  be  unsearchable  also.  It  is  by  the  title  of 
Almighty  he  is  denominated,  when  declared  to  be  unsearchable  to 
perfection  (Job  xi.  7):  "Canst  thou  by  searching  find  out  God,  canst 
thou  find  out  the  Almighty  to  perfection  ?"  This  would  be  limited 
and  searched  out,  if  he  were  destitute  of  an  active  ability  to  do 
whatsoever  he  pleased  to  do,  whatsoever  was  possible  to  be  done. 
As  he  hath  not  a  perfect  liberty  of  will,  if  he  could  not  will  what 
he  pleased ;  so  he  would  not  have  a  perfect  activity,  if  he  could  not 
do  what  he  willed. 

Reason  3.  The  simplicity  of  God  manifests  it.  Every  substance, 
the  more  spiritual  it  is,  the  more  powerful  it  is.  All  perfections  are 
more  united  in  a  simple,  than  in  a  compounded  being.  Angels, 
being  spirits,  are  more  powerful  than  bodies.  Where  there  is  the 
greatest  simplicity,  there  is  the  greatest  unity ;  and  where  there  is 
the  greatest  unity,  there  is  the  greatest  power.  Where  there  is  a 
composition  of  a  faculty  and  a  member,  the  member  or  organ  may 
be  weakened  and  rendered  unable  to  act,  though  the  power  doth 
still  reside  in  the  faculty.  As  a  man,  when  his  arm  or  hand  is  cut 
off  or  broke,  he  hath  the  faculty  of  motion  still ;  but  he  hath  lost 

"=  Vietorin.  ia  Petar.  Tom.  I.  p.  333.  *  ibid.  p.  233. 

VOL.  II. — 3 


34  CHAENOCK  ON"  THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

that  instrument  that  part  whereby  he  did  manifest  and  put  forth 
that  motion  :  but  God  being  a  pure  spiritual  nature,  hath  no  mem- 
bers, no  organs  to  be  defaced  or  impaired.  All  impediments  of 
actions  arise  either  from  the  nature  of  the  thing  that  acts,  or  from 
something  without  it.  There  can  be  no  hindrance  to  God  to  do 
whatsoever  he  pleases ;  not  in  himself,  because  he  is  the  most  sim- 
ple being,  hath  no  contrariety  in  himself,  is  not  composed  of  divers 
things ;  and  it  cannot  be  from  anything  without  himself,  because 
nothing  is  equal  to  him,  much  less  superior.  He  is  the  greatest,  the 
Supreme  :  all  things  were  made  by  him,  depend  upon  him,  nothing 
can  disappoint  his  intentions. 

Reason  4.  The  miracles  that  have  been  in  the  world  evidence  the 
power  of  God.  Extraordinary  productions  have  awakened  men 
from  their  stupidity,  to  the  acknowledgment  of  the  immensity  of 
Divine  power.  Miracles  are  such  effects  as  have  been  wrought 
without  the  assistance  and  co-operation  of  natural  causes,  yea,  con- 
trary and  besides  the  ordinary  course  of  nature,  above  the  reach  of 
any  created  power.  Miracles  have  been ;  and  saith  Bradwardine,<' 
to  deny  that  ever  such  things  were,  is  uncivil :  it  is  inhuman  to 
deny  all  the  histories  of  Jews  and  Christians;  whosoever  denies 
miracles,  must  deny  all  possibility  of  miracles,  and  so  must  imagine 
himself  fully  skilled  in  the  extent  of  Divine  power.  How  was  the 
sun  suspended  from  its  motion  for  some  hours  (Josh.  x.  13) ;  "  the 
dead  raised  from  the  grave  ;"  those  reduced  from  the  brink  of  it, 
that  had  been  brought  near  to  it  by  prevailing  diseases ;  and  this  by 
a  word  speaking  ?  How  were  the  famished  lions  bridled  from  ex- 
ercising their  rage  upon  Daniel,  exposed  to  them  for  a  prey  (Dan. 
vi.  22)  ?  the  activity  of  the  fire  curbed  for  the  preservation  of  the 
three  children  (Dan.  iii.  15)?  which  proves  a  Deity  more  powerful 
than  all  creatures.  No  power  upon  earth  can  hinder  the  operation 
of  the  fire  upon  combustible  matter,  when  they  are  united,  unless  by 
quenching  the  fire,  or  removing  the  matter :  but  no  created  power 
can  restrain  the  fire,  so  long  as  it  remains  so,  from  acting  according 
to  its  nature.  This  was  done  by  God  in  the  case  of  the  three  chil- 
dren, and  that  of  the  burning  bush  (Exod.  iii.  2).  It  was  as  much 
miraculous  that  the  bush  should  not  consume,  as  it  was  natural  that 
it  should  burn  by  the  efficacy  of  the  fire  upon  it.  No  element  is  so 
obstinate  and  deaf,  but  it  hears  and  obeys  his  voice,  and  performs 
his  orders,  though  contrary  to  its  own  nature :  all  the  violence  oi 
the  creature  is  suspended  as  soon  as  it  receives  his  command.  He 
that  gave  the  original  to  nature,  can  take  away  the  necessity  of  na- 
ture ;f  he  presides  over  creatures,  but  is  not  confined  to  those  laws 
he  hath  prescribed  to  creatures.  He  framed  nature,  and  can  turn 
the  channels  of  nature  according  to  his  own  pleasure.  Men  dig  into 
the  bowels  of  nature,  search  into  all  the  treasures  of  it,  to  find 
medicines  to  cure  a  disease,  and  after  all  their  attempts  it  may 
prove  labor  in  vain :  but  God,  by  one  act  of  his  will,  one  word  of 
his  mouth,  overturns  the  victory  of  death,  and  rescues  from  the  most 
desperate  diseases.?  All  the  miracles  which  were  wrought  by  the 
apostles,  either  speaking  some  words  or  touching  with  the  hand, 

•  Lib.  i.  cap.  1.  p.  38.  ''  Damiaaus,  in  Petar.  s  Faucli.  ia  Acts.  Vol.  II.  §  56. 


ON  THE   POWER   OF   GOD.  35 

were  not  effected  by  any  virtue  inherent  in  their  words  or  in  their 
touches ;  for  such  virtue  inherent  in  any  created  finite  subject  would  be 
created  and.  finite  itself,  and  consequently  were  incapable  to  produce 
effects  which  required  an  infinite  virtue,  as  miracles  do  which  are 
above  the  power  of  nature.     So  when  our  Saviour  wrought  miracles 
it  was  not  by  any  quality  resident  in  his  human  nature,  but  by  the 
sole  power  of  his  Divinity.      The  flesh  could  only  do  what  was 
proper  to  the  flesh ;  but  the  Deity  did  what  was  proper  to  the  Deity. 
"  God  alone  doth  wonders"  (Ps.  cxxxvi.  4) :  excluding  every  other 
cause  from  producing  those  things.      He  only  doth  those   things 
which  are  above  the  power  of  nature,  and  cannot  be  wrought  by 
any  natural  causes  whatsoever.     He  doth  not  hereby  put  his  omni- 
potence to  any  stress :  it  is  as  easy  with  him  to  turn  nature  out  of 
its  settled  course,  as  it  was  to  place  it  in  that  station  it  holds,  and 
appoint  it  that  course  it  runs.     All  the  works  of  nature  are  indeed 
miracles  and  testimonies  of  the  power  of  God  producing  them,  and 
sustaining  them :  but  works  above  the  power  of  nature,  being  novel- 
ties and  unusual,  strike  men  with  a  greater  admiration  upon  their 
appearance,  because  they  are  not  the  products  of  nature,  but  the 
convulsions  of  it.     I  might  also  add  as  an  argument,  the  power  of 
the  mind  of  man  to  conceive  more  than  hath  been  wrought  by  God 
in  the  world.     And  God  can  work  whatsoever  perfection  the  mind 
of  man  can  conceive :  otherwise  the  reaches  of  a  created  imagina- 
tion and  fancy  would  be  more  extensive  than  the  power  of  God. 
His  power,  therefore,  is  far  greater  than  the  conception  of  any  intel- 
lectual creature ;  else  the  creature  would  be  of  a  greater  capacity  to 
conceive  than  God  is  to  effect.     The  creature  would  have  a  power 
of  conception  above  God's  power  of  activity ;  and  consequently  a 
creature,  in  some  respect  greater  than  himself.     Now  whatsoever  a 
creature  can  conceive  possible  to  be  done,  is  but  finite  in  its  own 
nature ;  and  if  God  could  not  produce  what  being  a  created  under- 
standing can  conceive  possible  to  be  done,  he  would  be  less  than 
infinite  in  power,  nay,  he  could  not  go  to  the  extent  of  what  is 
finite.     But  I  have  touched  this  before ;  that  God  can  create  more 
than  he  hath  created,  and  in  a  more  perfect  way  of  being,  as  con- 
sidered simply  in  themselves. 

III.  The  third  general  thing  is  to  declare,  how  the  power  of  God 
appears  in  Creation,  in  Government,  in  Eedemption. 

First,  In  Creation.  With  what  majestic  lines  doth  God  set 
for  his  power,  in  the  giving  being  and  endowments  to  all  the  crea- 
tures in  the  world  (Job  xxxviii.) !  All  that  is  in  heaven  and  earth 
is  his,  and  shows  the  greatness  of  his  power,  glory,  victory,  and  ma- 
jesty (1  Chron.  xxix.  11).  The  heaven  being  so  magnificent  a  piece 
of  Avork,  is  called  emphatically,  "  the  firmament  of  his  power"  (Ps. 
cl.  1);  his  power  being  more  conspicuous  and  unavailed  in  that 
glorious  arch  of  the  world.  Indeed,  "  God  exalts  by  his  power" 
(Job  xxxvi.  22),  that  is,  exalts  himself  by  his  power  in  all  the 
Avorks  of  his  hands ;  in  the  smallest  shrub,  as  well  as  the  most 
glorious  sun.  All  his  works  of  nature  are  truly  miracles,  though 
we  consider  them  not,  being  blinded  with  two  frequent  and  cus- 
tomary a  sight  of  them ;  yet,  in  the  neglect  of  all  the  rest,  the  view 


36  CHABNOCK   ON  THE   ATTEIBUTES. 

of  the  heavens  doth  more  affect  us  with  astonishment  at  the  might 
of  God's  arm:  these  declare  his  glorv,  and  "the  firmament  showeth 
his  handy  work"  (Ps.  xix.  1).  And  the  Psalmist  peculiarly  calls 
them  his  heavens,  and  the  work  of  his  fingers  (Ps.  viii.  3) :  these 
were  immediately  created  by  God,  whereas  many  other  things  in  the 
world  were  brought  into  being  by  the  power  of  God,  yet  by  the 
means  of  the  influence  of  the  heavens. 

1.  His  power  is  the  first  thing  evident  in  the  story  of  the  creation. 
"  In  the  beginning  God  created  the  heavens  and  the  earth"  (Gen.  i. 
1).  There  is  no  appearance  of  anything  in  this  declaratory  preface, 
but  of  power :  the  characters  of  wisdom  march  after  in  the  distinct 
formation  of  things,  and  animating  them  with  suitable  qualities  for 
an  universal  good.  By  heaven  and  earth,  is  meant  the  whole  mass 
of  the  creatures  :  by  heaven,  all  the  airy  region,  with  all  the  host  of 
it ;  by  the  earth,  is  meant,  all  that  which  makes  the  entire  inferior 
globe. ii  The  Jews  observe,  that  in  the  first  of  Genesis,  in  the  whole 
chapter,  unto  the  finishing  the  work  in  six  days,  God  is  called  c^ribN, 
which  is  a  name  of  Power,  and  that  thirty-two  times  in  that  chapter ; 
but  after  the  finishing  the  six  days'  work,  he  is  called  cinbxn,  which, 
according  to  their  notion,  is  a  name  of  goodness  and  kindness :  his 
power  is  first  visible  in  framing  the  world,  before  his  goodness  is 
visible  in  the  sustaining  and  preserving  it.  It  was  by  this  name  of 
Power  and  Almighty  that  he  was  known  in  the  first  ages  of  the 
world,  not  by  his  name,  Jehovah  (Exod.  vi.  3)  :  "  And  I  appeared 
unto  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  by  the  name  of  God  Almighty  ;  but 
by  my  name  Jehovah  was  I  not  known  to  them."  Not  but  that  they 
were  acquainted  with  the  name,  but  did  not  experience  the  intent  of 
the  name,  which  signified  his  truth  in  the  performance  of  his  prom- 
ises ;  they  knew  him  by  that  name  as  promising,  but  they  knew  him 
not  by  that  name,  as  performing.  He  would  be  known  by  his  name 
Jehovah,  true  to  his  word,  when  he  was  about  to  effect  the  deliver- 
ance from  Egypt ;  a  type  of  the  eternal  redemption,  wherein  the 
truth  of  God,  in  performing  of  his  first  promise,  is  gloriously  magni- 
fied. And  hence  it  is  that  God  is  called  Almighty  more  in  the  book 
of  Job  than  in  all  the  Scripture  besides,  I  think  about  thirty-two 
times,  and  Jehovah  but  once,  Avhich  is  Job  xii.  9,  unless  in  Job 
xxxviii.  when  God  is  introduced  speaking  himself;  which  is  an 
argument  of  Job's  living  before  the  deliverance  from  Egypt,  when 
God  was  known  more  by  his  works  of  creation  than  by  the  perform- 
ance of  his  promises,  before  the  name  Jehovah  was  formally  publish- 
ed. Indeed,  this  attribute  of  his  eternal  power,  is  the  first  thing 
visible  and  intelligible  upon  the  first  glance  of  the  eye  upon  the 
creatures  (Rom.  i.  20).  Bring  a  man  out  of  the  cave  where  he  hath 
been  nursed,  without  seeing  anything  oiit  of  the  confines  of  it,  and 
let  him  lift  up  his  eyes  to  the  heavens,  and  take  a  prospect  of  that 
glorious  body,  the  sun,  then  cast  them  down  to  the  earth,  and  behold 
the  surface  of  it,  with  its  green  clothing ;  the  first  notion  which  will 
start  up  in  his  mind  from  that  spring  of  wonders,  is  that  of  power, 
which  he  will  at  first  adore  with  a  religious  astonishment.  The  wis- 
dom of  God  in  them  is  not  so  presently  apparent,  till  after  a  more 

•>  Meicer.  p.  7,  col.  1,  2. 


ON   THE   POWER   OF   GOD.  37 

exquisite  consideration  of  his  works  and  knowledge  of  tlie  proper- 
ties of  their  natures,  the  conveniency  of  their  situations,  and  the  use- 
fulness of  their  functions,  and  the  order  wherein  they  are  linked 
together  for  the  good  of  the  universe. 

2.  By  this  creative  power  God  is  often  distinguished  from  all  the 
idols  and  Mse  gods  in  the  world.  And  by  this  title  he  sets  forth 
himself  when  he  would  act  any  great  and  wonderful  work  in  the 
world  (Ps.  cxxxv.  5,  6) :  "  He  is  great  above  all  gods,"  for  "  he  hath 
done  whatsoever  he  pleased  in  heaven  and  in  earth."  Upon  this  is 
founded  all  the  worship  he  challengeth  in  the  world,  as  his  peculiar, 
glory  (Rev.  iv.  11) :  "  Thou  art  worthy,  O  Lord,  to  receive  glory, 
honor,  and  power,  for  thou  hast  created  all  things."  And  (Rev.  x.  6) 
"  I  have  made  the  earth,  and  created  man  upon  it."  "  I,  even  my 
hands,  have  stretched  out  the  heavens,  and  all  their  host  have  I 
commanded"  (Isa.  xlv.  12).  What  is  the  issue  (ver.  16)  ?  "  They 
shall  be  ashamed  and  confounded,  all  of  them,  that  are  makers  of 
idols."  And  the  weakness  of  idols  is  expressed  by  this  title.  "  The 
gods  that  have  not  made  the  heavens  and  the  earth"  (Jer.  x.  11). 
"  The  portion  of  Jacob  is  not  like  them,  for  he  is  the  former  of  all 
things"  (ver.  16).  What  is  not  that  God  able  to  do,  that  hath  created 
so  great  a  Avorlcl  ?     How  doth  the  power  of  God  appear  in  creation  ? 

1st.  In  making  the  world  of  nothing.  When  we  say,  the  world 
was  made  of  nothing,  we  mean,  that  there  was  no  matter  existent  for 
God  to  work  upon,  but  what  he  raised  himself  in  the  first  act  of 
creation.  In  this  regard,  the  power  of  God  in  creation  surmounts 
his  power  in  providence.  Creation  supposeth  nothing,  providence 
supposeth  something  in  being.  Creation  intimates  a  creature  making, 
providence  speaks  a  thing  already  made,  and  capable  of  government, 
and  in  government.  God  uses  second  causes  to  bring  about  his 
purposes. 

1.  The  world  was  made  of  nothing.  The  earth  which  is  described 
as  the  first  matter,  without  any  form  or  ornament,  without  any  dis- 
tinction or  figures,  was  of  God's  forming  in  the  bulk,  before  he  did 
adorn  it  with  his  pencil  (Gen.  i.  1,  2).  God,  in  the  beginning,  crea- 
ting the  heaven  and  the  earth,  includes  two  things :  First.  That 
those  were  created  in  the  beginning  of  time,  and  before  all  other 
things.  Secondly.  That  God  begun  the  crceation  of  the  world  from 
those  things.!  Therefore  before  the  heavens  and  the  earth  there  was 
nothing  absolutely  created,  and  therefore  no  matter  in  being  before 
an  act  of  creation  passed  upon  it.  It  could  not  be  eternal,  because 
nothing  can  be  eternal  but  God  ;  it  must  therefore  have  a  beginning. 
If  it  had  a  beginning  from  itself,  then  it  was  before  it  was.  If  it 
acted  in  the  making  itself  before  it  was  made,  then  it  had  a  being 
before  it  had  a  being ;  for  that  which  is  nothing,  can  act  nothing : 
the  action  of  anything  supposeth  the  existence  of  the  thing  which 
acts.  It  being  made,  it  was  not  before  it  was  made  ;  for  to  be  made 
is  to  be  brought  into  being.  It  was  made,  then,  by  another,  and 
that  Maker  is  God.  It  is  necessary  that  the  First  Original  of  things 
was  from  nothing :  when  we  see  one  thing  to  arise  from  another,  we 
must  suppose  an  original  of  the  first  of  each  kind ;  as,  when  we  see 

•  Suarez,  Vol.  III.  p.  33. 


38  CHARNOCK  ON   THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

a  tree  spring  up  from  a  seed,  we  know  that  seed  came  out  of  the 
bowels  of  another  tree  ;  it  had  a  parent,  it  had  a  master ;  we  must 
come  to  some  first,  or  else  we  run  into  an  endless  maze :  we  must 
come  to  some  first  tree,  some  first  seed  that  had  no  cause  of  the  same 
kind,  no  matter  of  it,  but  was  mere  nothing.  Creation  doth  suppose 
a  production  from  nothing  ;  because,  if  you  suppose  a  thing  without 
any  real  or  actual  existence,  it  is  not  capable  of  any  other  production 
than  from  nothing :  nothing  must  be  supposed  before  the  world,  or 
we  must  suppose  it  eternal,  and  tliat  is  to  deny  it  to  be  a  creature, 
and  make  it  God.^  The  creation  of  spiritual  substances,  such  as 
angels  and  souls,  evince  this  ;  those  things  that  are  purely  spiritual, 
and  consist  not  of  matter,  cannot  pretend  to  any  original  from  matter, 
and  therefore  they  rose  up  from  nothing.  If  spiritual  things  arose 
from  nothing,  much  more  may  corporeal,  because  they  are  of  a  lower 
nature  than  spiritual ;  and  he  that  can  create  a  higher  nature  of 
nothing,  can  create  an  inferior  nature  of  nothing.  As  bodily  things 
are  more  iiuperfect  than  spiritual,  so  their  creation  may  be  supposed 
easier  than  that  of  sijiritual.  There  was  as  little  need  of  any  matter 
to  be  wrought  to  his  hands,  to  contrive  into  this  visible  fabric,  as 
there  was  to  erect  such  an  excellent  order  as  the  glorious  cheru- 
bims. 

2.  This  creation  of  things  from  nothing  speaks  an  infinite  power. 
The  distance  between  nothing  and  being  hath  been  alway  counted 
so  great,  that  nothing  but  an  Infinite  Power  can  make  such  distances 
meet  together,  either  for  nothing  to  pass  into  being,  or  being  to  re- 
turn to  nothing.  To  have  a  thing  arise  from  nothing,  was  so  difiicult 
a  text  to  those  that  were  ignorant  of  the  Scripture,  that  they  knew 
not  how  to  fathom  it,  and  therefore  laid  it  down  as  a  certain  rule, 
that  of  nothing,  nothing  is  made  ;  which  is  true  of  a  created  power, 
but  not  of  an  uncreated  and  Almight}^  Power.  A  greater  distance 
cannot  be  imagined  than  that  whicli  is  between  nothing  and  some- 
thing ;  that  whicli  hath  no  being,  and  that  which  hath  ;  and  a  greater 
power  cannot  be  imagined  than  that  which  brings  something  out  of 
nothing.  We  know  not  how  to  conceive  a  nothing,  and  afterwards 
a  being  from  that  nothing ;  but  we  must  remain  swallowed  up  in 
admiration  of  the  Cause  that  gives  it  being,  and  acknowledge  it  to 
be  without  any  bounds  and  measures  of  greatness  and  power.*  The 
further  anything  is  from  being,  the  more  immense  must  that  power 
be  which  brings  it  into  being :  it  is  not  conceivable  that  the  power 
of  all  the  angels  in  one  can  give  being  to  the  smallest  spire  of  grass. 
To  imagine,  therefore,  so  small  a  thing  as  a  bee,  a  fly,  a  grain  of 
corn,  or  an  atom  of  dust,  to  be  made  of  nothing,  would  stupefy  any 
creature  in  the  consideration  of  it,  much  more  to  behold  the  heavens, 
with  all  the  troop  of  stars ;  the  earth,  with  all  its  embroidery  ;  and 
the  sea,  with  all  her  inhabitants  of  fish ;  and  man,  the  noblest  crea- 
ture of  all,  to  arise  out  of  the  womb  of  mere  emptiness.  Indeed, 
God  had  not  acted  as  an  almighty  Creator,  if  he  had  stood  in  need 
of  any  materials  but  of  his  own  framing  :  it  had  been  as  much  as  his 
Deity  was  worth,  if  he  had  not  had  all  within  the  compass  of  his 
own  power  that  was  necessary  to  operation ;  if  he  must  have  been 

^  Suarez,  Vol  III.  p.  6.  '  Amyrald  Morale.  Tom.  I.  d.  252. 


ON  THE   POWER  OF   GOD.  89 

beholden  to  sometliing  without  himself,  and  above  himself,  for  mat- 
ter to  work  upon :  had  there  been  such  a  necessity,  we  could  not 
have  imagined  him  to  be  omnipotent,  and,  consequently,  not  God, 

3.  In  this  the  power  of  God  exceeds  the  power  of  all  natural  and 
rational  agents.  Nature,  or  the  order  of  second  causes,  hath  a  vast 
power  ;  the  sun  generates  flies  and  other  insects,  but  of  some  matter, 
the  slime  of  the  earth  or  a  dunghill ;  the  sun  and  the  earth  bring 
forth  harvests  of  corn,  but  from  seed  first  sown  in  the  earth  ;  fruits 
are  brought  forth,  but  from  the  sap  of  the  plant ;  were  there  no  seed 
or  plants  in  the  earth,  the  power  of  the  earth  would  be  idle,  and  the 
influence  of  the  sun  insignificant ;  whatsoever  strength  either  of 
them  had  in  their  nature,  must  be  useless  without  matter  to  work 
upon.  All  the  united  strength  of  nature  cannot  produce  the  least 
thing  out  of  nothing ;  it  may  multiply  and  increase  things,  by 
the  powerful  blessing  God  gave  it  at  the  first  erecting  of  the  world, 
but  it  cannot  create.  The  word  which  signifies  creation^  used  in  Gen. 
i.  1,  is  not  ascribed  to  any  second  cause,  but  only  to  God ;  a  word, 
in  that  sense,  as  incommunicable  to  anything  else  as  the  action  it 
signifies.  Kational  creatures  can  produce  admirable  pieces  of  art 
from  small  things,  yet  still  out  of  matter  created  to  their  hands.  Ex- 
cellent garments  may  be  woven,  but  from  the  entrails  of  a  small 
silkworm.  Delightful  and  medicinal  spirits  and  essences  may  be  ex- 
tracted, by  ingenious  chemists,  but  out  of  the  bodies  of  plants  and 
minerals.  No  picture  can  be  drawn  without  colors ;  no  statue  en- 
graven without  stone ;  no  building  erected  without  timber,  stones, 
and  other  materials  :  nor  can  any  man  raise  a  thought  without  some 
matter  framed  to  his  hands,  or  cast  into  him.  Matter  is,  by  nature, 
formed  to  the  hands  of  all  artificers  ;  they  bestow  a  new  figure  upon 
it,  by  the  help  of  instruments,  and  the  product  of  their  own  wit  and 
skill,  but  they  create  not  the  least  particle  of  matter;  when  they 
want  it,  they  must  be  supplied  or  else  stand  still,  as  well  as  nature, 
for  none  of  them,  or  all  together,  can  make  the  least  mite  or  atom : 
and  when  they  have  wrought  all  that  they  can,  they  will  not  want 
some  to  find  a  flaw  and  defect  in  their  work.  God,  as  a  Creator, 
hath  the  only  prerogative  to  draAV  what  he  pleases  from  nothing, 
without  any  defect,  without  any  imperfection :  he  can  raise  what 
matter  he  please  ;  ennoble  it  with  what  form  he  pleases.  Of  nothing, 
nothing  can  be  made,  by  any  created  agent :  but  the  omnipotent 
Architect  of  the  world  is  not  under  the  same  necessity,  nor  is  limited 
to  the  same  rule,  and  tied  by  so  short  a  tedder  as  created  nature,  or 
an  ingenious,  yet  feeble  artificer. 

2d.  It  appears,  in  raising  such  variety  of  creatures  from  this  bar- 
ren womb  of  nothing,  or  from  the  matter  which  he  first  commanded 
to  appear  out  of  nothing.  Had  tliere  been  any  pre-existent  matter, 
yet  the  bringing  forth  such  varieties  and  diversities  of  excellent 
creatures,  some  with  life,  some  with  sense,  and  others  with  reason 
superadded  to  the  rest,  and  those  out  of  indisposed  and  undigested 
matter,  would  argue  an  infinite  power  resident  in  the  first  Author  of 
this  variegated  fabric.  From  this  matter  he  formed  that  glorious 
sun,  which  every  day  displays  its  glory,  scatters  its  beams,  clears  the 
air,  ripens  our  fruits,  and  maintains  the  propagation  of  creatures  in 


40  CHARNOCK  ON  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

the  world.  From  this  matter  he  hghted  those  torches  which  he  set 
in  the  heaven  to  qualify  the  darkness  of  the  night :  from  this  he 
compacted  those  bodies  of  light,  which,  though  they  seem  to  us  as 
little  sparks,  as  if  they  were  the  glow-worms  of  heaven,  yet  some  of 
them  exceed  in  greatness  this  globe  of  the  earth  on  which  we  live  : 
and  the  highest  of  them  hath  so  quick  a  motion,  that  some  tell  us 
they  run,  in  the  sj^ace  of  every  hour,  42,000,000  of  leagues.  From 
the  same  matter  he  drew  the  earth  on  which  we  walk ;  from  thence 
he  extracted  the  flowers  to  adorn  it,  the  hills  to  secure  the  valleys, 
and  the  rocks  to  fortify  it  against  the  inundations  of  the  sea  ;  and 
on  this  dull  and  sluggish  element  he  bestowed  so  great  a  fruitfulness, 
to  maintain,  feed,  and  multiply  so  many  seeds  of  different  kinds, 
and  conferred  upon  those  little  bodies  of  seeds  a  power  to  multiply 
their  kinds,  in  conjunction  with  the  fruitfulness  of  the  earth,  to  many 
thousands.  From  this  rude  matter,  the  slime  or  dust  of  the  earth, 
he  kneaded  the  body  of  man,  and  wrought  so  curious  a  fabric,  fit  to 
entertain  a  soul  of  a  heavenly  extraction,  formed  by  the  breath  of 
God  (Gen.  ii.  7).  He  brought  light  out  of  thick  darkness,  and  liv- 
ing creatures,  fish  and  fowl,  out  of  inanimate  waters  (Gen.  i.  20),  and 
gave  a  power  of  spontaneous  motion  to  things  arising  from  that 
matter  which  had  no  living  motion.  To  convert  one  thing  into 
another,  is  an  evidence  of  infinite  power,  as  well  as  creating  things 
of  nothing ;  for  the  distance  between  life  and  not  life  is  next  to  that 
which  is  between  being  and  not  being.  God  first  forms  matter  out 
of  nothing,  and  then  draws  upon,  and  from  this  indisposed  chaos, 
many  excellent  portraitures.  Neither  earth  nor  sea  were  capable  of 
producing  living  creatures  without  an  infinite  power  working  upon 
it,  and  bringing  into  it  such  variety  and  multitude  of  forms ;  and 
this  is  called,  by  some,  mediate  creation,  as  the  producing  the  chaos, 
which  was  without  form  and  void,  is  called  immediate  creation.  Is 
not  the  power  of  the  potter  admirable  in  forming,  out  of  tempered 
clay,  such  varieties  of  neat  and  curious  vessels,  that,  after  they  are 
fashioned  and  past  the  furnace,  look  as  if  they  were  not  of  any  kin 
to  the  matter  they  are  formed  of?  and  is  it  not  the  same  with  the 
glass-maker,  that,  from  a  little  melted  jelly  of  sand  and  ashes,  or  the 
dust  of  flint,  can  blow  up  so  pure  a  body  as  glass,  and  in  such  va- 
rieties of  shapes  ?  and  is  not  the  power  of  God  more  admirable,  be- 
cause infinite  in  speaking  out  so  beautiful  a  world  out  of  nothing, 
and  such  varieties  of  living  creatures  from  matter  utterly  indisposed, 
in  its  own  nature,  for  such  forms  ? 

3d.  And  this  conducts  to  a  third  thing,  wherein  the  power  of  God 
appears,  in  that  he  did  all  this  with  the  greatest  ease  and  facility. 

1.  Without  instruments.  As  God  made  the  world  without  the 
advice,  so  without  the  assistance,  of  any  other :  "  He  stretched 
forth  the  heavens  alone,  and  spread  abroad  the  earth  by  himself" 
(Isa.  xliv.  24).  He  had  no  engine,  but  his  word ;  no  pattern  or 
model,  but  himself.  What  need  can  he  have  of  instruments,  that 
is  able  to  create  what  instruments  he  pleases  ?  Where  there  is 
no  resistance  in  the  object,  where  no  need  of  preparation  or  in- 
strumental advantage  in  the  agent ;  there  the  actual  determination 
of  the  will  is  sufficient   to   a  production.     What  instrument  need 


ON   THE   POWER   OF   GOD.  41 

we  to  the  thinking  of  a  tliought,  or  an  act  of  our  will  ?  Men, 
indeed,  cannot  act  anything  without  tools ;  the  best  artificer  mnst 
be  beholden  to  something  else  for  his  noblest  works  of  art.  The 
carpenter  cannot  work  without  his  rule,  and  axe,  and  saw,  and 
other  instruments ;  the  watch-maker  cannot  act  without  his  file 
and  pliers;  but  in  creation,  there  is  nothing  necessary  to  God's 
bringing  forth  a  world,  but  a  simple  act  of  his  will,  which  is 
both  the  principal  cause,  and  instrumental.  He  had  no  scaffolds 
to  rear  it,  no  engines  to  polish  it,  no  hammers  or  mattocks  to  clod 
and  work  it  together.  It  is  a  miserable  error  to  measure  the  actions 
of  an  Infinite  Cause  by  the  imperfect  model  of  a  finite,  since,  by  his 
own  "  power  and  out-stretched  arm,  he  made  the  heaven  and  the 
earth"  (Jer.  xxxii,  17).  What  excellency  would  God  have  in  his 
work  above  others,  if  he  needed  instruments,  as  feeble  men  do?'" 
Every  artificer  is  counted  more  admirable,  that  can  frame  curious 
works  with  the  less  matter,  fewer  tools,  and  assistances.  God  uses 
instruments  in  his  works  of  providence,  not  for  necessity,  but  for  the 
display  of  his  wisdom  in  the  management  of  them ;  yet  those  in- 
struments were  originally  framed  by  him  without  instruments.  In- 
deed, some  of  the  Jews  thought  the  angels  were  the  instruments  of 
God  in  creating  man,  and  that  those  words,  "  Let  us  make  man  in 
our  own  image"  (Gen.  i.  26),  were  spoken  to  angels.  But  certainly 
the  Scripture,  which  denies  God  any  counsellor  in  the  model  of 
creation  (Isa.  xl.  12 — 14),  doth  not  join  any  instrument  with  him  in 
the  operation,  which  is  everywhere  ascribed  to  himself  "  without 
created  assistance"  (Isa.  xlv.  18).  It  was  not  to  angels  God  spake 
in  that  afi'air ;  if  so,  man  was  made  after  the  image  of  angels,  if  they 
were  companions  with  God  in  that  work  ;  but  it  is  everywhere  said, 
that  "  Man  was  made  after  the  image  of  God"  (Gen.  i.  27).  Again, 
the  image  wherein  man  was  created,  was  that  of  dominion  over  the 
lower  creatures,  as  appears  ver.  26,  which  we  find  not  conferred  upon 
angels  ;  and  it  is  not  likely  that  Moses  should  introduce  the  angels, 
as  God's  privy  counsel,  of  whose  creation  he  had  not  mentioned  one 
syllable.  "  Let  us  make  man,"  rather  signifies  the  Trinity,  and  not 
spoken  in  a  royal  style,  as  some  think.  Which  of  the  Jewish  kings 
wrote  in  the  style.  We  f  That  was  the  custom  of  later  times  ;  and 
we  must  not  measure  the  language  of  Scripture  by  the  style  of 
Europe,  of  a  far  later  date  than  the  penning  the  history  of  the  crea- 
tion. If  angels  were  his  counsellors  in  the  creation  of  the  material 
world,  what  instrument  had  he  in  the  creation  of  angels  ?  If  his 
own  Avisdom  were  the  director,  and  his  own  will  the  producer  of  the 
one  ;  why  should  we  not  think,  that  he  acted  by  his  sole  power  in 
the  other  ?  It  is  concluded  by  most,  that  the  power  of  creation  can- 
not be  derived  to  any  creature,  it  being  a  work  of  omnipotency ;  the 
drawing  something  out  from  nothing,  cannot  be  communicated 
without  a  communication  of  the  Deity  itself.  The  educing  things 
from  nothing  exceeds  the  capacity  of  any  creature,  and  the  creature 
is  of  too  feeble  a  nature  to  be  elevated  to  so  high  a  degree.  It  is 
very  unreasonable  to  think,  that  God  needed  any  such  aid.  If  an 
instrument  were  necessary  for  God  to  create  the  world,  then  he  could 

"  Gasseud. 


42  CHARNOCK   ON  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

not  do  it  witliout  tliat  instrument :  if  lie  could  not,  he  were  not  then 
all-sufficient  in  himself,  if  he  depended  upon  anything  without  hun- 
self,  for  the  production  or  consummation  of  his  works.  And  it 
might  be  inquired,  how  that  instrument  came  into  being ;  if  it 
begun  to  be,  and  there  was  a  time  when  it  was  not,  it  must  have 
its  being  from  the  power  of  God ;  and  then,  why  could  not  God 
as  well  create  all  things  without  an  instrment,  as  create  that  in- 
strument without  an  instrument  ?  For  there  was  no  more  power 
necessary  to  a  producing  the  whole  without  instruments,  than  to 
produce  one  creature  without  an  instrument.  No  creature  can, 
in  its  own  nature,  be  an  instrument  of  creation.  If  any  such  in- 
strument were  used  by  God,  it  must  be  elevated  in  a  miraculous 
and  supernatural  way ;  and  what  is  so  an  instrument,  is,  in  effect, 
no  instrument ;  for  it  works  nothing  by  its  own  nature,  but  from 
an  elevation  by  a  superior  nature,  and  beyond  its  own  nature. 
All  that  power  in  the  instrument  is  truly  the  j)ower  of  God,  and 
not  the  power  of  the  instrument ;  and,  therefore,  what  God  doth 
by  an  instrument,  he  could  do  as  well  without.  If  you  should 
see  one  apply  straw  to  iron,  for  the  cutting  of  it,  and  effect  it, 
you  would  not  call  the  straw  an  instrument  in  that  action,  be- 
cause there  was  nothing  in  the  nature  of  the  straw  to  do  it.  It 
was  done  wholly  by  some  other  force,  which  might  have  done  it 
as  well  without  the  straw  as  with  it.  The  narrative  of  the  creation 
in  Genesis,  removes  any  instrument  from  God.  The  plants  which 
are  preserved  and  propagated  by  the  influence  of  the  sun,  were 
created  the  day  before  the  sun,  viz.  on  the  "third  day,"  whereas,  the 
light  was  collected  into  the  body  of  the  sun  on  the  "fourth  day"  (Gen. 
i.  11,  16) ;  to  show,  that  though  the  plants  do  instrumentally  owe 
their  yearly  beauty  and  preservation  to  the  sun,  yet  they  did  not  in 
any  manner  owe  their  creation  to  the  instrumental  heat  and  vigor 
of  it. 

2.  God  created  the  world  by  a  word,  by  a  simple  act  of  his  will. 
The  whole  creation  is  wrought  by  a  word  ;  "  God  said,  Let  there  be 
light;"  and  "God  said.  Let  there  be  a  firmament.""  Not  that  we 
should  understand  it  of  a  sensible  word,  but  understand  it  of  a 
powerful  order  of  his  own  will,  which  is  expressed  by  the  Psalmist 
in  the  nature  of  a  command  (Ps.  xxxiii  9) :  "  He  spake,  and  it  was 
done  ;  he  commanded,  and  it  stood  fast;"  and  (Ps.  cxlviii,  5),  "  He 
commanded,  and  they  were  created."  At  the  same  instant  that  he 
willed  them  to  stand  forth,  they  did  stand  forth.  The  efficacious 
command  of  the  Creator  was  the  original  of  all  things :  the  insensi- 
bility of  nothing  obeyed  the  act  of  his  will.  Creation  is  therefore 
entitled  a  calling  (Rom.  iv.  17) :  "  He  calls  those  things  which  are 
not,  as  if  they  were."  To  create  is  no  more  with  God,  than  to  call ; 
and  what  he  calls,  presents  itself  before  him  in  the  same  posture  that 
he  calls  it.  He  did  with  more  ease  make  a  world,  than  we  can  form 
a  thought.  It  is  the  same  ease  to  him  to  create  worlds,  as  to  decree 
them  ;  there  needs  no  more  than  a  resolve  to  have  things  wrought 
at  such  a  time,  and  they  Avill  be,  according  to  his  pleasure.  This 
will  is  his  power  ;  "  Let  there  be  light,"  is  the  precept  of  his  will; 

»  Gen.  i.  3,  5,  <fec.  throughout  the  whole  chajiter. 


ON  THE   POWER   OF   GOD.  43 

and  "tliere  was  liglit,"  is  tlie  effect  of  liis  precept.  By  a  word,  was 
tlie  matter  of  the  heavens  and  the  earth  framed  ;  by  a  word,  things 
separate  themselves  from  the  rude  mass  into  their  proper  forms ;  bj 
a  word,  light  associates  itself  into  one  body,  and  forms  a  sun ;  by  a 
word,  are  the  heavens,  as  it  were,  bespangled  with  stars,  and  the 
earth  dressed  with  floAvers ;  by  a  word,  is  the  world  both  ceiled  and 
floored :  one  act  of  his  will,  formed  the  world,  and  perfected  its 
beauty.  All  the  variety  and  several  exploits  of  his  power  were  not 
caused  by  distinct  words  or  acts  of  power.  God  uttered  not  distinct 
words  for  distinct  species ;  as,  let  there  be  an  elephant,  and  let  there 
be  a  lion  ;  but  as  he  produced  those  various  creatures  out  of  one 
matter,  so  by  one  word.  By  one  single  command,  those  varieties  of 
creatures,  with  their  clothing,  ornaments,  distinct  notes,  qualities, 
functions,  were  brought  forth  (Gen.  i.  11):  by  one  word,  all  the  seeds 
of  the  earth,  with  their  various  virtues:  by  one  word,  all  the  fish  of 
the  sea,  and  f(::)wls  of  the  air,  in  their  distinct  natures,  instincts,  colors 
(Gen.  i.  20) :  by  one  word,  all  the  beasts  of  the  field,  with  their  va- 
rieties (Gen.  i.  24).  Heaven  and  earth,  spiritual  and  corporeal  crea- 
tures, mortal  and  immortal,  the  greater  and  the  less,  visible  and  in- 
visible, were  formed  with  the  same  ease  :°  a  word  made  the  least, 
and  a  word  made  the  greatest.  It  is  as  little  difficulty  to  him  to  pro- 
duce the  highest  angel,  as  the  lighest  atom.  It  is  enough  for  the 
existence  of  the  stateliest  cherubim,  for  God  only  to  will  his  being. 
It  was  enough  for  the  forming  and  fixing  the  sun,  to  will  the  com- 
pacting of  light  into  one  body.  The  creation  of  the  soul  of  man  is 
expressed  by  inspiration  (Gen.  ii.  7) ;  to  show,  that  it  is  as  easy  with 
God  to  create  a  rational  soul,  as  for  man  to  breathe.?  Breathing  is 
natural  to  man,  by  a  communication  of  God's  goodness ;  and  the 
creation  of 'the  soul  is  as  easy  to  God,  by  virtue  of  his  Almighty 
word.  As  there  was  no  proportion  between  nothing  and  being,  so 
there  was  as  little  proportion  between  a  word  and  such  glorious 
effects.  A  mere  voice,  coming  from  an  Omnipotent  will,  was  capa- 
ble to  produce  such  varieties,  which  angels  and  men  have  seen  in  all 
ages  of  the  world,  and  this  without  weariness.  "What  labor  is  there 
in  willing  ?  what  pain  could  there  be  in  speaking  a  word  ?  (Isa.  xl. 
28),  "  The  Creator  of  the  ends  of  the  earth  is  not  weary."  And 
though  he  be  said  to  rest  after  the  creation,  it  is  to  be  meant  a  rest 
from  work,  not  a  repose  from  weariness.  So  great  is  the  poAver  of 
God,  that  without  any  matter,  without  any  instruments,  he  could 
create  many  worlds,  and  with  the  same  ease  as  he  made  this. 

4th.  I  might  add  also,  the  appearance  of  this  power  in  the  instan- 
taneous production  of  things.  The  ending  of  his  word  was  not  only 
the  beginning,  but  the  perfection  of  every  thing  he  spake  into  being  ; 
not  several  words  to  several  parts  and  members,  but  one  word,  one 
breath  of  his  mouth,  one  act  of  his  will,  to  the  whole  species  of  the 
creatures,  and  to  every  member  in  each  individual.  Heaven  and 
earth  were  created  in  a  moment ;  six  days  went  to  their  disposal ; 
and  that  comely  order  we  observe  in  the  world  was  the  work  of  a 
week  :  the  matter  was  formed  as  soon  as  God  had  spoken  the  word  ; 
and  in  every  part  of  the  creation,  as  soon  as  God  spake  the  word^ 

«  Au<rus.  V  Theodorct. 


44  CHARNOCK   ON  THE   ATTEIBUTES. 

"  Let  it  be  so"  (Gen.  i.),  the  answer  immediately  is,  "  It  was  so  ;" 
wliicli  notes  the  present  standing  up  of  the  creature  according  to  the 
act  of  his  will :  and,  therefore,  ^i  one  observes,  that  "  Let  there  be 
light,  and  there  was  light ;"  in  the  Hebrew  are  the  same  words,  vnih- 
out  any  alteration  of  letter  or  point,  only  the  conjunctive  particle 
added,  nix  ^n-'i  mx  in-i,  "  Let  there  be  light,  and  let  there  be  light,"  to 
show,  that  the  same  instant  of  the  speaking  the  Divine  word,  Avas  the 
appearance  of  the  creature :  so  great  was  the  authority  of  his  will. 

Secondly,  "We  are  to  show  God's  power  in  the  Government  of 
the  world.  As  God  decreed  from  eternity  the  creation  of  things  in 
time,  so  he  decreed  from  eternity  the  particular  ends  of  creatures, 
and  their  operation  respecting  those  ends.  Now,  as  there  was  need 
of  his  power  to  execute  his  decree  of  creation,  there  is  also  need  of 
his  power  to  execute  his  decree  about  the  manner  of  government.'" 
All  government  is  an  act  of  the  understanding,  will,  and  power. 
Prudence  to  design  belongs  to  the  understanding  ;  the  election  of  the 
means  belongs  to  the  will ;  and  the  accomplishment  of  the  whole  is 
an  act  of  j^ower.  It  is  a  hard  matter  to  determine  which  is  most 
necessary  :  wisdom  stands  in  as  much  need  of  power  to  perfect,  as 
power  doth  of  wisdom,  to  model  and  draw  out  a  scheme ;  though 
wisdom  directs,  power  must  effect.  "Wisdom  and  power  are  distinct 
things  among  men :  a  poor  man  in  a  cottage  ma}^  have  more  pru- 
dence to  advise,  than  a  privy  counsellor ;  and  a  prince  more  power 
to  act,  than  wisdom  to  conduct,  A  pilot  may  direct  though  he  be 
lame,  and  cannot  climb  the  masts,  and  spread  the  sails :  but  God  is 
wanting  in  nothing ;  neither  in  wisdom  to  design,  nor  in  will  to  de- 
termine, nor  in  power  to  accomplish.  His  wisdom  is  not  feeble,  nor 
his  power  foolish :  a  feeble  wisdom  could  not  act  what  it  would,  and 
a  foolish  power  would  act  more  than  it  should.  The  power  express- 
ed in  his  government  is  shadowed  forth  in  the  living  creatures,  which 
are  God's  instruments  in  it.  It  is  said,  "  Every  one  of  them  had 
four  faces"  (Ezek.  i.  10) ;  that  of  a  man  to  signify  wisdom ;  of  a  lion, 
eagle,  the  strongest  among  birds,  to  signify  their  courage  and  strength 
to  perform  their  offices.  This  power  is  evident  in  the  natural,  moral, 
gracious  government.  There  is  a  natural  providence,  which  consists 
in  the  preservation  of  all  things,  propogation  of  them  b}^  corruptions 
and  generations,  and  in  a  co-operation  with  them  in  their  motions  to 
attain  their  ends.  Moral  government  is  of  the  hearts  and  actions  of 
men.     Gracious  government,  as  respecting  the  Church. 

First,  His  power  is  evident  in  natural  government. 

1.  In  preservation.  God  is  the  great  Father  of  the  world,  to 
nourish  it  as  well  as  create  it.^  Man  and  beast  would  perish  if  there 
were  not  herbs  for  their  food ;  and  herbs  would  wither  and  perish, 
if  the  earth  were  not  watered  with  fruitful  showers.  This  some  of 
the  heathens  acknowledged,  in  their  worshipping  God  under  the 
image  of  an  ox,  a  useful  creature,  by  reason  of  its  strength,  to  which 
we  owe  so  much  of  our  food  in  corn.  "  Hence,  God  is  stjded  the 
"  Preserver  of  man  and  beast"  (Ps.  xxxvi.  6).  Hence,  the  Jews 
called  God,t  Place  ;  because  he  is  the  subsistence  of  all  things.     By 

q  Peirs.  p.  111.  >•  Siiarez,  Vol.  I.  lib.  iii.  cap.  10. 

'  Daille,  ia  1  Cor.  x.  p.  102.  *  Qlpa. 


ON   THE   POWER   OF   GOD.  45 

tlie  same  word  whereby  lie  gave  being  to  tilings,  he  gives  to  them 
continuance  and  duration  in  being  so  much  a  term  of  time.  As  they 
were  "  created  by  his  word,"  they  are  supported  by  his  word  (Heb, 
i.  8).  The  same  powerful  fiat,  "  Let  the  earth  bring  forth  grass" 
(Gen.  i.  11),  when  the  plants  peeped  upon  man  out  of  nothing,  is 
expressed  every  spring,  when  they  begin  to  lift  up  their  heads  from 
their  naked  roots  and  winter  graves.  The  resurrection  of  light  every 
morning,  the  reviving  the  pleasure  of  all  things  to  the  eye ;  the  wa- 
tering the  valleys  from  the  mountain  springs ;  the  curbing  the  natui-al 
appetite  of  the  waters  from  covering  the  earth ;  every  draught  that 
the  beasts  drink,  every  lodging  the  fowls  have,  every  bit  of  food  for 
the  sustenance  of  man  and  beast,  is  ascribed  to  the  "  opening  of  his 
hand,"  the  diffusing  of  his  power  (Ps.  civ.  27,  &c.),  as  much  as  the 
first  creation  of  things,  and  endowing  them  with  their  particular 
nature :  whence  the  plants,  which  are  so  serviceable,  are  called  "  the 
trees  of  the  Lord"  (ver.  16),  of  Jehovah,  that  hath  only  being  and 
power  in  himself  The  whole  Psalm  is  but  the  description  of  his 
preserving,  as  the  first  of  Genesis  is  of  his  creating  power.  It  is  by 
this  power  angels  have  so  many  thousand  years  remained  in  the 
power  of  understanding  and  willing.  By  this  power  things  distant 
in  their  natures  have  been  joined  together ;  a  spiritual  soul  and  a 
dusty  body  knit  in  a  marriage  knot.  By  this  power  the  heavenly 
bodies  have  for  so  many  ages  rolled  in  their  spheres,  and  the  tumul- 
tuous elements  have  persisted  in  their  order :  by  this  hath  the  matter 
of  the  world  been  to  this  day  continued,  and  as  capable  of  entertain- 
ing forms  as  it  was  at  the  first  creation.  What  an  amazing  sight 
would  it  be  to  see  a  man  hold  a  pillar  of  the  Exchange  ujDon  one  of 
his  fingers?  What  is  this  to  tiie  power  of  God,  "who  holds  the 
waters  in  the  hollow  of  his  hand,  metes  out  the  heaven  with  a  span, 
and  weighs  the  mountains  in  scales,  and  the  hills  in  a  balance"  (Isa. 
xl.  12)?  The  preserving  the  earth  from  the  violence  of  the  sea  is  a 
plain  instance  of  this  power."  How  is  that  raging  element  kept  pent 
within  those  lists  where  he  first  lodged  it ;  continues  its  course  in  its 
channel  without  overflowing  the  earth,  and  dashing  in  pieces  the 
lower  part  of  the  creation  ?  The  natural  situation  of  the  water  is  to 
be  above  the  earth,  because  it  is  lighter;  and  to  be  immediately  under 
the  air,  because  it  is  heavier  than  that  thinner  element.  Who  re- 
strains this  natural  quality  of  it,  but  that  God  that  first  formed  it? 
The  word  of  command  at  first,  "Hitherto  shalt  thou  go,  and  no  fur- 
ther," keeps  those  waters  linked  together  in  their  den,  that  they  may 
not  ravage  the  earth,  but  be  useful  to  the  inhabitants  of  it.  And 
when  once  it  finds  a  gap  to  enter,  what  power  of  earth  can  hinder  its 
passage  ?  How  fruitless  sometimes  is  all  the  art  of  man  to  send  it 
to  its  proper  channel,  when  once  it  hath  spread  its  mighty  waves 
over  some  countries,  and  trampled  part  of  the  inhabited  earth  under 
its  feet  ?  It  hath  triumphed  in  its  victory,  and  withstood  all  the 
power  of  man  to  conquer  its  force.  It  is  only  the  power  of  God  that 
doth  bridle  it  from  spreading  itself  over  the  whole  earth.  And  that 
his  power  might  be  more  manifest,  he  hath  set  but  a  weak  and  small 
bank  against  it.     Though  he  hath  bounded  it  in  some  places  by 

"  Daillo  Melange,  Part  II.  p.  457. 


46  CHARNOCK   ON   THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

miglity  rocks,  wliicli  lift  up  their  heads  above  it,  yet  in  most  places 
by  feeble  sand.  How  often  is  it  seen  in  every  stormy  motion,  when 
the  waves  boil  high  and  roll  furiously,  as  if  they  Avould  swallow  up 
all  the  neighboring  houses  upon  the  shore ;  when  they  come  to  touch 
those  sandy  limits,  they  bow  their  heads,  fall  flat,  and  sink  into  the 
lap  whence  they  were  raised,  and  seem  to  foam  with  anger  that  they 
can  march  no  further,  but  must  split  themselves  at  so  weak  an  ob- 
stacle !  Can  the  sand  be  thought  to  be  the  cause  of  this  ?  The 
weakness  of  it  gives  no  footing  to  such  a  thought.  Who  can  appre- 
hend, that  an  enraged  army  should  retire  upon  the  opposition  of  a 
straw  in  an  infant's  hand  ?  Is  it  the  nature  of  the  water  ?  Its  retire- 
ment is  against  the  natural  quality  of  it ;  pour  but  a  little  upon  the 
ground,  and  you  always  see  it  spread  itself.  No  cause  can  be  ren- 
dered in  nature ;  it  is  a  standing  monument  of  the  power  of  God  in 
the  preservation  of  the  world,  and  ought  to  be  more  taken  notice  of 
by  us  in  this  island,  surrounded  with  it,  than  by  some  other  countries 
in  the  world. 

(1.)  We  find  nothing  hath  power  to  preserve  itself.  Doth  not 
every  creature  upon  earth  require  the  assistance  of  some  other  for 
its  maintenance?  "  Can  the  rush  grow  up  without  mire?  can  the 
flag  grow  up  without  water"  (Job  viii.  11)?  Can  man  or  beast  main- 
tain itself  without  grain  from  the  bowels  of  the  earth  ?  Would  not 
every  man  tumble  into  the  grave,  without  the  aid  of  other  creatures 
to  nourish  him  ?  Whence  do  these  creatures  receive  that  virtue  of 
supplying  him  nourishment,  but  from  the  sun  and  earth  ?  and  whence 
do  they  derive  that  virtue,  but  from  the  Creator  of  all  things  ?  And 
should  he  but  slack  his  hand,  how  soon  would  they  and  all  their 
qualities  perish,  and  the  links  of  the  world  fall  in  pieces,  and  dash 
one  another  into  their  first  chaos  and  confusion  !  All  creatures  in- 
deed have  an  appetite  to  preserve  themselves ;  they  have  some  knowl- 
edge of  the  outward  means  for  their  preservation ;  so  have  irrational 
animals  a  natural  instinct,  as  well  as  men  have  some  skill  to  avoid 
things  that  are  hurtful,  and  apply  things  that  are  helpful.  But  what 
thing  in  the  world  can  preserve  itself  by  an  inward  influx  into  its 
own  being?  All  things  want  such  a  power  without  God's _/ja<,  "Let 
it  be  so  :"  nothing  but  is  destitute  of  such  a  power  for  its  own  preser- 
vation, as  much  as  it  is  of  a  power  for  its  own  creation.  Were  there 
any  true  power  for  such  a  work,  what  need  of  so  many  external 
helps  from  things  of  an  inferior  nature  to  that  which  is  preserved  by 
them  ?  No  created  thing  hath  a  power  to  preserve  any  decayed 
being.  Who  can  lay  claim  to  such  a  virtue,  as  to  recall  a  withering 
flower  to  its  former  beauty,  to  raise  the  head  of  a  drooping  plant,  or 
put  life  into  a  gasping  worm  when  it  is  expiring ;  or  put  impaired 
vitals  into  their  former  posture?  Not  a  man  upon  earth,  nor  an 
angel  in  heaven,  can  pretend  to  such  a  virtue ;  they  may  be  spec- 
tators, but  not  assisters,  and  are,  in  this  case,  physicians  of  no  value. 

(2.)  It  is,  therefore,  the  same  Power  preserves  things  which  at  first 
created  them.  The  creature  doth  as  much  depend  upon  God,  in  the 
first  instant  of  its  being,  for  its  preservation,  as  it  did,  when  it  was 
nothing,  for  its  production  and  creation  into  being :  as  the  continu- 
ance of  a  thought  of  our  mind  depends  upon  the  power  of  our  mind, 


ON   THE   POWER   OF   GOD.  47 

as  well  as  the  first  framing  of  that  thought. ^  There  is  a  little  differ- 
ence between  creating  and  preserving  power,  as  there  is  between  the 
power  of  mine  eye  to  begin  an  act  of  vision  and  continue  that  act  of 
vision,  as  to  cast  my  eye  upon  an  object  and  continue  it  upon  that 
object :  as  the  first  act  is  caused  by  the  eje,  so  the  duration  of  the  act 
is  preserved  by  the  eye ;  shut  the  eye,  and  the  act  of  vision  perishes ; 
divert  the  eye  from  that  object,  and  that  act  of  vision  is  exchanged 
for  another.  And,  therefore,  the  preservation  of  thmgs  is  commonly 
called  a  continual  creation :  and  certainly  it  is  no  less,  if  we  under- 
stand it  of  a  preservation  by  an  inward  influence  into  the  being  of 
things.  It  is  one  and  the  same  action  invariably  continued,  and 
obtaining  its  force  every  moment;  the  same  action  whereby  he 
created  them  of  nothing,  and  which  every  moment  hath  a  virtue  to 
produce  a  thing  out  of  nothing,  if  it  were  not  yet  extant  in  the 
world :  it  remains  the  same  without  any  diminution  throughout  the 
whole  time  wherein  anything  doth  remain  in  the  world.y  For  all 
things  would  return  to  nothing,  if  God  did  not  keep  them  up  in  the 
elevation  and  state  to  which  he  at  first  raised  them  by  his  creative 
power  (Acts  xvii.  28):  "In  him  we  live,  and  move,  and  have  our 
being."  By  him,  or  by  the  same  Power  whence  we  derived  our 
being,  are  our  lives  maintained:  as  it  was  his  Almighty  Power 
whereby  we  were,  after  we  had  been  nothing,  so  it  is  the  same  power 
whereby  we  now  are,  after  he  hath  made  us  something.  Certainly 
all  things  have  no  less  a  dependence  on  God  than  light  upon  the 
sun,  which  vanisheth  and  hides  its  head  upon  the  withdrawing  of  the 
sun.  And  should  God  suspend  that  powerful  "Word,  whereby  he 
erected  the  frame  of  the  world,  it  would  sink  down  to  what  it  was, 
before  he  commanded  it  to  stand  up.  There  needs  no  new  act  of 
power  to  reduce  things  to  nothing,  but  the  cessation  of  that  Omnip- 
otent influx.  When  the  appointed  time  set  them  for  their  being- 
comes  to  a  period,  they  faint  and  bend  down  their  heads  to  their 
dissolution;  they  return  to  their  elements,  and  perish  (Ps.  civ.  29): 
"  Thou  hidest  thy  face,  and  they  are  troubled :  thou  takest  away 
their  breath,  they  die,  and  return  to  their  dust.  That  which  was 
nothing  cannot  remain  on  this  side  nothing,  but  by  the  same  Power 
that  first  called  it  out  of  nothing.  As  when  God  withdrew  his  con- 
curring power  from  the  fire,  its  quality  ceased  to  act  upon  the  three 
children :  so  if  he  withdraws  his  sustaining  power  from  the  creature, 
its  nature  will  cease  to  be. 

2.  It  appears  in  propagation.  That  powerful  word  (Gen.  i.  22, 
23),  "  Increase  and  multiply,"  pronounced  at  the  first  creation,  hath 
spread  itself  over  every  part  of  the  world;  every  animal  in  the 
world,  in  the  formation  of  every  one  of  them.  From  two  of  a  kind, 
how  great  a  number  of  individuals  and  single  creatures  have  been 
multiplied,  to  cover  the  face  of  the  earth  in  their  continued  succes- 
sions !  What  a  world  of  plants  spring  up  from  the  womb  of  a  dry 
earth,  moistened  by  the  influence  of  a  cloud,  and  hatched  by  the 
beams  of  the  sun  !  IIow  admirable  an  instance  of  his  propagating 
power  is  it,  that  from  a  little  seed  a  massy  root  should  strike  into 
the  bowels  of  the  earth,  a  tall  body  and  thick  branches,  with  leaves 

^  Lessius  de  Perfect.  Diviu.  p.  69.  ?  Lessius  ,de  Snin.  Bon.  pp.  580 — 582. 


48  CHAENOCK  ON-  THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

and  flowers  of  various  colors,  should  break  througli  tlie  surface  of 
tlie  earth,  and  mount  up  towards  heaven,  when  in  the  seed  you 
neither  smell  the  scent,  nor  see  any  firmness  of  a  tree,  nor  behold 
any  of  those  colors  which  you  view  in  the  flowers  that  the  ears  pro- 
duce !  A  power  not  to  be  imitated  by  any  creature.  How  astonish- 
ing is  it,  that  a  small  seed,  whereof  many  will  not  amount  to  the 
weight  of  a  grain,  should  spread  itself  into  leaves,  bark,  fruit  of  a 
vast  weight,  and  multiply  itself  into  millions  of  seeds !  What  power 
is  that,  that  from  one  man  and  Avoman  hath  multiplied  families,  and 
from  families,  stocked  the  world  with  people !  Consider  the  living 
creatures,  as  formed  in  the  womb  of  their  several  kinds ;  every  one 
is  a  wonder  of  power.  The  Psalmist  instanceth  in  the  forming  and 
propagation  of  man  (Ps.  cxxxix.  14) :  "  I  am  fearfully  and  wonder- 
fully made  ;  marvellous  are  thy  works."  The  forming  of  the  parts 
distinctly  in  the  womb,  the  bringing  forth  into  the  Avorld  every  par- 
ticular member,  is  a  roll  of  wonders,  of  power.  That  so  fine  a 
structure  as  the  body  of  man  should  be  polished  in  "  the  lower 
parts  of  the  earth,"  as  he  calls  the  womb  (ver.  15),  in  so  short  a 
time,  with  members  of  a  various  form  and  usefulness,  each  laboring 
in  their  several  functions !  Can  any  man  give  an  exact  account  of 
the  manner  "  how  the  bones  do  grow  in  the  womb"  (Eccles.  xi.  5)  ? 
It  is  unknown  to  the  father,  and  no  less  hid  from  the  mother,  and 
the  wisest  men  cannot  search  out  the  depth  of  it.  It  is  one  of  the 
secret  works  of  an  Omnipotent  Power,  secret  in  the  manner,  though 
open  in  the  effect.  So  that  we  must  ascribe  it  to  God,  as  Job  doth, 
"  Thine  hands  have  made  me  and  fashioned  me  together  round 
about"  (Job  X.  8).  Thy  hands  which  formed  heaven,  have  formed 
every  part,  every  member,  and  wrought  me  like  a  mighty  workman. 
The  heavens  are  said  to  be  the  "  work  of  God's  hands,"  and  man  is 
here  said  to  be  no  less.  The  forming  and  propagation  of  man  from 
that  earthy  matter,  is  no  less  a  wonder  of  power  than  the  structure 
of  the  world  from  a  rude  and  indisposed  matter.  A  heathen  philo- 
sopher descants  elegantly  upon  it:  "  Dost  thou  understand  (my  son) 
the  forming  of  man  in  the  womb  ;  who  erected  that  noble  fabric : 
who  carved  the  eyes,  the  crystal  windows  of  light,  and  the  con- 
ductors of  the  body ;  who  bored  the  nostrils  and  ears,  those  loop- 
holes of  scents  and  sounds ;  who  stretched  out  and  knit  the  sinews 
and  ligaments  for  the  fastening  of  every  member;  who  cast  the 
holloAY  veins,  the  channels  of  blood ;  set  and  strengthened  the  bones, 
the  pillars  and  rafters  of  the  body ;  who  digged  the  pores,  the  sinks 
to  expel  the  filth ;  who  made  the  heart,  the  repository  of  the  soul, 
and  formed  the  lungs  like  a  pipe?  What  mother,  what  father, 
wrought  these  things  ?  No,  none  but  the  Almighty  God,  who  made 
all  things  according  to  his  pleasure ;  it  is  He  who  propagates  this 
noble  piece  from  a  pile  of  dust.  Wtio  is  born  by  his  own  advice; 
who  gives  stature,  features,  sense,  wit,  strength,  speech,  but  God  ?"* 
It  is  no  less  a  wonder,  that  a  little  infant  can  live  so  long  in  a  dark 
sink,  in  the  midst  of  filth,  without  breathing ;  and  the  eduction  of 
it  out  of  the  womb  is  no  less  a  wonder  than  the  forming,  increase, 
nourishment  of  it  in  that  cell.  A  wonder,  that  the  life  of  the  infant 
2  Trismegist,  in  Serm.  Greek,  in  the  Temple,  p,  57. 


ON  THE   POWER   OF   GOD.  49 

is  not  the  deatli  of  the  mother,  or  the  life  of  the  mother  the  death 
of  the  infant.  This  little  creature  when  it  springs  up  from  such 
small  beginnings  by  the  power  of  God,  grows  up  to  be  one  of  the 
lords  of  the  world,  to  have  a  dominion  over  the  creatures,  and  pro- 
pagates its  kind  in  the  same  manner  :  all  this  is  unaccountable  with- 
out having  recourse  to  the  power  of  God  in  the  government  of  the 
creatures.  And  to  add  to  this  wonder,  consider  also  what  multi- 
tudes of  formations  and  births  there  are  at  one  time  all  over  the 
world,  in  every  of  which  the  finger  of  God  is  at  work  ;  and  it  will 
speak  an  unwearied  power.  It  is  admirable  in  one  man,  more  in 
a  town  of  men,  still  more  in  a  greater  and  larger  kingdom,  a  vaster 
world;  there  is  a  birth  for  every  hour  in  this  city,  were  but  168 
born  in  a  week,  though  the  weekly  bills  mention  more :  what  is 
this  city  to  three  kingdoms  ?  what  three  kingdoms  to  a  populous 
world  ?  Eleven  thousand  and  eighty  will  make  one  for  every  minute 
in  the  week ;  what  is  this  to  the  weekly  propagation  in  all  the  na- 
tions of  the  universe,  besides  the  generation  of  all  the  living  crea- 
tures in  that  space,  which  are  the  works  of  God's  fingers  as  well  as 
man?  What  will  be  the  result  of  this,  but  the  notion  of  an  uncon- 
ceivable, unwearied  Almiglitiness,  always  active,  always  operating? 

3.  It  appears  in  the  motions  of  all  creatures.  "  All  things  live 
and  move  in  him"  (Acts  xvii.  28) ;  by  the  same  power  that  creatures 
have  their  beings,  they  have  their  motions :  they  have  not  only  a 
being  by  his  powerful  command,  but  they  have  their  minutely  mo- 
tion by  his  powerful  concurrence.  Nothing  can  act  without  the 
almighty  influx  of  God,  no  more  than  it  can  exist  without  the  crea- 
tive word  of  God.  It  is  true  indeed,  the  ordering  of  all  motions  to 
his  holy  ends,  is  an  act  of  wisdom ;  but  the  motion  itself,  whereby 
those  ends  are  attained,  is  a  work  of  his  power. 

(1).  God,  as  the  first  cause,  hath  an  influence  into  the  motions  of 
all  second  causes.  As  all  the  wheels  in  a  clock  are  moved  in  their 
different  motions  by  the  force  and  strength  of  the  principal  and 
primary  wheel ;  if  there  be  any  defect  in  that,  or  if  that  stand  still, 
all  the  rest  lang-uish  and  stand  idle  the  same  moment.  All  creatures 
are  his  instruments,  his  engines,  and  have  no  spirit,  but  what  he 
gives,  and  what  he  assists.  Whatsoever  nature  works,  God  works 
in  nature  ;  nature  is  the  instrument,  God  is  the  supporter,  director, 
mover  of  nature  ;  that  which  the  prophet  saith  in  another  case,  may 
be  the  language  of  universal  nature:  "Lord,  thou  hast  wrought  all 
our  work  in  us"  (Isa.  xxvi.  12).  They  are  works  subjectively,  effi- 
ciently, as  second  causes  ;  God's  works  originally,  concurrently.  The 
sun  moved  not  in  the  valley  of  Ajalon  for  the  space  of  many  hours, 
in  the  time  of  Joshua  (Josh.  x.  13) ;  nor  did  the  fire  exercise  its  con- 
suming quality  upon  the  three  children,  in  Nebuchadnezzar's  fur- 
nace (Dan.  iii.  25) :  he  withdrew  not  his  supporting  power  from  their 
being,  for  then  they  had  vanished,  but  his  influencing  power  from 
their  qualities,  whereby  their  motion  ceased,  till  he  returned  his  in- 
fluential concurrence  to  them  ;  which  evidenceth,  that  without  a  per- 
petual derivation  of  Divine  power,  the  sun  could  not  run  one  stride 
or  inch  of  its  race,  nor  the  fire  devour  one  grain  of  light  chaff,  of 
an  inch  of  straw.     Nothing  without  his  sustaining  power  can  con- 

VOL.  II. 3 


60  CHAENOCK   ON   THE   ATTKIBUTES. 

tinue  in  being ;  nothing  without  his  co- working  power  can  exer- 
cise one  mite  of  those  qualities  it  is  possessed  of.  All  creatures  are 
wound  up  by  him,  and  his  hand  is  constantly  upon  them,  to  keep 
them  in  perpetual  motion. 

(2).  Consider  the  variety  of  motions  in  a  single  creature.  How 
many  motions  are  there  in  the  vital  parts  of  a  man,  or  in  any  other 
animal,  which  a  man  knows  not,  and  is  unable  to  number !  The 
renewed  motion  of  the  lungs,  the  systoles  and  diastoles  of  the  heart ; 
the  contractions  and  dilations  of  the  heart,  whereby  it  spouts  out 
and  takes  in  blood ;  the  power  of  concoction  in  the  stomach  ;  the 
motion  of  the  blood  in  the  veins,  &c.,  all  which  were  not  only  settled 
by  the  powerful  hand  of  God,  but  are  upheld  by  the  same,  preserved 
and  influenced  in  every  distinct  motion  by  that  power  that  stamped 
them  with  that  nature.  To  every  one  of  those  there  is  not  only  the 
sustaining  power  of  God  holding  up  their  natures,  but  the  motive 
power  of  God  concurring  to  every  motion  ;  for  if  we  move  in  him 
as  well  as  we  live  in  him,  then  every  particle  of  our  motion  is  exer- 
cised by  his  concurring  power,  as  well  as  every  moment  of  our  life 
supported  by  his  preserving  power.  What  an  infinite  variety  of 
motions  is  there  in  the  whole  world  in  universal  nature,  to  all  which 
God  concurs,  all  which  he  conducts,  even  the  motions  of  the  meanest 
as  well  as  the  greatest  creatures,  which  demonstrate  the  indefatigable 
power  of  the  governor !  It  is  an  Infinite  Power  which  doth  act  in 
so  many  varieties,  whereby  the  souls  forms  every  thought,  the 
tongue  speaks  every  word,  the  body  exerts  every  action.  What  an 
Infinite  Power  is  that  which  presides  over  the  birth  of  all  things, 
concurs  with  the  motion  of  the  sap  in  the  tree,  rivers  on  the  earth, 
clouds  in  the  air,  every  drop  of  rain,  fleece  of  snow,  crack  of  thun- 
der !  Not  the  least  motion  in  the  world,  but  is  under  an  actual  in- 
fluence of  this  Almighty  Mover.  And  lest  any  should  scruple  the 
concurrence  of  God  to  so  many  varieties  of  the  creature's  motion,  as 
a  thing  utterly  inconceivable,  let  them  consider  the  sun,  a  natural 
image  and  shadow  of  the  perfections  of  God ;  doth  not  the  power  of 
that  finite  creature  extend  itself  to  various  objects  at  the  same  mo- 
ment of  time  ?  How  many  insects  doth  it  animate,  as  flies,  &c.,  at 
the  same  moment  throughout  the  world !  How  many  several  plants 
doth  it  erect  at  its  appearance  in  the  spring,  whose  roots  lay  mourn- 
ing in  the  earth  all  the  foregoing  winter!  What  multitudes  of 
spires  of  grass,  and  nobler  flowers,  doth  it  midwife  in  the  same  hour ! 
It  warms  the  air,  melts  the  blood,  cherishes  living  creatures  of  various 
kinds,  in  distinct  places,  without  tiring :  and  shall  the  God  of  this 
sun  be  less  than  his  creature  ? 

(3.)  And  since  I  speak  of  the  sun,  consider  the  power  of  God  in 
the  motion  of  it.  The  vastness  of  the  sun  is  computed  to  be,  at  the 
least,  166  times  bigger  than  the  earth,  and  its  distance  from  the 
earth,  some  tell  us,  to  be  about  4,000,000  of  miles  ;^  whence  it  fol- 
lows, that  it  is  whirled  about  the  world  with  that  swiftness,  that  in 
the  space  of  an  hour  it  runs  1,000,000  of  miles,  which  is  as  much  as 
if  it  should  move  round  about  the  surface  of  the  earth  fifty  times  in 
one  hour ;  which  vastness  exceeds  the  swiftness  of  a  bullet  shot  out 

*  A  Lapide,  in  1  cap.  Gen.  xvi.     Lessius,  de  Perfect.  Divin.  pp.  90,  91. 


ON  THE   POWER   OF   GOD,  51 

of  a  cannon,  which  is  computed  to  fly  not  above  three  miles  in  a 
minute  i^*  so  that  the  sun  runs  further  in  one  hour's  space,  than  a 
bullet  can  in  5,000,  if  it  were  kept  in  motion ;  so  that  if  it  were  near 
the  earth,  the  swiftness  of  its  motion  would  shatter  the  whole  frame 
of  the  world,  and  dash  it  in  pieces ;  so  that  the  Psalmist  may  well 
say,  "  It  runs  a  race  like  a  strong  man"  (Ps.  xix.  5).  What  an  in- 
comprehensible Power  is  that  which  hath  communicated  such  a 
strength  and  swiftness  to  the  sun,  and  doth  daily  influence  its  mo- 
tion ;  especially  since  after  all  those  years  of  its  motion,  wherein 
one  would  think  it  should  have  spent  itself,  we  behold  it  every  day 
as  vigorous  as  Adam  did  in  Paradise,  without  limping,  without  shat- 
tering itself,  or  losing  any  thing  of  its  natural  spirits  in  its  unwearied 
motion.  How  great  must  that  power  be,  which  hath  kept  this  great 
body  so  entire,  and  thus  swiftly  moves  it  every  day  !  Is  it  not  now 
an  argument  of  omnipotency,  to  keep  all  the  strings  of  nature  in 
tune ;  to  wind  them  up  to  a  due  pitch  for  the  harmony  he  intended 
by  them  ;  to  keep  things  that  are  contrary  from  that  confusion  they 
would  naturally  fall  into ;  to  prevent  those  jarrings  which  would 
naturally  result  from  their  various  and  snarling  qualities ;  to  preserve 
every  being  in  its  true  nature ;  to  propagate  every  kind  of  creature ; 
order  all  the  operations,  even  the  meanest  of  them,  when  there  are 
such  innumerable  varieties  ?  But  let  us  consider,  that  this  power  oi 
preserving  things  in  their  station  and  motion,  and  the  renewing  of 
them,  is  more  stupendous  than  that  which  we  commonly  call  mirac- 
ulous. We  call  those  miracles,  which  are  wrought  out  of  the  track 
of  nature,  and  contrary  to  the  usual  stream  and  current  of  it ;  which 
men  wonder  at,  because  they  seldom  see  them,  and  hear  of  them  as 
things  rarely  brought  forth  in  the  world ;  when  the  truth  is,  there 
is  more  of  power  expressed  in  the  ordinary  station  and  motion  of 
natural  causes  than  in  those  extraordinary  exertings  of  power.  Is 
not  more  power  signalized  in  that  whirling  motion  of  the  sun  every 
hour  for  so  many  ages,  than  in  the  suspending  of  its  motion  one 
day,  as  it  was  in  the  days  of  Joshua  ?  That  fire  should  continually 
ravage  and  consume,  and  greedily  swallow  up  every  thing  that  is 
offered  to  it,  seems  to  be  the  effect  of  as  admirable  a  power,  as  the 
stopping  of  its  appetite  a  few  moments,  as  in  the  case  of  the  three 
children.  Is  not  the  rising  of  some  small  seeds  from  the  ground, 
with  a  multiplication  of  their  numerous  posterity,  an  effect  of  as 
great  a  power,  as  our  Saviour's  feeding  many  thousands  with  a  few 
loaves,  by  a  secret  augm.entation  of  them  ?«  Is  not  the  chemical 
producing  so  pleasant  and  delicious  a  fruit  as  the  grape,  from  a  dry 
earth,  insipid  rain,  and  a  sour  vine,  as  admirable  a  token  of  Divine 
power,  as  our  Saviour's  turning  water  into  wine  ?  Is  not  the  cure 
of  diseases  by  the  application  of  a  simple  inconsiderable  weed,  or  a 
slight  infusion,  as  wonderful  in  itself,  as  the  cure  of  it  by  a  power- 
ful weed  ?  What  if  it  be  naturally  designed  to  heal ;  what  is  that 
nature,  who  gave  that  nature,  who  maintains  that  nature,  who  con- 
ducts it,  co-operates  with  it  ?  Doth  it  work  of  itself,  and  by  its  own 
strength  ?  why  not  then  equally  in  all,  in  one  as  well  as  another  ? 

*"  Lessius,  de  Providen,  p.  633.     Voss.  de  Idol.  lib.  ii.  cap.  2. 
«  Faucher  sur  Act.  Vol.  II.  p.  47. 


52  CHARNOCK  ON  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

Miracles,  indeed,  affect  more,  because  they  testify  tlie  iminediate 
operation  of  God,  without  the  concurrence  of  second  causes ;  not 
that  there  is  more  of  the  poAver  of  God  shining  in  them  than  in  the 
other. 

Secondly,  This  power  is  evident  in  moral  government. 

1.  In  the  restraint  of  the  malicious  nature  of  the  devil.  Since 
Satan  hath  the  power  of  an  angel,  and  the  malice  of  a  devil,  what 
safety  would  there  be  for  our  persons  from  destruction,  what  secur- 
ity for  our  goods  from  rifling,  by  this  invisible,  potent,  and  envious 
spirit,  if  his  power  were  not  restrained,  and  his  malice  curbed,  by 
One  more  mighty  than  himself?  How  much  doth  he  envy  God  the 
glory  of  his  creation ;  and  man,  the  use  and  benefit  of  it !  How 
desirous  would  he  be,  in  regard  of  his  passion,  how  able  in  regard 
of  his  strength  and  subtlety,  to  overthrow  or  infect  all  worship,  but 
what  was  directed  to  himself ;  to  manage  all  things  according  to  his 
lusts,  turn  all  things  topsy-turvy,  plague  the  world,  burn  cities, 
houses,  plunder  us  of  the  supports  of  nature,  waste  kingdoms,  &c. ; 
if  he  were  not  held  in  a  chain,  as  a  ravenous  lion,  or  a  furious  wild 
horse,  by  the  Creator  and  Governor  of  the  world !  What  remedy 
could  be  used  by  man  against  the  activity  of  this  unseen  and  swift 
spirit  ?  The  world  could  not  subsist  under  his  malice ;  he  would 
practise  the  same  things  upon  all  as  he  did  upon  Job,  when  he  had 
got  leave  from  his  Governor  ;  turn  the  swords  of  men  into  one  an- 
other's bowels ;  send  fire  from  heaven  upon  the  fruits  of  the  earth 
and  the  cattle  intended  for  the  use  of  man ;  raise  winds,  to  shake  and 
tear  our  houses  upon  our  heads ;  daub  our  bodies  with  scalbs  and 
boils,  and  let  all  the  humors  in  our  blood  loose  upon  us.  He  that 
envied  Adam  a  paradise,  doth  envy  us  the  pleasure  of  enjoying  its 
out-works.  If  we  were  not  destroyed  by  him,  we  should  live  in  .>, 
continued  vexation  by  spectrums  and  apparitions,  affrighting  sounds 
and  noise,  as  some  think  the  Egyptians  did  in  that  three  days'  dark- 
ness :  he  would  be  alway  winnowing  us,  as  he  desired  to  winnow 
Peter  (Luke  xxii.  31).  But  God  over-masters  his  strength,  that  he 
cannot  move  a  hair's  breadth  beyond  his  tedder ;  not  only  is  he  un- 
able to  touch  an  .upright  Job,  but  to  lay  his  fingers  upon  one  of  the 
unbelieving  Gadarenes  forbidden  and  filthy  swine  without  special 
license  (Matt.  viii.  31).  When  he  is  cast  out  of  one  place,  he  walks 
"  through  dry  places  seeking  rest"  (Luke  xi.  2-1),  new  objects  for  his 
malicious  designs, — but  finding  none,  till  God  lets  loose  the  reins 
upon  him  for  a  new  employment.  Though  Satan's  power  be  great, 
yet  God  suffers  him  not  to  tempt  as  much  as  his  diabolical  appetite 
would,  but  as  much  as  Divine  wisdom  thinks  fit ;  and  the  Divine 
power  tempers  the  other's  active  malice,  and  gives  the  creature  vic- 
tory, where  the  enemy  intended  spoil  and  captivity. ,  How  much 
stronger  is  God,  than  all  the  legions  of  hell;  as  he  that  holds  a 
"strong  man"  (Luke  xi.  22)  from  effecting  his  purpose,  testifies  more 
ability  than  his  adversary  !  How  doth  he  lock  him  up  for  a  "thou- 
sand years"  (Rev.  xx.  3)  in  a  pound,  which  he  cannot  leap  over !  and 
this  restraint  is  wrought  partly  by  blinding  the  devil  in  his  designs, 
partly  by  denying  him  concourse  to  his  motion ;  as  he  hindered  the 
active  quality  of  the  fire  upon  the  three  children,  by  withdrawing 


ON"  THE   POWER   OF  GOD.  53 

his  power,  which  was  necessary  to  the  motion  of  it ;  and  his  power 
is  as  necessary  for  the  motion  of  the  devil,  as  for  that  of  any  other 
creature :  sometimes  he  makes  him  to  confess  him  against  his  own 
interest,  as  Apollo's  oracle  confessed. '^  And  though  when  the  devil 
was  cast  out  of  the  possessed  person,  he  publicly  owned  Christ  to  be 
the  "  Holy  one  of  God"  (Mark  i.  24),  to  render  him  suspected  by  the 
people  of  having  commerce  with  the  unclean  spirits;  yet  this  he 
could  not  do  without  the  leave  and  permission  of  God,  that  the 
power  of  Christ,  in  stopping  his  mouth  and  imposing  silence  upon 
him,  might  be  evidenced;  and  that  it  reaches  to  the  gates  of  hell,  as 
well  as  to  the  quieting  of  winds  and  waves.  This  is  a  part  of  the 
strength,  as  well  as  the  wisdom  of  God,  that  "  the  deceived  and  the 
deceiver  are  his"  (Job  xii.  16):  wisdom  to  defeat,  and  power  to  over- 
rule his  most  malicious  designs,  to  his  own  glory. 

2.  In  the  restraint  of  the  natural  corruption  of  men.  Since  the 
impetus  of  original  corruption  runs  in  the  blood,  conveyed  down 
from  Adam  to  the  veins  of  all  his  posterity,  and  universally  diffused 
in  all  mankind ;  what  wreck  and  havoc  Avould  it  make  in  the  world, 
if  it  were  not  su^Dpresscd  by  this  Divine  power  which  presides  over 
the  hearts  of  men !  Man  is  so  wretched  by  nature,  that  nothing  but 
what  is  vile  and  pernicious  can  drop  from  him.  Man  "  drinks  ini- 
quity like  water,"  being,  by  nature,  "abominable  and  filthy"  (Job 
XV.  16).  He  greedily  swallows  all  matter  for  iniquity,  everything 
suitable  to  the  mire  and  poison  in  his  nature,  and  would  sprout  it 
out  with  all  fierceness  and  insolence.  God  himself  gives  us  tlie 
description  of  man's  nature  (Gen.  vi.  5),  that  he  hath  not  one  good 
imagination  at  any  time ;  and  the  apostle  from  the  Psalmist  dilates 
and  comments  upon  it  (Rom.  iii.  10,  &c.)  "  There  is  none  righteous  ; 
no,  not  one ;  their  mouth  is  full  of  cursing  and  bitterness,  their  feet 
are  swift  to  shed  blood,"  &c.  This  corruption  is  equal  in  all,  natural 
in  all ;  it  is  not  more  poisonous  or  more  fierce  in  one  man,  than 
in  another.  The  root  of  all  men  is  the  same ;  all  the  branches 
therefore  do  equally  possess  the  villanous  nature  of  the  root.  No 
child  of  Adam  can,  iDy  natural  descent,  be  better  than  Adam,  or 
have  less  of  baseness,  and  vileness,  and  venom,  than  Adam.  How 
fruitful  would  this  loathsome  lake  be  in  all  kind  of  streams  !  What 
unbridled  licentiousness  and  headstrong  fury  would  triumph  in  the 
world,  if  the  power  of  God  did  not  interpose  itself  to  lock  down  the 
flood-gates  of  it !  What  rooting  up  of  humxan  society  would  there 
be !  how  would  the  world  be  drenched  in  blood,  the  number  of 
malefactors  be  greater  than  that  of  apprehenders  and  punishers! 
How  would  the  prints  of  natural  laws  be  rased  out  of  the  heart,  if 
God  should  leave  human  nature  to  itself!  Who  can  read  the  first 
chapter  of  Romans,  (verses  24  to  29),  without  acknowledging  this 
truth  ?  where  there  is  a  catalogue  of  those  villanies  which  followed 
upon  God's  pulling  up  the  sluices,  and  letting  the  malignity  of  their 
inward  corruption  have  its  natural  course !  If  God  did  not  hold 
back  the  fury  of  man,  his  garden  would  be  overrun,  his  vine  rooted 
up ;  the  inclinations  of  men  would  hurry  them  to  the  worst  of 
wickedness.    How  great  is  that  Power  that  curbs,  bridles,  or  changes 

"^  Caeteros  deoe  a?reoB  (:^^-'\  Ac  Grot.  Vei'it,  Rol.  lib,  4, 


54  CHARNOCK   ON  THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

as  many  headstrong  liorses  at  once,  and  every  minute,  as  there  are 
sons  of  Adam  upon  the  earth?  The  "floods  lift  up  their  waves; 
the  Lord  on  high  is  mightier  than  the  noise  of  many  waters,  yea, 
than  the  mighty  waves  of  the  sea"  (Ps.  xciii.  3,  4) ;  that  doth  hush 
and  pen  in  the  turbulent  passions  of  men. 

8.  In  the  orderins^  and  framing  the  hearts  of  men  to  his  own  ends. 
That  must  be  an  Omnijiotent  hand  that  grasps  and  contains  the  hearts 
of  all  men ;  the  heart  of  the  meanest  person,  as  well  as  of  the  most 
towering  angel,  and  turns  them  as  he  pleases,  and  makes  them  some- 
time ignorantly,  sometime  knowingl}^,  concur  to  the  accomplishment 
of  his  own  purposes !  When  the  hearts  of  men  are  so  numerous, 
their  thoughts  so  various  and  different  from  one  another,  yet  he  hath 
a  key  to  those  millions  of  hearts,  and  with  infinite  power,  guided  by 
as  infinite  wisdom,  he  draws  them  into  what  channels  he  pleases,  for 
the  gaining  his  own  ends.  Though  the  Jews  had  imbrued  their 
hands  in  the  blood  of  our  Saviour,  and  their  rage  was  yet  reeking- 
hot  against  his  followers,  God  bridled  their  fury  in  the  church's  in- 
fancy, till  it  had  got  some  strength,  and  cast  a  terror  upon  them  by 
the  wonders  wrought  by  the  apostles  (Acts  ii.  43) :  "  And  fear  came 
upon  every  soul,  and  many  wonders  and  signs  were  done  by  the 
apostles."  Was  there  not  the  same  reason  in  the  nature  of  the  works 
our  Saviour  wrought,  to  point  them  to  the  finger  of  God,  and  calm 
their  rage  ?  Yet  did  not  the  power  of  God  work  upon  their  passions 
in  those  miracles,  nor  stop  the  impetuousness  of  the  corruption  resi- 
dent in  their  hearts.  Yet  now  those  who  had  the  boldness  to  attack 
the  Son  of  God  and  nail  him  to  the  cross,  are  frighted  at  the  appear- 
ance of  twelve  unarmed  apostles ;  as  the  sea  seems  to  be  afraid  when 
it  approacheth  the  bounds  of  the  feeble  sand.  How  did  God  bend 
the  hearts  of  the  Egyptians  to  the  Israelites,  and  turn  them  to  that 
point,  as  to  lend  their  most  costly  vessels,  their  precious  jewels,  and 
rich  garments,  to  supply  those  whom  they  had  just  before  tyrani- 
cally  loaded  with  their  chains  (Exod.  iii.  21,  22) !  When  a  great 
part  of  an  army  came  upon  Jehoshaphat,  to  dispatch  him  into  another 
world,  how  doth  God,  in  a  trice,  touch  their  hearts,  and  move  them, 
by  a  secret  instinct,  at  once  to  depart  from  him  (1  Chron.  xviii.  31) ! 
as  if  you  should  see  a  numerous  sight  of  birds  in  a  moment  turn 
wing  another  way,  by  a  sudden  and  joint  consent.  When  he  gave 
Saul  a  kingdom,  he  gave  him  a  spirit  fit  for  government,  "  and  gave 
him  another  heart"  (1  Sam.  x.  9) ;  and  brought  the  people  to  submit 
to  his  yoke,  who,  a  little  before,  wandered  about  the  land  upon  no 
nobler  employment  than  the  seeking  of  asses.  It  is  no  small  remark 
of  the  power  of  God,  to  make  a  number  of  strong  and  discontented 
persons,  and  desirous  enough  of  liberty,  to  bend  their  necks  under 
the  yoke  of  government,  and  submit  to  the  authority  of  one,  and 
that  of  their  own  nature,  often  weaker  and  unwiser  than  the  most  of 
them,  and  many  times  an  oppressor  and  invader  of  their  rights. 
Upon  this  account  David  calls  God  "  his  fortress,  tower,  shield"  (Ps. 
cxliv.  2) ;  all  terms  of  strength  in  subduing  the  people  under  him. 
It  is  the  mighty  hand  of  God  that  links  princes  and  people  together 
in  the  bands  of  government.  The  same  hand  that  assuageth  the 
waves  of  the  sea,  suppresseth  the  tumults  of  the  people. 


ON  THE   POWER   OF  GOD.  55 

Thirdly,  It  appears  in  his  gracious  and  judicial  government. 

1.  In  bis  gracious  government.  In  the  deliverance  of  his  church : 
he  is  the  "  strength  of  Israel"  (1  Sam,  xv.  29),  and  hath  protected 
his  little  flock  in  the  midst  of  wolves  ;  and  maintained  their  stand- 
ing, when  the  strongest  kingdoms  have  sunk,  and  the  best  jointed 
states  have  been  broken  in  pieces ;  when  judgments  have  ravaged 
countries,  and  torn  up  the  mighty,  as  a  tempestuous  wind  hath  olten 
done  the  tallest  trees,  which  seemed  to  threaten  heaven  with  their 
tops,  and  dare  the  storm  with  the  depth  of  their  roots,  when  yet  the 
vine  and  rose-bushes  have  stood  firm,  and  been  seen  in  their  beauty 
next  morning.  The  state  of  the  church  hath  outlived  the  most 
flourishing  monarchies,  when  there  hath  been  a  mighty  knot  of  ad- 
versaries against  her ;  when  the  bulls  of  Bashan  have  pushed  her, 
and  the  whole  tribe  of  the  dragon  have  sharpened  their  weapons, 
and  edged  their  malice  ;  when  the  voice  was  strong,  and  the  hopes 
high  to  rase  her  foundation  even  with  the  ground ;  when  hell  hath 
roared ;  when  the  wit  of  the  world  hath  contrived,  and  the  strength 
of  the  world  hath  attempted  her  ruin;  when  decrees  have  been 
passed  against  her,  and  the  powers  of  the  world  armed  for  the  exe- 
cution of  them  ;  when  her  friends  have  drooped  and  skulked  in  cor- 
ners ;  when  there  was  no  eye  to  pity,  and  no  hand  to  assist,  help 
hath  come  from  heaven ;  her  enemies  have  been  defeated :  kings 
have  brought  gifts  to  her,  and  reared  her  ;  tears  have  been  wiped  off 
her  cheeks,  and  her  very  enemies,  by  an  unseen  power,  have  been 
forced  to  court  her  whom  before  they  would  have  devoured  quick. 
The  devil  and  his  armies  have  sneaked  into  their  den,  and  the  church 
hath  triumphed  when  she  hath  been  upon  the  brink  of  the  grave. 
Thus  did  God  send  a  mighty  angel  to  be  the  executioner  of  Senna- 
cherib's army,  and  the  protector  of  Jerusalem,  who  run  his  sword 
into  the  hearts  of  eighty  thousand  (2  Kings  xix.  35),  when  they  were 
ready  to  swallow  up  his  beloved  city.  When  the  knife  was  at  the 
throats  of  the  Jews,  in  Shushan  (Esther  viii.),  by  a  powerful  hand  it 
Avas  turned  into  the  hearts  of  their  enemies.  With  what  an  out- 
stretched arm  were  the  Israelites  freed  from  the  Egyptian  yoke  (Deut. 
iv.  34) !  When  Pharaoh  had  mustered  a  great  army  to  pursue  them, 
assisted  with  six  hundred  chariots  of  war,  the  Red  Sea  obstructed 
their  passage  before,  and  an  enraged  enemy  trod  on  their  rear  ;  when 
the  fearful  Israelites  despaired  of  deliverance,  and  the  insolent  Egyp- 
tian assured  himself  of  his  revenge,  God  stretches  out  his  irresistible 
arm  to  defeat  the  enemy,  and  assist  his  people  ;  he  strikes  down  the 
wolves,  and  preserves  the  flock.  God  restrained  the  Egyptian  en- 
mity against  the  Israelites  till  they  were  at  the  brink  of  the  Red  Sea, 
and  then  lets  them  follow  their  humor,  and  pursue  the  fugitives,  that 
his  power  might  more  gloriously  shine  forth  in  the  deliverance  of 
the  one,  and  the  destruction  of  the  other.  God  might  have  brought 
Israel  out  of  Egypt  in  the  time  of  those  kings  that  had  remembered 
the  good  service  of  Joseph  to  their  country,  but  he  leaves  them  till 
the  reign  of  a  cruel  tyrant,  suffers  them  to  be  slaves,  that  they  might 
by  his  sole  power,  be  conquerors,  which  had  had  no  appearance  had 
there  been  a  willing  dismission  of  them  at  the  first  summons  (Exod. 
ix.  16) ;   "  In  very  deed  for  this  cause  have  I  raised  thee  up,  for  to 


56  CHAENOCK  ON  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

shew  my  power,  and  that  my  name  might  be  declared  throughout 
all  the  earth.  I  have  permitted  thee  to  rise  up  against  my  people, 
and  keep  them  in  captivity,  that  thou  mightest  be  an  occasion  for  the 
manifestation  of  my  povN^er  in  their  rescue  ;  and  whilst  thou  art  ob- 
stinate to  enslave  them,  I  will  stretch  out  my  arm  to  deliver  them, 
and  make  my  name  famous  among  the  Grentiles,  in  the  wreck  of  thee 
and  thy  host  in  the  Eed  Sea.  The  deliverance  of  the  church  hath 
not  been  in  one  age,  or  in  one  part  of  the  world,  but  God  hath  sig- 
nalized his  power  in  all  kingdoms  where  she  hath  had  a  footing :  as 
he  hath  guided  her  in  all  places  by  one  rule,  animated  her  by  one 
spirit,  so  he  hath  protected  her  by  the  same  arm  of  power.  When 
the  Eoman  emperors  bandied  all  their  force  against  her,  for  about 
three  hundred  years,  they  were  further  from  eft'ecting  her  ruin  at  the 
end  than  when  they  first  attempted  it ;  the  church  grew  under  their 
sword,  and  was  hatched  under  the  wings  of  the  Eoman  eagle,  which 
were  spread  to  destroy  her.  The  ark  was  elevated  by  the  deluge, 
and  the  waters  tlie  devil  poured  out  to  drown  her  did  but  slime  the 
earth  for  a  new  increase  of  her.  She  hath  sometimes  been  beaten 
down,  and,  like  Lazarus,  hath  seemed  to  be  in  the  grave  for  some 
days,  that  the  power  of  God  might  be  more  visible  in  her  sudden  re- 
surrection, and  lifting  up  her  head  above  the  throne  of  her  persecu- 
tors. 

2.  In  his  judicial  proceedings.  The  deluge  was  no  small  testimo- 
ny of  his  power,  in  opening  the  cisterns  of  heaven,  and  pulling  up 
the  sluices  of  the  sea.  He  doth  but  call  for  the  waters  of  the  sea, 
and  they  "pour  themselves  upon  the  face  of  the  earth"  (Amos  ix.  6.) 
In  forty  days'  time  the  waters  overtopped  the  highest  mountains  fif- 
teen cubits  (Gen.  vii.  17 — 20) ;  and  by  the  same  power  he  afterwards 
reduced  the  sea  to  its  proper  channel,  as  a  roaring  lion  into  his  den. 
A  shower  of  fire  from  heaven,  upon  Sodom,  and  the  cities  of  the 
plain,  was  a  signal  display  of  his  power,  either  in  creating  it  on  the 
'  sudden,  for  the  execution  of  his  righteous  sentence,  or  sending  down 
the  element  of  fire,  contrary  to  its  nature,  which  affects  ascent,  for 
the  punishment  of  rebels  against  the  light  of  nature.  How  often 
hath  he  ruined  the  most  flourishing  monarchies,  led  princes  away 
spoiled,  and  overthrown  the  mighty,  which  Job  makes  an  argument 
of  his  strength  (Job  xii.  13,  14).  Troops  of  unknown  people,  the 
Goths  and  Vandals,  broke  the  Eomans,  a  warlike  people,  and  hurled 
down  all  before  them.  They  could  not  have  had  the  thought  to  suc- 
ceed in  such  an  attempt,  unless  God  had  given  them  strength  and 
motion  for  the  executing  his  judicial  vengeance  upon  the  people  of 
his  wrath.  How  did  he  evidence  his  power,  by  daubing  the  throne 
of  Pharaoh,  and  his  chamber  of  presence,  as  well  as  the  houses  of 
his  subjects,  with  the  slime  of  frogs  (Exod.  viii.  3) ;  turning  their 
waters  into  blood,  and  their  dust  into  biting  lice  (Exod.  vii.  20) ; 
raising  his  militia  of  locusts  against  them ;  causing  a  three  days' 
darkness  without  stopping  the  motion  of  the  sun  ;  taking  off  their 
first-born,  the  excellency  of  their  strength,  in  a  night,  by  the  stroke 
of  the  angel's  sword !  He  takes  off  the  chariot  wheels  of  Pharaoh, 
and  presents  him  with  a  destruction  where  he  expected  a  victory ; 
brings  those  waves  over  the  heads  of  him  and  his  host,  which  stood 


ON  THE  POWER  OF  GOD.  57 

firm  as  marble  -walls  for  the  safety  of  Ms  people ;  the  sea  is  made  to 
swallow  them  up,  that  durst  not,  by  the  order  of  their  Governor, 
touch  the  Israelites  :  it  only  sprinkled  the  one  as  a  type  of  baptism, 
and  drowned  the  other  as  an  image  of  hell.  Thus  he  made  it  both 
a  deliverer  and  a  revenger,  the  instrument  of  an  offensive  and  de- 
fensive war  (Isa.  xl.  23,  24) ;  "  He  brings  princes  to  nothing,  and 
makes  the  judges  of  the  earth  as  vanity."  Great  monarchs  have,  by 
his  power,  been  hurled  from  their  thrones  and  their  sceptres,  like 
Venice-glasses,  broken  before  their  faces,  and  they  been  advanced 
that  have  had  the  least  hopes  of  grandeur.  He  hath  23lucked  up  ce- 
dars by  the  roots,  lopped  oft"  the  branches,  and  set  a  shrub  to  grow 
up  in  the  j^lace ;  dissolved  rocks,  and  established  bubbles  (Luke  i. 
52) :  "  He  hath  showed  strength  with  his  arm  ;  he  hath  scattered  the 
proud  in  the  imagination  of  their  hearts ;  he  hath  put  down  the 
mighty  from  their  seat,  and  exalted  them  of  low  degree." — And 
these  things  he  doth  magnify  his  power  in : — 

(1.)  By  ordering  the  nature  of  creatures  as  he  pleases.  By  re- 
straining their  force,  or  guiding  their  motions.  The  restraint  of  the 
destructive  qualities  of  the  creatures  argues  as  great  a  power  as  the 
change  of  their  natures,  yea,  and  a  greater.  The  qualities  of  crea- 
tures may  be  changed  by  art  and  composition,  as  in  the  preparing  of 
medicines ;  but  what  but  a  Divine  Power  could  restrain  the  opera- 
tion of  the  fire  from  the  three  children,  while  it  retained  its  heat  and 
burning  quality  in  Nebuchadnezzar's  furnace  ?  The  operation  w^as 
curbed  while  its  nature  was  preserved.  All  creatures  are  called  his 
host,  because  he  marshals  and  ranks  them  as  an  army  to  serve  his 
purposes.  The  whole  scheme  of  nature  is  ready  to  favor  men  when 
God  orders  it,  and  ready  to  punish  men  when  God  commissions  it. 
He  gave  the  Red  Sea  but  a  check,  and  it  obeyed  his  voice  (Ps.  cvi. 
9)  :  "  He  rebuked  the  Red  Sea  also,  and  it  was  dried  up ;"  the  mo- 
tion of  it  ceased,  and  the  waters  of  it  were  ranged  as  defensive  walls, 
to  secure  the  march  of  his  people :  and  at  the  motion  of  the  hand  of 
Moses,  the  servant  of  the  Lord,  the  sea  recovered  its  violence,  and 
the  walls  that  were  framed  came  tumbling  down  upon  the  Egyp- 
tian's heads  (Exod.  xiv.  27).  The  Creator  of  nature  is  not  led  by 
the  necessity  of  nature :  he  that  settled  the  order  of  nature,  can 
change  or  restrain  the  order  of  nature  according  to  his  sovereign 
pleasure.  The  most  necessary  and  useful  creatures  he  can  use  as  in- 
struments of  his  vengeance :  water  is  necessary  to  cleanse,  and  by 
that  he  can  deface  a  world  ;  fire  is  necessary  to  warm,  and  by  that 
he  can  burn  a  Sodom :  from  the  water  he  formed  the  fowl  (Gen.  i. 
21),  and  by  that  he  dissolves  them  in  the  deluge ;  fire  or  heat  is 
necessary  to  the  generation  of  creatures,  and  by  that  he  ruins  the 
cities  of  the  plain.  He  orders  all  as  he  pleases,  to  perform  every 
tittle  and  punctilio  of  his  purpose.  The  sea  observed  him  so  exactly, 
that  it  drowned  not  one  Israelite,  nor  saved  one  Egyptian  (Ps.  cvi. 
11).  There  was  not  one  of  them  left.  And  to  perfect  the  Israelites' 
deliverance,  he  followed  them  with  testimonies  of  his  power  above 
the  strength  of  nature.  When  they  wanted  drink,  he  orders  Moses 
to  strike  a  rock,  and  the  rock  spouts  a  river,  and  a  channel  is  formed 
for  it  to  attend  them  in  their  journey.     When  they  wanted  bread,  he 


58  CHARNOCK  ON  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

dressed  manna  for  them  in  the  heavens,  and  sent  it  to  their  tables  in 
the  desert.  When  he  would  declare  his  strength,  he  calls  to  the 
heavens  to  pour  down  righteousness,  and  to  the  earth  to  bring  forth 
salvation  (Isa.  xlv.  8).  Though  God  had  created  righteousness  or 
deliverance  for  the  Jews  in  Babylon,  yet  he  calls  to  the  heavens  and 
the  earth  to  be  assistant  to  the  design  of  Cyrus,  whom  he  had  raised 
for  that  purpose,  as  he  speaks  in  the  beginning  of  the  chapter  (verses 
1 — 4:).  As  God  created  man  for  a  supernatural  end,  and  all  creatures 
for  man  as  their  immediate  end,  so  he  makes  them,  according  to  op- 
portunities, subservient  to  that  supernatural  end  of  man,  for  Avhich 
he  created  him.  He  that  spans  the  heavens  with  his  fist,  can  shoot 
all  creatures  like  an  arrow,  to  hit  what  mark  he  pleases.  He  that 
spread  the  heavens  and  the  earth  by  a  word,  and  can  by  a  word  fold 
them  up  more  easily  than  a  man  can  a  garment  (Heb.  i.  12),  can 
order  the  streams  of  nature  ;  cannot  he  work  without  nature  as  well 
as  with  it,  beyond  nature,  contrary  to  nature,  that  can,  as  it  were, 
fillip  nature  with  his  finger  into  that  nothing  whence  he  drew  it ; 
who  can  cast  down  the  sun  from  his  throne,  clap  the  distinguished 
parts  of  the  world  together,  and  make  them  march  in  the  same  order 
to  their  confusion,  as  they  did  in  their  creation :  who  can  jumble  the 
whole  frame  together,  and,  by  a  word,  dissolve  the  pillars  of  the 
world,  and  make  the  fabric  lie  in  a  ruinous  heap  ? 

(2.)  In  effecting  his  purposes  by  small  means :  in  miaking  use  of 
the  meanest  creatures.  As  the  power  of  God  is  seen  in  the  creation 
of  the  smallest  creatures,  and  assembling  so  many  perfections  in  the 
little  body  of  an  insect,  as  an  ant,  or  spider,  so  his  power  is  not  less 
magnified  in  the  use  he  makes  of  them.  As  he  magnifies  his  wis- 
dom, by  using  ignorant  instruments,  so  he  exalts  his  power,  by  em- 
ploying weak  instruments  in  his  service :  the  meanness  and  imper- 
fection of  the  matter  sets  off  the  excellency  of  the  workman  ;  so  the 
weakness  of  the  instrument  is  no  foil  to  the  power  of  the  principal 
Agent.  When  God  hath  effected  things  by  means  in  the  Scripture, 
he  hath  usually  brought  about  his  purposes  by  weak  instruments. 
Moses,  a  fugitive  from  Egypt,  and  Aaron  a  captive  in  it,  are  the  in- 
struments of  the  Israelites'  deliverance.  By  the  motion  of  Moses' 
rod,  he  works  wonders  in  the  court  of  Pharaoh,  and  summons  up  his 
judgments  against  him.  He  brought  down  Pharaoh's  stomach  for  a 
while,  by  a  squadron  of  lice  and  locusts,  wherein  Divine  power  was 
more  seen,  than  if  Moses  had  brought  him  to  his  own  articles  by  a 
multitude  of  warlike  troops.  The  fall  of  the  walls  of  Jericho  by 
the  sound  of  rams'  horns,  was  a  more  glorious  character  of  God's 
power,  than  if  Joshua  had  battered  it  down  with  a  hundred  of  war- 
like engines  (Josh  vi.  20).  Thus  the  great  army  of  the  Midianites, 
which  lay  as  grasshoppers  upon  the  ground,  were  routed  by  Gideon 
in  the  head  of  three  hundred  men  ;  and  Goliath,  a  giant,  laid  level 
with  the  ground  by  David,  a  stripling,  by  the  force  of  a  sling :  a 
thousand  Philistines  dispatched  out  of  the  world  by  the  jaw-bone  of 
an  ass  in  the  hand  of  Samson.  He  can  master  a  stout  nation  by  an 
army  of  locusts,  and  render  the  teeth  of  those  little  insects  as  de- 
structive as  the  teeth,  yea,  the  strongest  teeth,  the  cheek-teeth,  of  a 
great  lion  (Joel  i.  6,  7).     The  thunderbolt,  which  produces  some- 


ON  THE   POWER  OF  GOD.  59 

times  dreadful  effects,  is  compacted  of  little  atoms  whicL.  fly  in  the 
air,  small  vapors  drawn  up  by  the  sun,  and  mixed  with  other  sul- 
phurous matter  and  petrifying  juice.  Nothing  is  so  weak,  but  his 
strength  can  make  victorious ;  nothing  so  small,  but  by  his  power 
he  can  accomplish  his  great  ends  by  it ;  nothing  so  vile,  but  his 
might  can  conduct  to  his  glory ;  and  no  nation  so  mighty,  but  he 
can  waste  and  enfeeble  by  the  meanest  creatures.  God  is  great  in 
power  in  the  greatest  things,  and  not  little  in  the  smallest ;  his  power 
in  the  minutest  creatures  which  he  uses  for  his  service,  surmounts 
the  force  of  our  understanding. 

Thirdly.  The  power  of  God  appears  in  Redemption.  As  our 
Saviour  is  called  the  Wisdom  of  God,  so  he  is  called  the  Power  of 
God  (1  Cor.  i.  24).  The  arm  of  Power  was  lifted  up  as  high  as  the 
designs  of  Wisdom  were  laid  deep  :  as  this  way  of  redemption  could 
not  be  contrived  but  by  an  Infinite  Wisdom,  so  it  could  not  be  ac- 
complished but  by  an  Infinite  Power.  None  but  God  could  shape 
such  a  design,  and  none  but  God  could  effect  it.  The  Divine  Power 
in  temporal  deliverances,  and  freedom  from  the  slaver}^  of  human 
oppressors,  vails  to  that  which  glitters  in  redemption  ;  whereby  the 
devil  is  defeated  in  his  designs,  stripped  of  his  spoils,  and  yoked  in 
his  strength.  The  power  of  God  in  creation  requires  not  those  de- 
grees of  admiration,  as  in  redemption.  In  creation,  the  world  was 
erected  from  nothing ;  as  there  was  nothing  to  act,  so  there  was 
nothing  to  oppose  ;  no  victorious  devil  was  in  that  to  be  subdued ; 
no  thundering  law  to  be  silenced ;  no  death  to  be  conquered ;  no 
transgression  to  be  pardoned  and  rooted  out ;  no  hell  to  be  shut ;  no 
ignominious  death  upon  the  cross  to  be  suffered.  It  had  been,  in 
the  nature  of  the  thing,  an  easier  thing  to  Divine  Power  to  have 
created  a  nev/  world  than  repaired  a  broken,  and  purified  a  polluted 
one.  This  is  the  most  admirable  work  that  ever  God  brought  forth 
in  the  world,  greater  than  all  the  marks  of  his  power  in  the  first  creation. 

And  this  will  appear,  I.  In  the  Person  redeeming.  II.  In  the 
publication  and  propagation  of  the  doctrine  of  redemption.  III.  In 
the  application  of  redemption. 

I.  In  the  Person  redeeming.    First^  In  his  conception. 

1.  He  was  conceived  by  the  Holy  Ghost  in  the  womb  of  the 
Virgin  (Luke  i.  35):  "The  Holy  Ghost  shall  come  upon  thee,  and 
the  power  of  the  Highest  shall  overshadow  thee :"  which  act  is  ex- 
pressed to  be  the  effect  of  the  infinite  power  of  God ;  and  it  ex- 
presses the  supernatural  manner  of  the  forming  the  humanity  of 
our  Saviour,  and  signifies  not  the  Divine  nature  of  Christ  infusing 
itself  into  the  womb  of  the  virgin ;  for  the  angel  refers  it  to  the 
manner  of  the  operation  of  the  Holy  Ghost  in  the  producing  the 
himaan  nature  of  Christ,  and  not  to  the  nature  assuming  that  hu- 
manity into  union  with  itself  The  Holy  Ghost,  or  the  Third  Per- 
son in  the  Trinity,  overshadowed  the  virgin,  and  by  a  creative  act 
framed  the  humanity  of  Christ,  and  united  it  to  the  Divinity.  It  is, 
therefore,  expressed  by  a  word  of  the  same  import  with  that  used  in 
Gen.  i.  2,  "  The  Spirit  moved  upon  the  face  of  the  waters,"  which 
signifies  (as  it  were)  a  brooding  upon  the  chaos,  shadowing  it  with 
his  wings,  as  hens  sit  upon  their  eggs,  to  form  them  and  hatch  th^m 


60  CHARNOCK  ON  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

into  animals;  or  else  it  is  an  allusion  to  the  "  cloud  wliioli  covered 
tlie  tent  of  the  congregation,  when  the  glory  of  the  Lord  filled  the 
tabernacle"  (Exod,  xl.  34).  It  was  not  such  a  creative  act  as  we  call 
immediate,  which  is  a  production  out  of  nothing;  but  a  mediate 
creation,  such  as  God's  bringing  things  into  form  out  of  the  first 
matter,  which  had  nothing  but  an  obediential  or  passive  disj30sition 
to  whatsoever  stamp  the  powerful  Avisdom  of  God  should  imprint 
upon  it.  So  the  substance  of  the  Virgin  had  no  active,  but  only  a 
passive  disposition  to  this  work :  the  matter  of  the  body  was  earthy, 
the  substance  of  the  virgin ;  the  forming  of  it  was  heavenly,  the 
Holy  Ghost  working  upon  that  matter.  And  therefore  when  it  is 
said,  that  "she  was  found  with  child  of  the  Holy  Ghost"  (Matt,  i.  18), 
it  is  to  be  understood  of  the  efiicacy  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  not  of  the 
substance  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  The  matter  was  natural,  but  the  man- 
ner of  conceiving  was  in  a  supernatural  way,  above  the  methods  of 
nature.  In  reference  to  the  active  principle  the  Redeemer  is  called 
in  the  prophecy  (Isa.  iv.  2),  "  The  branch  of  the  Lord,"  in  regard  of 
the  Divine  hand  that  planted  him :  in  respect  to  the  passive  jDrinci- 
ple,  the  fruit  of  the  earth,  in  regard  of  the  womb  that  bare  him ;  and 
therefore  said  to  be  "  made  of  a  woman"  (Gal.  iv.  4).  That  part  of 
the  flesh  of  the  virgin  whereof  the  human  nature  of  Christ  was  made, 
was  refined  and  purified  from  corruption  by  the  overshadowing  of 
the  Holy  Ghost,  as  a  skilful  workman  separates  the  dross  from  the 
gold:  our  Saviour  is  therefore  called,  "  that  holy  thing"  (Luke  i.  35), 
though  born  of  the  virgin :  he  was  necessarily  some  way  to  descend 
from  Adam.  God,  indeed,  might  have  created  his  body  out  of 
nothing,  or  have  formed  it  (as  he  did  Adam's)  out  of  the  dust  of  the 
ground :  but  had  he  been  thus  extraordinarily  formed,  and  not  pro- 
pagated from  Adam,  though  he  had  been  a  man  like  one  of  us,  yet 
he  would  not  have  been  of  kin  to  us,  because  it  would  not  have  been 
a  nature  derived  from  Adam,  the  common  parent  of  us  all.  It  was 
therefore  necessary  to  an  affinity  with  us,  not  only  that  he  should 
have  the  same  human  nature,  but  that  it  should  flow  from  the  same 
principle,  and  be  propagated  to  him.e  But  now,  by  this  way  of 
producing  the  humanity  of  Christ  of  the  substance  of  the  virgin,  he 
was  in  Adam  (say  some)  corporally,  but  not  seminally ;  of  the  sub- 
stance of  Adam,  or  a  daughter  of  Adam,  but  not  of  the  seed  of  Adam: 
and  so  he  is  of  the  same  nature  that  had  sinned,  and  so  what  he  did 
and  suffered  may  be  imputed  to  us ;  which,  had  he  been  created  as 
Adam,  could  not  be  claimed  in  a  legal  and  judicial  way. 

2.  It  was  not  convenient  he  should  be  born  in  the  common  order 
of  nature,  of  father  and  mother :  for  whosoever  is  so  born  is  polluted. 
"  A  clean  thing  cannot  be  brought  out  of  an  unclean"  (Job  xiv.  4). 
And  our  Saviour  had  been  incapable  of  being  a  redeemer,  had  he 
been  tainted  with  the  least  spot  of  our  nature,  but  would  have  stood 
in  need  of  redemption  himself  Besides,  it  had  been  inconsistent 
with  the  holiness  of  the  Divine  nature,  to  have  assumed  a  tainted 
and  defiled  body.  He  that  was  the  fountain  of  blessedness  to  all 
nations,  was  not  to  be  subject  to  the  curse  of  the  law  for  himself; 
which  he  would  have  been,  had  he  been  conceived  in  an  ordinary 

«  Amyrald.  in  Symbol,  p.  103,  <fec. 


ON  THE   POWER   OF   GOD.  €1 

way.  He  that  was  to  overturn  the  devil's  empire,  was  not  to  be  any 
way  captive  under  the  devil's  power,  as  a  creature  under  the  curse ; 
nor  could  he  be  able  to  break  the  serpent's  head,  had  he  been  tainted 
with  the  serpent's  breath.  Again,  supposing  that  Almight}^  God  by 
his  divine  power  had  so  ordered  the  matter,  and  so  perfectly  sanc- 
tified an  earthly  father  and  mother  from  all  original  spot,  that  the 
human  nature  might  have  been  transmitted  immaculate  to  him,  as 
well  as  the  Holy  Ghost  did  purge  that  part  of  the  flesh  of  the  virgin 
of  which  the  body  of  Christ  was  made,  yet  it  was  not  convenient 
that  that  person,  that  was  God  blessed  for  ever  as  well  as  man,  par- 
taking of  our  nature,  should  have  a  conception  in  the  same  manner 
as  OLirs,  but  different,  and  in  some  measure  conformable  to  the  in- 
finite dignity  of  his  person :  which  could  not  have  been,  had  not  a 
supernatural  power  and  a  Divine  person  been  concerned  as  an  active 
principle  in  it ;  besides,  such  'a  birth  had  not  been  agreeable  to  the 
first  promise,  which  calls  him  "  the  Seed  of  the  woman"  (Gen.  i.  15), 
not  of  the  man  ;  and  so  the  veracity  of  God  had  suffered  some  detri- 
ment :  the  Seed  of  the  woman  only  is  set  in  opposition  to  the  seed 
of  the  serpent. 

3.  By  this  manner  of  conception  the  holiness  of  his  nature  is  se- 
cured, and  his  fitness  for  his  office  is  atsured  to  us.  It  is  now  a  pure 
and  unpolluted  humanity  that  is  the  temj3le  and  tabernacle  of  the 
Divinity:  the  fulness  of  the  Godhead  dwells  in  him  bodily,  and 
dwells  in  him  holily.  His  humanity  is  supernaturalized  and  elevated 
by  the  activity  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  hatching  the  flesh  of  the  virgin 
into  man,  as  the  chaos  into  a  world.  Though  we  read  of  some  sanc- 
tified from  the  womb,  it  was  not  a  pure  and  perfect  holiness ;  it  was 
like  the  light  of  fire  mixed  with  smoke,  an  infused  holiness  accom- 
panied with  a  natural  taint :  but  the  holiness  of  the  Eedeemer  by  this 
conception,  is  like  the  light  of  the  sun,  pure,  and  without  spot.  The 
Spirit  of  holiness  supplying  the  place  of  a  father  in  the  way  of  crea- 
tion. His  fitness  for  his  office  is  also  assured  to  us ;  for  being  born 
of  the  virgin,  one  of  our  nature,  but  conceived  by  the  Spirit  of  a 
Divine  person,  the  guilt  of  our  sins  may  be  imputed  to  him  because 
of  our  nature,  without  the  stain  of  sin  inherent  in  him ;  because  of 
his  suj)ernatural  conception  he  is  capable,  as  one  of  kin  to  us,  to  bear 
our  curse  without  being  touched  by  our  taint.  By  this  means  our 
sinful  nature  is  assumed  without  sin  in  that  nature  which  was  as- 
sumed by  him:  "flesh  he  hath,  but  not  sinful  flesh"  (Rom.  viii.  3). 
Real  flesh,  but  not  really  sinful,  only  by  way  of  imputation.  Nothing 
but  the  power  of  God  is  evident  in  this  whole  work :  by  ordinary 
laws  and  the  course  of  nature  a  virgin  could  not  bear  a  son :  nothing 
but  a  supernatural  and  almighty  grace  could  intervene  to  make  so 
holy  and  perfect  a  conjunction.  The  generation  of  others,  in  an 
ordinary  way,  is  by  male  and  female :  but  the  virgin  is  overshadowed 
by  the  Spirit  and  power  of  the  Highest.  ^  Man  only  is  the  product 
of  natural  generation ;  this  which  is  born  of  the  virgin  is  the  holy 
thing,  the  Son  of  God.  In  other  generations,  a  rational  soul  is  only 
united  to  a  material  body :  but  in  this,  the  Divine  nature  is  united 
with  the  human  in  one  person  by  an  indissoluble  union. 

f  Amyrunt.  siu*  Timole,  p,  292. 


62  CHAENOCK  ON  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

The  Second  act  of  power  in  the  person  redeeming,  is  the  union  of 
the  two  natures,  the  Divine  and  human.  The  designing  indeed  of 
this  was  an  act  of  wisdom;  but  the  accomphshing  it  was  an  act  of 
power. 

1.  There  is  in  this  redeeming  person  a  union  of  two  natures.  He 
is  God  and  man  in  one  person  (Heb.  i.  8,  9).  "  Thj  throne,  O  God, 
is  for  ever  and  ever :  God,  even  thy  God,  hath  anointed  thee  with 
the  oil  of  gladness,"  &c.  The  Son  is  called  God,  having  a  throne  for 
ever  and  ever,  and  the  unction  speaks  him  man :  the  Godhead  can- 
not be  anointed,  nor  hath  any  fellows.  Humanity  and  Divinity  are 
ascribed  to  him  (Rom.  i.  3,  4).  "  He  Avas  of  the  seed  of  David  ac- 
cording to  the  flesh,  and  declared  to  be  the  Son  of  God,  by  his  resur- 
rection from  the  dead."  The  Divinity  and  humanity  are  both  pro- 
phetically joined  (Zech.  xii.  10),  "I  will  pour  out  my  Spirit;"  the 
pouring  forth  the  Spirit  is  an  act  only  of  Divine  grace  and  power. 
"  And  they  shall  look  upon  me  whom  they  have  pierced ;"  the  same 
person  pours  forth  the  Spirit  as  God,  and  is  pierced  as  man.  "  The 
Word  was  made  flesh"  (John  i.  14).  Word  from  eternity  was  made 
flesh  in  time ;  Word  and  flesh  in  one  person ;  a  great  God,  and  a 
little  infant. 

2.  The  terms  of  this  union  were  infinitely  distant.  What  greater 
distance  can  there  be  than  between  the  Deity  and  humanity,  between 
the  Creator  and  a  creature  ?  Can  you  imagine  the  distance  between 
eternity  and  time.  Infinite  Power  and  miserable  infirmity,  an  immor- 
tal spirit  and  dying  flesh,  the  highest  Being  and  nothing  ?  yet  these 
are  espoused.  A  God  of  unmixed  blessedness  is  linked  personally 
with  a  man  of  perpetual  sorrows :  life  incapable  to  die,  joined  to  a 
body  in  that  economy  incapable  to  live  without  dying  first ;  infinite 
purity,  and  a  reputed  sinner ;  eternal  blessedness  with  a  cursed 
nature,  Almightiness  and  weakness,  omniscience  and  ignorance,  im- 
mutability and  changeableness,  incomprehensibleness  and  compre- 
hensibility ;  that  which  cannot  be  comprehended,  and  that  which 
can  be  comprehended ;  that  which  is  entirely  independent,  and  that 
which  is  totally  dependent ;  the  Creator  forming  all  things,  and  the 
creature  made,  met  together  to  a  personal  union  ;  "  The  word  made 
flesh"  (John  i.  14),  the  eternal  Son,  the  "  Seed  of  Abraham"  (Heb. 
ii.  16).  What  more  miraculous,  than  for  God  to  become  man,  and 
man  to  become  God  ?  That  a  person  possessed  of  all  the  perfections 
of  the  Godhead,  should  inherit  all  the  imperfections  of  the  manhood 
in  one  person,  sin  only  excepted :  a  holiness  incapable  of  sinning  to 
be  made  sin  ;  God  blessed  forever,  taking  the  properties  of  human 
nature,  and  human  nature  admitted  to  a  union  with  the  properties 
of  the  Creator :  the  fulness  of  the  Deity,  and  the  emptiness  of  man 
united  together  (Col.  ii.  9) ;  not  by  a  shining  of  the  Deity  upon  the 
humanity,  as  the  light  of  the  sun  upon  the  earth,  but  by  an  inhabi- 
tation or  indwelling  of  the  Deity  in  the  humanity.  Was  there  not 
need  of  an  Infinite  Power  to  bring  together  terms  so  far  asunder,  to 
elevate  the  humanity  to  be  capable  of,  and  disposed  for,  a  conjunc- 
tion with  the  Deity  ?  If  a  clod  of  earth  should  be  advanced  to,  and 
united  with  the  body  of  the  sun,  such  an  advance  would  evidence 
itself  to  be  a  work  of  Almighty  power :  the  clod  hath  nothing  in  its 


ON  THE   POWER  OP^   GOD.  63 

own  nature  to  render  it  so  glorious,  no  power  to  climb  up  to  so  high. 
a  dignity  :  liow  little  would  such  a  union  be,  to  tliat  we  are  speak- 
ing of!  Nothing  less  than  an  Incomprehensible  Power  could  effect 
what  an  Incomprehensible  Wisdom  did  project  in  this  affair. 

3.  Especially  since  the  union  is  so  strait.  It  is  not  such  a  union 
as  is  between  a  man  and  his  house  he  dwells  in,  whence  he  goes  out 
and  to  which  he  returns,  without  any  alteration  of  himself  or  his 
house  ;  nor  such  a  union  as  is  between  a  man  and  his  garment,  which 
both  communicate  and  receive  warmth  from  one  another  ;  nor  such 
as  is  between  an  artificer  and  his  instrument  wherewith  he  works  ; 
nor  such  a  union  as  one  friend  hath  with  another :  all  these  are  dis- 
tant things,  not  one  in  nature,  but  have  distinct  substances.  Two 
friends,  though  united  by  love,  are  distinct  persons  ;  a  man  and  his 
clothes,  an  artificer  and  his  instruments,  have  distinct  subsistencies ; 
but  the  humanity  of  Christ  hath  no  subsistence,  but  in  the  person  of 
Christ.  The  straitness  of  this  union  is  expressed,  and  may  be  some- 
what conceived,  by  the  union  of  fire  with  iron ;  "  fire  pierceth 
through  all  the  parts  of  iron,  it  unites  itself  with  every  particle,  be- 
stows a  light,  heat,  purity,  upon  all  of  it ;  you  cannot  distinguish 
the  iron  from  the  fire,  or  the  fire  from  the  iron,  yet  they  are  distinct 
natures ;  so  the  Deity  is  united  to  the  whole  humanity,  seasons  it, 
and  bestows  an  excellency  upon  it,  yet  the  natures  still  remain  dis- 
tinct. And  as  during  that  union  of  fire  with  iron,  the  iron  is  inca- 
pable of  rust  or  blackness,  so  is  the  humanity  incapable  of  sin :  and 
as  the  operation  of  fire  is  attributed  to  the  red-hot  iron  (as  the  iron 
may  be  said  to  heat,  burn,  and  the  fire  may  be  said  to  cut  and 
pierce),  yet  the  imperfections  of  the  iron  do  not  affect  the  fire ;  so  in 
this  mystery,  those  things  which  belong  to  the  Divinity  are  ascribed 
to  the  humanity,  and  those  things  which  belong  to  the  humanity, 
are  ascribed  to  the  Divinity,  in  regard  of  the  person  in  whom  those 
natures  are  united :  yet  the  imperfections  of  the  humanity  do  not 
hurt  the  Divinity.''^  The  Divinity  of  Christ  is  as  really  united  with 
the  humanity,  as  the  soul  with  the  body ;  the  person  was  one, 
though  the  natures  were  two  ;  so  united,  that  the  sufferings  of  the 
human  nature  were  the  sufferings  of  that  person,  and  the  dignity  of 
the  Divine  was  imputed  to  the  human,  by  reason  of  that  unity  of 
both  in  one  person  ;  hence  the  blood  of  the  human  nature  is  said  to 
be  the  "  blood  of  God"  (Acts  xx.  28).  All  things  ascribed  to  the 
Son  of  God,  may  be  ascribed  to  this  man  ;  and  the  things  ascribed 
to  this  man,  may  be  ascribed  to  the  Son  of  God,  as  this  man  is  the 
Son  of  God,  eternal.  Almighty ;  and  it  may  be  said,  "  God  suffered, 
was  crucified,"  &c.,  for  the  person  of  Christ  is  but  one,  most  simple  ; 
the  person  suffered,  that  was  God  and  Man  united,  making  one  per- 
son.h 

4.  And  though  the  union  be  so  strait,  yet  without  confusion  of 
the  natures,  or  change  of  them  into  one  another.  The  two  natures 
of  Christ  are  not  mixed,  as  liquors  that  incorporate  with  one  another 
when  they  are  poured  into  a  vessel ;  the  Divine  nature  is  not  turned 
into  the  human,  nor  the  human  into  the  Divine ;  one  nature  doth 
not  swallow  up  another,  and  make  a  third  nature  distinct  from  each 

K  Lessius  de  Perf.  Divin.  lib.  xii.  cap.  4.  p.  104.  '■  Lessius,  pp.  103,  104. 


64  CHARNOCK  ON  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

of  them.'  The  Deity  is  not  turned  into  the  humanity,  as  air  (which 
is  next  to  a  spirit)  may  be  thickened  and  turned  into  water,  and 
water  may  be  rarified  into  air  by  the  power  of  heat  boiling  it.  The 
Deity  cannot  be  changed,  because  the  nature  of  it  is  to  be  unchange- 
able ;  it  would  not  be  Deity,  if  it  were  mortal  and  capable  of  suffer- 
ing. The  humanity  is  not  changed  into  the  Deity,  for  then  Christ 
could  not  have  been  a  sufferer  ;  if  the  humanity  had  been  swallowed 
up  into  the  Deity,  it  had  lost  its  own  distinct  nature,  and  put  on  the 
nature  of, the  Deity,  and,  consequently,  been  incapable  of  suffering; 
finite  can  never,  by  any  mixture,  be  changed  into  infinite,  nor  in- 
finite into  finite.  This  union,  in  this  regard,  may  be  resembled  to 
the  union  of  light  and  air,  which  are  strictly  joined;  for  the  light 
passes  through  all  parts  of  the  air,  but  they  are  not  confounded,  but 
remain  in  their  distinct  essences  as  before  the  union,  without  the 
least  confusion  with  one  another.  The  Divine  nature  remains  as  it 
was  before  the  union,  entire  in  itself;  only  the  Divine  person  as- 
sumes another  nature  to  himself'^  The  human  nature  remains,  as 
it  would  have  done,  had  it  existed  separately  from  the  ^ojoc,  except 
that  then  it  would  have  had  a  proper  subsistence  by  itself,  which 
now  it  borrows  from  its  union  with  the  Aoyog^  or,  word ;  but  that 
doth  not  belong  to  the  constitution  of  its  nature.  Now  let  us  con- 
sider, what  a  wonder  of  power  is  all  this  :  the  knitting  a  noble  soul 
to  a  iiody  of  clay,  was  not  so  great  an  exploit  of  Almightiness,  as 
the  espousing  infinite  and  finite  together.  Man  is  further  distant 
from  God,  than  man  from  nothing.  What  a  wonder  is  it,  that  two 
natures  infinitely  distant,  should  be  more  intimately  united  than 
anything  in  the  world ;  and  yet  without  any  confusion !  that  the 
same  person  should  have  both  a  glory  and  a  grief;  an  infinite  joy 
in  the  Deity,  and  an  inexpressible  sorrow  in  the  humanity  !  That 
a  God  upon  a  throne  should  be  an  infant  in  a  cradle  ;  the  thunder- 
ing Creator  be  a  weeping  babe  and  a  suffering  man,  are  such  ex- 
pressions of  mighty  power,  as  well  as  condescending  love,  that  they 
astonish  men  upon  earth,  and  angels  in  heaven. 

Thirdhj^  Power  was  evident  in  the  progress  of  his  life ;  in  the 
miracles  he  wrought.  How  often  did  he  expel  malicious  and  power- 
ful devils  from  their  habitations  ;  hurl  them  from  their  thrones,  and 
make  them  fall  from  heaven  like  lightning  !  How  many  wonders 
were  wrought  by  his  bare  word,  or  a  single  touch  !  Sight  restored 
to  the  blind,  and  hearing  to  the  deaf;  palsy  members  restored  to 
the  exercise  of  their  functions ;  a  dismiss  given  to  many  deplorable 
maladies ;  impure  leprosies  chased  from  the  persons  they  had  in- 
fected, and  bodies  beginning  to  putrefy  raised  from  the  grave.  But 
the  mightiest  argument  of  power  was  his  patience ;  that  He  who 
was,  in  his  Divine  nature,  elevated  above  the  world,  should  so  long 
continue  upon  a  dunghill,  endure  the  contradiction  of  sinners  against 
himself,  be  patiently  subject  to  the  reproaches  and  indignities  of 
men,  without  displaying  that  justice  which  was  essential  to  the 
Deity ;  and,  in  especial  manner,  daily  merited  by  their  provoking- 
crimes.  The  patience  of  man  under  great  affronts,  is  a  greater  argu- 
ument  of  power,  than  the  brawniness  of  his  arm ;  a  strength  employ- 

»  Lessius  pp.  103,  104.     Amyrald.  L-enic.  p.  284.         '^  Amyrald.  Ii-enic.  p.  282. 


ON   THE    POWER   OF   GOD.  65 

ed  in  the  revenge  of  every  injury,  signifies  a  greater  infirmity  in  the 
soul,  than  there  can  be  ability  in  the  body. 

Fourthly,  Divine  power  was  apparent  in  his  resurrection.  The 
unlocking  the  belly  of  the  whale  for  the  deliverance  of  Jonas ;  the 
rescue  of  Daniel  from  the  den  of  lions ;  and  the  restraining  the  fire 
from  burning  the  three  children,  were  signal  declarations  of  his 
power,  and  types  of  the  resurrection  of  our  Saviour.  But  what  arc 
those  to  that  which  was  represented  by  them  ?  That  was  a  power 
over  natural  causes,  a  curbing  of  beasts,  and  restraining  of  elements ; 
but  in  the  resurrection  of  Christ,  God  exercised  a  power  over  him- 
self, and  quenched  the  flames  of  his  own  wrath,  hotter  than  millions 
of  Nebuchadnezzar's  furnaces ;  unlocked  the  prison  doors,  wherein 
the  curses  of  the  law  had  lodged  our  Saviour,  stronger  than  the  belly 
and  ribs  of  a  leviathan.  In  the  rescue  of  Daniel  and  Jonas,  God 
overpowered  beasts ;  and  in  this  tore  up  the  strength  of  the  old  ser- 
pent, and  plucked  the  sceptre  from  the  hand  of  the  enemy  of  man- 
kind. The  work  of  resurrection,  indeed,  considered  in  itself,  re- 
quires the  efiicacy  of  an  Almighty  power ;  neither  man  nor  angel 
can  create  new  dispositions  in  a  dead  body,  to  render  it  capable  of 
lodging  a  spiritual  soul ;  nor  can  they  restore  a  dislodged  soul,  by 
their  own  power,  to  such  a  body.  The  restoring  a  dead  body  to 
life  requires  an  infinite  power,  as  well  as  the  creation  of  the  world ; 
but  there  was  in  the  resurrection  of  Christ,  something  more  difficult 
than  this  ;  while  he  lay  in  the  grave  he  was  under  the  curse  of  the 
law,  under  the  execution  of  that  dreadful  sentence,  "  Thou  shalt  die 
the  death."  His  resurrection  was  not  only  the  re-tying  the  marriage 
knot  between  his  soul  and  body,  or  the  rolling  the  stone  from  the 
grave ;  but  a  taking  off  an  infinite  weight,  the  sin  of  mankind,  which 
lay  upon  him.  So  vast  a  weight  could  not  be  removed  without  the 
strength  of  an  Almighty  arm.  It  is,  therefore,  not  to  an  ordinary 
operation,  but  an  operation  with  power  (Rom.  i.  4),  and  such  a  power 
wherein  the  glory  of  the  Father  did  appear  (Eom.  vi.  4);  "  Raised 
up  from  the  dead  by  the  glory  of  the  Father,"  that  is,  the  glorious 
power  of  God.  As  the  Eternal  generation  is  stupendous,  so  is  his 
resurrection,  wdiicli  is  called,  a  new  begetting  of  him  (Acts  xiii.  83). 
It  is  a  wonder  of  power,  that  the  Divine  and  human  nature  should 
be  joined;  and  no  less  wonder  that  his  person  should  surmount  and 
rise  up  from  the  curse  of  God,  under  which  he  lay.  The  apostle, 
therefore,  adds  one  expression  to  another,  and  heaps  up  a  variety, 
signifying  thereby  that  one  was  not  enough  to  represent,  it  (Eph.  i. 
19);  "Exceeding  greatness  of  power,  and  working  of  mighty  power, 
which  he  wrought  in  Christ  when  he  raised  him  from  the  dead." 
It  was  an  hyperbole  of  power,  the  excellency  of  the  mightiness  of 
his  strength :  the  loftiness  of  the  expressions  seems  to  come  short  of 
the  apprehension  he  had  of  it  in  his  soul. 

II.  This  power  appears  in  the  publication  and  propagation  of  the 
doctrine  of  redemption.  The  Divine  power  will  appear,  if  you  con- 
sider, 1.  The  nature  of  the  doctrine.  2,  The  instruments  employed 
in  it.  3.  The  means  they  used  to  propagate  it.  4.  The  success 
they  had. 

1.  The  nature  of  the  doctrine.     (1.)  It  was  contary  to  the  common 

VOL.    II. — V. 


66  CHARNOCK   ON   THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

received  reason  of  the  world.  The  philospbers,  the  masters  of 
knowledge  among  the  Gentiles,  had  maxims  of  a  different  stamp 
from  it.  Though  they  agreed  in  the  being  of  a  God,  yet  their  no- 
tions of  his  nature  were  confused  and  embroiled  with  many  errors ; 
the  unity  of  God  was  not  commonly  assented  unto  ;  they  had  mul- 
tiplied deities  according  to  the  fancies  they  had  received  from  some 
of  a  more  elevated  wit  and  refined  brain  than  others.  Though  they 
had  some  notion  of  mediators,  yet  they  placed  in  those  seats  their 
public  benefactors,  men  that  had  been  useful  to  the  world,  or  their 
particular  countries,  in  imparting  to  them  some  profitable  invention. 
To  discard  those,  was  to  charge  themselves  with  ingratitude  to  them, 
from  whom  they  had  received  signal  benefits,  and  to  whose  media- 
tion, conduct,  or  protection,  they  ascribed  all  the  success  they  had 
been  blessed  with  in  their  several  provinces,  and  to  charge  them- 
selves with  folly  for  rendering  an  honor  and  worship  to  them  so 
long.  Could  the  doctrine  of  a  crucified  Mediator,  whom  they  had 
never  seen,  that  had  conquered  no  country  for  them,  never  enlarged 
their  territories,  brought  to  light  no  new  profitable  invention  for  the 
increase  of  their  earthly  welfare,  as  the  rest  had  done,  be  thought 
sufficient  to  balance  so  many  of  their  reputed  heroes  ?  How  igno- 
rant were  they  in  the  foundations  of  the  true  religion  !  The  belief 
of  a  Providence  was  staggering ;  nor  had  they  a  true  prospect  of  the 
nature  of  virtue  and  vice ;  yet  they  had  a  fond  opinion  of  the 
strength  of  their  own  reason,  and  the  maxims  that  had  been  handed 
down  to  them  by  their  predecessors,  which  Paul  (1  Tim.  vi.  20)  en- 
titles, a  "  science  falsely  so  called,"  either  meant  of  the  philosophers 
or  the  Gnostics.  They  presumed  that  they  were  able  to  measure  all 
things  by  their  own  reason ;  whence,  when  the  apostle  came  to 
preach  the  doctrine  of  the  Gospel  at  Athens,  the  great  school  of 
reason  in  that  age,  they  gave  him  no  better  a  title  than  that  of  a 
babbler  (Acts  xvii.  18),  and  openly  mocked  him  (ver.  32) ;  a  seed 
gatherer,'  one  that  hath  no  more  brain  or  sense  than  a  fellow  that 
gathers  up  seeds  that  are  s|)illed  in  a  market,  or  one  that  hath  a  vain 
and  empty  sound,  without  sense  or  reason,  like  a  foolish  mounte- 
bank; so  slightly  did  those  rationalists  of  the  world  think  of  the 
wisdom  of  heaven.  That  the  Son  of  God  should  veil  himself  in  a 
mortal  body,  and  suffer  a  disgraceful  death  in  it,  were  things  above 
the  ken  of  reason.  Besides,  the  world  had  a  general  disesteem  of 
the  religion  of  the  Jews,  and  were  prejudiced  against  anything  that 
came  from  them  ;  whence  the  Eomans,  that  used  to  incorporate  the 
gods  of  other  conquered  nations  in  their  capital,  never  moved  to 
have  the  God  of  Israel  worshipped  among  them.  Again,  they  might 
argue  against  it  with  much  fleshly  reason  :  here  is  a  crucified  God, 
preached  by  a  company  of  mean  and  ignorant  persons,  what  reason 
can  we  have  to  entertain  this  doctrine,  since  the  Jews,  who,  as  they 
tell  us,  had  the  prophecies  of  him,  did  not  acknowledge  him  ?  Sure- 
ly, had  there  been  such  predictions,  they  would  not  have  crucified, 
but  crowned  their  King,  and  expected  from  him  the  conquest  of  the 
earth  under  their  power.  What  reason  have  we  to  entertain  him, 
whom  his  own  nation,  among  whom  he  lived,  with  whom  he  con- 


ON   THE   POWER   OF   GOD.  67 

versed  so  unanimously,  by  tlic  vote  of  the  rulers  as  well  as  tlie  rout, 
rejected?  It  was  impossible  to  conquer  minds  possessed  with  so 
many  errors,  and  applauding  themselves  in  their  own  reason,  and  to 
render  them  capable  of  receiving  revealed  truths  without  the  influ- 
ence of  a  Divine  power. 

(2.)  It  was  contrary  to  the  customs  of  the  world.  The  strength 
of  custom  in  most  men,  surmounts  the  strength  of  reason,  and  men 
commonly  are  so  wedded  to  it,  that  they  will  be  sooner  divorced 
from  anything  than  the  modes  and  patterns  received  from  their  an- 
cestors. The  endeavoring  to  change  customs  of  an  ancient  stand- 
ing, hath  begotten  tumults  and  furious  mutinies  among  nations, 
though  the  change  would  have  been  much  for  their  advantage.  This 
doctrine  struck  at  the  root  of  the  religion  of  the  world,  and  the  cere- 
monies, wherein  they  had  been  educated  from  their  infancy,  de- 
livered to  them  from  their  ancestors,  confirmed  by  the  customary 
observance  of  many  ages,  rooted  in  their  minds  and  established  by 
their  laws  (Acts  xviii.  13) ;  "  This  fellow  persuadeth  us  to  worship 
God  contrary  to  the  law  ;"  against  customs,  to  which  they  ascribed 
the  happiness  of  their  states,  and  the  prosperity  of  their  people,  and 
Avould  put,  in  the  place  of  this  religion  they  would  abolish,  a  new 
one  instituted  by  a  man,  whom  the  Jews  had  condemned,  and  put 
to  death  upon  a  cross,  as  an  impostor,  blasphemer,  and  seditious 
person.  It  was  a  doctrine  that  would  change  the  customs  of  the 
Jews,  who  were  intrusted  with  the  oracles  of  God.  It  would  bury 
forever  their  ceremonial  rites,  delivered  to  them  by  Moses,  from  that 
God,  who  had,  with  a  mighty  hand,  brought  them  out  of  Egypt, 
consecrated  their  law  with  thunders  and  lightnings  from  Mount 
Sinai,  at  the  time  of  its  publication,  backed  it  with  severe  sanctions, 
confirmed  it  by  many  miracles,  both  in  the  wilderness  and  their 
Canaan,  and  had  continued  it  for  so  many  hundred  years.  They 
could  not  but  remember  how  they  had  been  ravaged  by  other  na- 
tions, and  judgments  sent  upon  them  when  they  neglected  and 
slighted  it ;  and  with  what  great  success  they  were  followed  when 
they  valued  and  observed  it ;  and  how  they  had  abhorred  the  Author 
of  this  new  religion,  who  had  spoken  slightly  of  their  traditions,  till 
they  put  him  to  death  with  infamy.  Was  it  an  easy  matter  to 
divorce  them  from  that  worship,  upon  which  were  entailed,  as  they 
imagined,  their  peace,  plenty,  and  glory,  things  of  the  dearest  re- 
gard with  mankind  ?  The  Jews  were  no  less  devoted  to  their  cerC' 
monial  traditions  than  the  heathen  were  to  their  vain  superstitions. 
This  doctrine  of  the  gospel  was  of  that  nature,  that  the  state  of  re- 
ligion, all  over  the  earth,  must  be  overturned  by  it ;  the  wisdom  of 
the  Greeks  must  vail  to  it,  the  idolatry  of  the  people  must  stoop  to 
it,  and  the  profane  customs  of  men  must  moulder  under  the  weight 
of  it.  Was  it  an  easy  matter  for  the  pride  of  nature  to  deny  a  cus- 
tomary wisdom,  to  entertain  a  new  doctrine  against  the  authority  of 
their  ancestors,  to  inscribe  folly  upon  that  which  hath  made  them 
admired  by  the  rest  of  the  world?  Nothing  can  be  of  greater 
esteem  with  men,  than  the  credit  of  their  lawgivers  and  founders, 
the  religion  of  their  fathers,  and  prosperity  of  themselves :  hence 
the  minds  of  men  were  sharpened   against  it.     The  Greeks,  the 


68  CHARNOCK  ON  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

wisest  nation,  slighted  it  as  foolisli ;  tlie  Jews,  tlie  religious  nation, 
stumbled  at  it,  as  contrary  to  the  received  interpretations  of  ancient 
prophecies  and  carnal  conceits  of  an  earthly  glory.  The  dimmest 
eye  may  behold  the  difficulty  to  change  custom,  a  second  nature  : 
it  is  as  hard  as  to  change  a  wolf  into  a  lamb,  to  level  a  mountain, 
stop  the  course  of  the  sun,  or  change  the  inhabitants  of  Africa  into 
the  color  of  Europe.  Custom  dips  men  in  as  durable  a  dye  as  na- 
ture. The  difficulties  of  carrying  it  on  against  the  Divine  religion 
of  the  Jew,  and  rooted  custom  of  the  Gentiles,  were  unconquerable 
by  any  but  an  Almighty  power.  And  in  this  the  power  of  God 
hath  appeared  wonderfully. 

(3.)  It  was  contrary  to  the  sensuality  of  the  world,  and  the  lusts 
of  the  flesh.  How  much  the  Gentiles  were  overgrown  with  base 
and  unworthy  lusts  at  tlie  time  of  the  publication  of  the  gospel, 
needs  no  other  memento  than  the  apostle's  discourse  (Kom.  i).  As 
there  was  no  error  but  prevailed  upon  their  minds,  so  there  was  no 
brutish  affection  but  was  wedded  to  their  hearts.  The  doctrine  pro- 
posed to  them  was  not  easy  ;  it  flattered  not  the  sense,  but  checked 
the  stream  of  nature.  It  thundered  down  those  three  great  engines 
whereby  the  devil  had  subdued  the  world  to  himself:  "  the  lust  of 
the  flesh,  the  lust  of  the  eye,  and  the  pride  of  life :"  not  only  the 
most  sordid  affections  of  the  flesh,  but  the  more  refined  gratifications 
of  the  mind  :  it  stripped  nature  both  of  devil  and  man  ;  of  what  was 
commonly  esteemed  great  and  virtuous.  That  which  was  the  root 
of  their  fame,  and  the  satisfaction  of  their  ambition,  was  struck  at 
by  this  axe  of  the  gospel.  The  first  article  of  it  ordered  them  to 
deny  themselves,  not  to  presume  upon  their  own  worth  ;  to  lay  their 
understandings  and  wills  at  the  foot  of  the  cross,  and  resign  them  up 
to  one  newly  crucified  at  Jerusalem  :  honors  and  wealth  were  to  h<.^ 
despised,  flesh  to  be  tamed,  the  cross  to  be  borne,  enemies  to  be 
loved,  revenge  not  to  be  satisfied,  blood  to  be  spilled,  and  torments 
to  be  endured  for  the  honor  of  One  they  never  saw,  nor  ever  be- 
fore heard  of;  who  was  preached  with  the  circumstances  of  a  shame- 
ful death,  enough  to  affright  them  from  the  entertainment :  and  the 
report  of  a  resurrection  and  glorious  ascension  were  things  never 
heard  of  by  them  before,  and  unknown  in  the  world,  that  would  not 
easily  enter  into  the  belief  of  men :  the  cross,  disgrace,  self-denial, 
were  only  discoursed  of  in  order  to  the  attainment  of  an  invisible 
world,  and  an  unseen  reward,  which  none  of  their  predecessors  ever 
returned  to  acquaint  them  with ;  a  patient  death,  contrary  to  the 
pride  of  nature,  was  published  as  the  way  to  happiness  and  a  blessed 
immortality  :  the  dearest  lusts  were  to  be  pierced  to  death  for  the 
honor  of  this  new  Lord.  Other  religions  brought  wealth  and  honor ; 
this  struck  them  off  from  such  expectations,  and  presented  them 
with  no  promise  of  anything  in  this  life,  but  a  prospect  of  misery  ; 
except  those  inward  consolations  to  which  before  they  had  been  utter 
strangers,  and  had  never  experimented.  It  made  them  to  depend 
not  upon  themselves,  but  upon  the  sole  grace  of  God.  It  decried  all 
natural,  all  moral  idolatry,  things  as  dear  to  men  as  the  apple  of 
their  eyes.  It  despoiled  them  of  whatsoever  the  mind,  will,  and 
affections  of  men,  naturally  lay  claim  to,  and  glory  in.     It  pulled 


ON   THE   POWER   OF   GOD.  69 

self  up  by  the  roots,  unmanned  carnal  man,  and  debased  the  prin- 
ciple of  honor  and  self-satisfaction,  which  the  world  counted  at  that 
time  noble  and  brave.  In  a  word,  it  took  them  off  from  themselves, 
to  act  like  creatures  of  God's  framing ;  to  know  no  more  than  he 
would  admit  them,  and  do  no  more  than  he  did  command  them. 
How  difficult  must  it  needs  be  to  reduce  men,  that  placed  all  their 
happiness  in  the  pleasures  of  this  life,  from  their  pompous  idolatry 
and  brutish  affections,  to  this  mortifying  religion  !  What  might  the 
world  say  ?  Here  is  a  doctrine  will  render  us  a  company  of  puling 
animals :  farewell  generosity,  bravery,  sense  of  honor,  courage  in 
enlarging  the  bounds  of  our  country,  for  an  ardent  charity  to  the 
bitterest  of  our  enemies.  Here  is  a  religion  will  rust  our  swords, 
canker  our  arms,  dispirit  what  we  have  hitherto  called  virtue,  and 
annihilate  what  hath  been  esteemed  worthy  and  comely  among  man- 
kind. Must  we  change  conquest  for  suffering,  the  increase  of  our 
reputation  for  self-denial,  the  natural  sentiment  "of  self-preservation 
for  affecting  a  dreadful  death  ?  How  impossible  was  it  that  a  cru- 
cified Lord,  and  a  crucifying  doctrine  should  be  received  in  the 
world  without  the  mighty  operation  of  a  divine  power  upon  the 
hearts  of  men  !  And  in  this  also  the  almighty  power  of  God  did 
notably  shine  forth. 

2.  Divine  power  appeared  in  the  instruments  employed  for  the 
publishing  and  propagating  the  gospel ;  who  were  (1.)  Mean  and 
worthless  in  themselves:  not  noble  and  dignified  with  an  earthly 
grandeur,  but  of  a  low  condition,  meanly  bred :  so  far  from  any 
splendid  estates,  that  they  possessed  nothing  but  their  nets ;  without 
any  credit  and  reputation  in  the  world;  without  comeliness  and 
strength ;  as  unfit  to  subdue  the  world  by  preaching,  as  an  army  of 
hares  were  to  conquer  it  by  war :  not  learned  doctors,  bred  up  at  the 
feet  of  the  famous  Rabbins  at  Jerusalem,  whom  Paul  calls  "the 
princes  of  the  world"  (1  Cor.  ii.  8) ;  nor  nursed  up  in  the  school  of 
Athens,  under  the  philosophers  and  orators  of  the  time :  not  the 
wise  men  of  Greece,  but  the  fishermen  of  Galilee ;  naturally  skilled 
in  no  language  but  their  own,  and  no  more  exact  in  that  than  those 
of  the  same  condition  in  any  other  nation :  ignorant  of  everything 
but  the  language  of  their  lakes,  and  their  fishing  trade ;  except  Paul, 
called  some  time  after  the  rest  to  that  employment :  and  after  the 
descent  of  the  Spirit,  they  were  ignorant  and  unlearned  in  every- 
thing but  the  doctrine  they  were  commanded  to  publish  ;  for  the 
council,  before  whom  they  were  summoned,  proved  them  to  be  so, 
which  increased  their  wonder  at  them  (Acts  iv.  13).  Had  it  been 
published  by  a  voice  from  heaven,  that  twelve  poor  men,  taken  out 
of  boats  and  creeks,  without  any  help  of  learning,  should  conquer 
the  world  to  the  cross,  it  might  have  been  thought  an  illusion  against 
all  the  reason  of  men  ;  yet  we  know  it  was  undertaken  and  accom- 
plished by  them.  They  published  this  doctrine  in  Jerusalem,  and 
quickly  spread  it  over  the  greatest  part  of  the  world.  Folly  out- 
witted wisdom,  and  weakness  overpowered  strength.  The  conquest 
of  the  east  by  Alexander  was  not  so  admirable  as  the  enterprise  of 
these  poor  men.  He  attempted  his  conquest  with  the  hands  of  a 
warlike  nation,  though,  indeed,  but  a  small  number  of  thirty  thou- 


70  CHARNOCK   ON   THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

sand  against  multitudes,  many  hundred  thousands  of  the  enemies ; 
yet  an  effeminate  enemy ;  a  people  inured  to  slaughter  and  victory 
attacked  great  numbers,  but  enfeebled  by  luxury  and  voluptuousness. 
Besides,  he  was  bred  up  to  such  enterprises,  had  a  learned  education 
under  the  best  philosopher,  and  a  military  education  under  the  best 
commander,  and  a  natural  courage  to  animate  him.  These  instru- 
ments had  no  such  advantage  from  nature ;  the  heavenly  treasure 
was  placed  in  those  earthen  vessels,  as  Gideon's  lamps  in  empty 
pitchers  (Judges  vii.  16),  that  the  excellency,  or  hyjjerbole,  of  the 
power,  might  be  of  God  (2  Cor.  iv.  7),  and  the  strength  of  his  arm 
be  displayed  in  the  infirmity  of  the  instruments.  They  were  desti- 
tute of  earthly  wisdom,  and  therefore  despised  by  the  Jews,  and  de- 
rided by  the  Gentiles;  the  publishers  were  accounted  madmen,  and 
the  embracers  fools.  Had  they  been  men  of  known  natural  endow- 
ments, the  power  of  God  had  been  veiled  under  the  gifts  of  the  creature. 

(2.)  Therefore  a  Divine  power  suddenly  spirited  them,  and  fitted 
them  for  so  great  a  work.  Instead  of  ignorance,  they  had  the 
knowledge  of  the  tongues  ;  and  they  that  were  scarce  well  skilled  in 
their  own  dialect,  were  instructed  on  the  sudden  to  speak  the  most 
flourishing  languages  in  the  world,  and  discourse  to  the  people  of 
several  nations  the  great  things  of  God  (Acts  ii.  11).  Though  they 
Avere  not  enriched  with  any  worldly  wealth,  and  possessed  nothing, 
yet  they  were  so  sustained  that  they  wanted  nothing  in  any  place 
where  they  came ;  a  table  was  spread  for  them  in  the  midst  of  their 
bitterest  enemies.  Their  fcarfulness  was  changed  into  courage,  and 
they  that  a  few  days  before  skulked  in  corners  for  fear  of  the 
Jews  (John  xx.  19),  speak  boldly  in  the  name  of  that  Jesus,  whom 
they  had  seen  put  to  death  by  the  power  of  the  rulers  and  the  fury 
of  the  people :  they  reproach  them  with  the  murder  of  their  Master, 
and  outbrave  that  great  people  in  the  midst  of  their  temple,  with 
the  glory  of  that  person  they  had  so  lately  crucified  (Acts  ii  23  ;  iii. 
13).  Peter,  that  was  not  long  before  qualmed  at  the  presence  of  a 
maid,  was  not  daunted  at  the  presence  of  the  council,  that  had  their 
hands  yet  reeking  with  the  blood  of  his  Master ;  but  being  filled  with 
the  Holy  Ghost,  seems  to  dare  the  power  of  the  priests  and  Jewish 
governors,  and  is  as  confident  in  the  council  chamber,  as  he  had 
been  cowardly  in  the  high-priest's  hall  (Acts  iv.  9),  &c.,  the  efiicacy 
of  grace  triumphing  over  the  fcarfulness  of  nature.  Whence  should 
this  ardor  and  zeal,  to  propagate  a  doctrine  that  had  already  borne 
the  scars  of  the  peoples'  fury  be,  but  from  a  mighty  Power,  which 
changed  those  hares  into  lions,  and  stripped  them  of  their  natural 
cowardice  to  clothe  them  with  a  Divine  courage ;  making  them  in  a 
moment  both  wise  and  magnanimous,  alienating  them  from  any  con- 
sultations with  flesh  and  blood  ?  As  soon  as  ever  the  Holy  Ghost 
came  upon  them  as  a  mighty  rushing  wind,  they  move  up  and  down 
for  the  interest  of  God ;  as  fish,  after  a  great  clap  of  thunder,  are 
roused,  and  move  more  nimbly  on  the  top  of  the  water ;  therefore, 
that  which  did  so  fit  them  for  this  undertaking,  is  called  by  the  title 
of  "  power  from  on  high"  (Luke  xxiv.  49). 

3.  The  Divine  power  appears  in  the  means  whereby  it  was  prop- 
agated. 


ON  THE   POWER   OF   GOD,  71 

(1.)  By  means  different  from  the  methods  of  the  world.  Not  by 
force  of  arms,  as  some  religions  have  taken  root  in  the  world.  Ma- 
homet's horse  hath  trampled  upon  the  heads  of  men,  to  imprint  an 
Alcoran  in  their  brains,  and  robbed  men  of  their  goods  to  plant  their 
religion.  But  the  apostles  bore  not  this  doctrine  through  the  world 
upon  the  points  of  their  swords ;  they  presented  a  bodily  death  where 
they  would  bestow  an  immortal  life.  They  employed  not  troops  of 
men  in  a  warlike  posture,  which  had  been  possible  for  them  after 
the  gospel  was  once  spread ;  they  had  no  ambition  to  subdue  men 
unto  themselve,  but  to  God ;  they  coveted  not  the  possessions  of  oth- 
ers ;  designed  not  to  enrich  themselves ;  invaded  not  the  rights  of 
princes,  nor  the  liberties  and  properties  of  the  people :  they  rifled 
them  not  of  their  estates,  nor  scared  them  into  this  religion  by  a  fear 
of  losing  their  worldly  happiness.  The  arguments  they  used  would 
naturally  drive  them  from  an  entertainment  of  this  doctrine,  rather 
than  allure  them  to  be  proselytes  to  it :  their  design  was  to  change 
their  hearts,  not  their  government ;  to  wean  them  from  the  love  of 
the  world,  to  a  love  of  a  Eedeemer ;  to  remove  that  which  would 
ruin  their  souls.  It  was  not  to  enslave  them,  but  ransom  them ;  they 
had  a  warfare,  but  not  with  carnal  weapons,  but  such  as  were 
"  mighty  through  God  for  the  pulling  down  strongholds"  (2  Cor.  x.  4) ; 
they  used  no  weapons  but  the  doctrine  they  preached.  Others  that 
have  not  gained  conquests  by  the  edge  of  the  sword  and  the  strata- 
gems of  war,  have  extended  their  opinions  to  others  by  the  strength 
of  human  reason,  and  the  insinuations  of  eloquence.  But  the  apos- 
tles had  as  little  flourish  in  their  tongues,  as  edge  upon  their  swords : 
their  preaching  was  "not  with  the  enticing  words  of  man's  wisdom" 
(1  Cor.  ii.  4) ;  their  presence  was  mean,  and  their  discourses  without 
varnish;  their  doctrine  was  plain,  a  "crucified  Christ;"  a  doctrine 
unlaced,  ungarnished,  untoothsome  to  the  world ;  but  they  had  the 
demonstration  of  the  Spirit,  and  a  mighty  power  for  their  companion 
in  the  work.  The  doctrine  they  preached,  viz.  the  death,  resurrection 
and  ascension  of  Christ,  are  called  the  powers,  not  of  this  world,  but 
"  of  the  world  to  come"  (Heb.  vi.  5).  No  less  than  a  supernatural 
power  could  conduct  them  in  this  attempt,  with  such  weak  methods 
in  human  appearance. 

(2.)  Against  all  the  force,  power,  and  wit  of  the  world.  The  di- 
vision in  the  eastern  empire,  and  the  feeble  and  consuming  state  of 
the  western,  contributed  to  Mahomet's  success.™  But  never  was 
Eome  in  a  more  flourishing  condition  :  learning,  eloquence,  wisdom, 
strength,  were  at  the  highest  pitch.  Never  was  there  a  more  dili- 
gent watch  against  any  innovations ;  never  was  that  state  governed 
by  more  severe  and  suspicious  princes,  than  at  the  time  when  Tibe- 
rius and  Nero  held  the  reins.  No  time  seemed  to  be  more  unfit  for 
the  entrance  of  a  new  doctrine  than  that  age,  wherein  it  begun  to  be 
first  published ;  never  did  any  religion  meet  with  that  opposition 
from  men.  Idolatry  hath  been  often  settled  without  any  contest ; 
but  this  hath  suffered  the  same  fate  with  the  institutor  of  it,  and  en- 
dured the  contradictions  of  sinners  against  itself:  and  those  that 
published  it,  were  not  only  without  any  worldly  prop,  but  exposed 
">  Daille,  Serai.  XV.  p.  57. 


72  CHAENOCK   ON  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

themselves  to  the  hatred  and  fury,  to  the  racks  and  tortures,  of  the 
strongest  powers  on  earth.  It  never  set  foot  in  any  place,  but  the 
country  was  in  an  uproar  (Acts  xix.  28) ;  swords  were  drawn  to 
destroy  it ;  laws  made  to  suppress  it ;  prisons  provided  for  the  pro- 
fessors of  it ;  fires  kindled  to  consume  them,  and  executioners  had  a 
perpetual  employment  to  stifle  the  progress  of  it.  Eome,  in  its  con- 
quest of  countries,  changed  not  the  religion,  rites,  and  modes  of 
their  worship  :  they  altered  their  civil  government,  but  left  them  to 
the  liberty  of  their  religion,  and  many  times  joined  with  them  in 
the  worship  of  their  peculiar  gods ;  and  sometime  imitated  them  at 
Eome,  instead  of  abolishing  them  in  the  cities  they  had  subdued. 
But  all  their  councils  were  assembled,  and  their  force  was  bandied 
"  against  the  Lord,  and  against  his  Christ ;"  and  that  city  that  kindly 
received  all  manner  of  superstitions,  hated  this  doctrine  Avitli  an  ir- 
reconcileable  hatred.  It  met  with  reproaches  from  the  wise,  and 
fury  from  the  potentates ;  it  was  derided  by  the  one  as  the  greatest 
folly,  and  persecuted  by  the  other  as  contrary  to  God  and  mankind; 
the  "one  were  afraid  to  lose  their  esteems  by  the  doctrine,  and  the 
other  to  lose  their  authority  by  a  sedition  they  thought  a  change  of 
religion  would  introduce.  The  Romans,  that  had  been  conquerors 
of  the  earth,  feared  intestine  commotions,  and  the  falling  asunder 
the  links  of  their  empire :  scarce  any  of  their  first  emperors,  but 
had  their  swords  dyed  red  in  the  blood  of  the  Christians.  The  flesh 
with  all  its  lusts,  the  world  with  all  its  flatteries  the  statesmen  with 
all  their  craft,  and  the  mighty  with  all  their  strength,  joined  to- 
gether to  extirpate  it :  though  many  members  were  taken  off  by  the 
fires,  yet  the  church  not  only  lived,  but  flourished,  in  the  furnace. 
Converts  were  made  by  the  death  of  martyrs  ;  and  the  flames  which 
consumed  their  bodies,  were  the  occasion  of  firing  men's  hearts  with 
a  zeal  for  the  profession  of  it.  Instead  of  being  extinguished,  the 
doctrine  shone  more  bright,  and  multiplied  under  the  sickles  that 
were  employed  to  cut  it  down.  God  ordered  every  circumstance  so, 
both  in  the  persons  that  published  it,  the  means  whereby,  and  the 
time  when,  that  nothing  but  his  power  might  appear  in  it,  without 
anything  to  dim  and  darken  it. 

4.  The  Divine  power  was  conspicuous  in  the  great  success  it  had 
under  all  these  difficulties.  Multitudes  were  prophesied  of  to  em- 
brace it;  whence  the  prophet  Isaiah,  after  the  prophecy  of  the 
death  of  Christ  (Isa.  liii.),  calls  upon  the  church  to  enlarge  her  tents, 
and  "  lengthen  out  her  cords"  to  receive  those  multitudes  of  chil- 
dren that  should  call  her  mother  (Isa.  liv.  2,  3);  for  she  should 
"break  forth  on  the  right  hand  and  on  the  left,  and  her  seed  should 
inherit  the  Gentiles  1"  the  idolaters  and  persecutors  should  list  their 
names  in  the  muster-roll  of  the  church.  Presently,  after  the  descent 
of  the  Holy  Ghost  from  heaven  upon  the  apostles,  you  find  the 
hearts  of  three  thousand  melted  by  a  plain  declaration  of  this  doc- 
trine ;  who  were  a  little  before  so  far  from  having  a  favorable 
thought  of  it,  that  some  of  them  at  least,  if  not  all,  had  expressed 
their  rage  against  it,  in  voting  for  the  condemning  and  crucifying 
the  Author  of  it  (Acts  ii.  41,  42) :  but  in  a  moment  they  were  so 
altered,  that  they  breathe  out  affections  instead  of  fury ;  neither  the 


ON  THE   POWER   OF   GOD.  73 

respect  they  tad  to  their  rulers,  nor  the  honor  they  bore  to  their 
priests ;  not  the  derisions  of  the  people,  nor  the  threatening  of  pun- 
ishment, could  stop  them  from  owning  it  in  the  face  of  multitudes 
of  discouragements.  How  wonderful  is  it  that  they  should  so  soon, 
and  by  such  small  means,  pay  a  reverence  to  the  servants,  who  had 
none  for  the  Master !  that  they  should  hear  them  with  patience, 
without  the  same  clamor  against  them  as  against  Christ,  "  Crucify 
them,  crucify  them !"  but,  that  their  hearts  should  so  suddenly  be  in- 
flamed with  devotion  to  him  dead,  whom  they  so  much  abhorred 
when  living.  It  had  gained  footing  not  in  a  corner  of  the  world, 
but  in  the  most  famous  cities  ;  in  Jerusalem,  where  Christ  had  been 
crucilied ;  in  Antioch,  where  the  name  of  Christians  first  began  ;  in 
Corinth,  a  place  of  ingenious  arts ;  and  Ephesus,  the  seat  of  a  noted 
idol.  In  less  than  twenty  years,  there  was  never  a  province  of  the 
Roman  empire,  and  scarce  any  part  of  the  known  world,  but  was 
stored  with  the  professors  of  it.  Rome,  that  was  the  metropolis  of 
the  idolatrous  world,  had  multitudes  of  them  sprinkled  in  every 
corner,  whose  "  faith  was  spoken  of  throughout  the  world"  (Rom.  i. 
8).  The  court  of  Nero,  that  monster  of  mankind,  and  the  crudest 
and  sordidest  tyrant  that  ever  breathed,  was  not  empty  of  sincere 
votaries  to  it ;  there  were  "  saints  in  Cassar's  house"  while  Paul  was 
under  Nero's  chain  (Phil,  iv.) :  and  it  maintained  its  standing,  and 
and  flourished  in  spite  of  all  the  force  of  hell,  two  hundred  and 
fifty  years  before  any  sovereign  prince  espoused  it.  The  potentates 
of  the  earth  had  conquered  the  lands  of  men,  and  subdued  their  bo- 
dies ;  these  vanquished  hearts  and  wills,  and  brought  the  most  be- 
loved thoughts  under  the  yoke  of  Christ :  so  much  did  this  doctrine 
overmaster  the  consciences  of  its  followers,  that  they  rejoiced  more 
at  their  yoke,  than  others  at  their  liberty ;  and  counted  it  more  a 
glory  to  die  for  the  honor  of  it,  than  to  live  in  the  profession  of  it. 
Thus  did  our  Saviour  reign  and  gather  subjects  in  the  midst  of  his 
enemies ;  in  which  respect,  in  the  first  discovery  of  the  gospel,  he  is 
described  as  "  a  mighty  Conqueror"  (Rev.  vi.  2),  and  still  conquering 
in  the  greatness  of  his  strength.  How  great  a  testimony  of  his 
power  is  it,  that  from  so  small  -a  cloud  should  rise  so  glorious  a  sun, 
that  should  chase  before  it  the  darkness  and  power  of  hell ;  triumph 
over  the  idolatry,  superstition,  and  profaneness  of  the  world !  This 
plain  doctrine  vanquished  the  obstinacy  of  the  Jews,  baffled  the  un- 
derstanding of  the  Greeks,  humbled  the  pride  of  the  grandees, 
threw  the  devil  not  only  out  of  bodies,  but  hearts;  tore  up  the  foun- 
dation of  his  empire,  and  planted  the  cross,  where  the  devil  had  for 
many  ages  before  established  his  standard.  How  much  more  than  a 
human  force  is  illustrious  in  this  whole  conduct!  Nothing  in  any 
age  of  the  world  can  parallel  it :  it  being  so  much  against  the  me- 
thods of  nature,  the  disposition  of  the  world,  and  (considering  the 
resistance  against  it)  seems  to  surmount  even  the  works  of  creation. 
Never  were  there,  in  any  profession,  such  multitudes,  not  of  bed- 
lams, but  men  of  sobriety,  acuteness,  and  wisdom,  tliat  exposed 
themselves  to  the  fury  of  the  flames,  and  challenged  death  in  the 
most  terrifying  shapes  for  the  honor  of  this  doctrine.  To  conclude, 
this  should  be  often  meditated  upon  to  form  our  understandings  to  a 


74  CHARNOCK  ON  THE  ATTEIBUTES. 

full  assent  to  tlie  gospel,  and  the  trutli  of  it ;  the  want  of  which  con- 
sideration of  power,  and  the  customariness  of  an  education  in  the 
outward  profession  of  it,  is  the  ground  of  all  the  profaneness  under 
it,  and  apostasy  from  it ;  the  disesteem  of  the  truth  it  declares,  and 
the  neglect  of  the  duties  it  enjoins.  The  more  we  have  a  prospect 
and  sense  of  the  impressions  of  Divine  power  in  it,  the  more  we 
shall  have  a  reverence  of  the  Divine  jirecepts. 

III.  The  third  thing  is,  the  power  of  God  appears  in  the  applica- 
tion of  redemption,  as  well  as  in  the  Person  redeeming,  and  the 
publication  and  propagation  of  the  doctrine  of  redemption  :  1.  In 
the  planting  grace.  2.  In  the  pardon  of  sin.  3.  In  the  preserving 
grace. 

First,  In  the  planting  grace.  There  is  no  expression  which  the 
Spirit  of  God  hath  thought  fit  in  Scripture  to  resemble  this  work  to, 
but  argues  the  exerting  of  a  Divine  power  for  the  effecting  of  it. 
When  it  is  expressed  by  light,  it  is  as  much  as  the  power  of  God  in 
the  creating  the  sun ;  when  by  regeneration,  it  is  as  much  as  the 
power  of  God  in  forming  an  infant,  and  fashioning  all  the  parts  of 
a  man ;  when  it  is  called  resurrection,  it  is  as  much  as  the  rearing 
of  a  body  again  out  of  putrified  matter ;  when  it  is  called  creation,  it 
is  as  much  as  erecting  a  comely  world  out  of  mere  nothing,  or  an 
inform  and  uncomely  mass.  As  we  could  not  contrive  the  death  of 
Christ  for  our  redemption,  so  we  cannot  form  our  souls  to  the  ac- 
ceptation of  it ;  the  infinite  efficacy  of  grace  is  as  necessary  for  the 
one,  as  the  infinite  wisdom  of  God  was  for  laying  the  platform  of 
the  other.  It  is  by  his  power  we  have  whatsoever  pertains  to  god- 
liness as  well  as  life  (2  Pet.  i,  3) ;  he  puts  his  fingers  upon  the  han- 
dle of  the  lock,  and  turns  the  heart  to  what  point  he  pleases  ;  the 
action  whereby  he  performs  this,  is  expressed  by  a  word  of  force ; 
"  He  hath  snatched  us  from  the  power  of  darkness :""  the  action 
whereby  it  is  performed  manifests  it.  In  reference  to  this  power,  it  is 
called  creation,  which  is  a  production  from  nothing ;  and  conversion  is 
a  production  from  something  more  incapable  of  that  state,  than  mere 
nothing  is  of  being.  There  is  greater  distance  between  the  terms  of 
sin  and  righteousness,  corruption  and  grace,  than  between  the  terms  of 
nothing  and  being ;  the  greater  the  distance  is,  the  more  power  is  re- 
quired to  the  producing  any  thing.  As  in  miracles,  the  miracle  is 
the  greater,  where  the  change  is  the  greater  ;  and  the  change  is  the 
greater,  where  the  distance  is  the  greater.  As  it  was  a  more  signal 
mark  of  power  to  change  a  dead  man  to  life,  than  to  change  a  sick 
man  to  health ;  so  that  the  change  here  being  from  a  term  of  a 
greater  distance,  is  more  powerful  than  the  creation  of  heaven  and 
earth.  Therefore,  whereas  creation  is  said  to  be  wrought  by  his 
hands,  and  the  heavens  by  his  fingers,  or  his  word ;  conversion  is 
said  to  be  wrought  by  his  arm  (Isa.  liii.  1).  In  creation,  we  had  an 
earthly ;  by  conversion,  a  heavenly  state :  in  creation,  nothing  is 
changed  into  something;  in  conversion,  hell  is  transformed  into 
heaven,  which  is  more  than  the  turning  nothing  into  a  glorious 
angel.  In  that  thanksgiving  of  our  Saviour,  for  the  revelation  of 
the  knowledge  of  himself  to  babes,  the  simple  of  the  world,  he  gives 

"  Colos.  i.  19.      ippvbaro. 


ON  THE   POWER  OF   GOD.  75 

tlie  title  to  Ms  Fatlier,  of  "  Lord  of  heaven  and  earth"  (Matt.  xi.  5)  ; 
intimating  it  to  be  an  act  of  his  creative  and  preserving  power ;  tliat 
power  whereby  he  formed  heaven  and  earth,  hath  preserved  the 
standing,  and  governed  the  motions  of  all  creatures  from  the  begin- 
ning of  the  world.  It  is  resembled  to  the  most  magnificent  act  of 
divine  power  that  God  ever  put  forth,  viz.  that  "  in  the  resurrection 
of  our  Saviour"  (Eph.  i.  19) ;  wherein  there  was  more  than  an  or- 
dinary impression  of  might.  It  is  not  so  small  a  power  as  that 
whereby  we  speak  with  tongues,  or  whereby  Christ  opened  the 
mouths  of  the  dumb,  and  the  ears  of  the  deaf,  or  unloosed  the  cords 
of  death  from  a  person.  It  is  not  that  power  whereby  our  Saviour 
wrought  those  stupendous  miracles  when  he  was  in  the  world :  but 
that  power  which  \vrought  a  miracle  that  amazed  the  most  knowing 
angels,  as  well  as  ignorant  man ;  the  taking  oft' the  weight  of  the  sin  of 
the  world  from  our  Saviour,  and  advancing  him  in  his  human  nature 
to  rule  over  the  angelic  host,  making  him  head  of  principalities  and 
powers ;  as  much  as  to  say,  as  great  as  all  that  power  which  is  dis- 
played in  our  redemption,  from  the  first  foundation  to  the  last  line  in 
the  superstructure.  It  is,  therefore,  often  set  forth  with  an  em- 
phasis, as  "  Excellency  of  power"  (2  Cor.  iv.  7),  and  "  Glorious  power" 
(2  Pet.  i.  3):  "  to  glory  and  virtue,"  we  translate  it,  but  it  is  diu  dd^rjc^ 
through  glory  and  virtue,  that  is,  by  a  glorious  virtue  or  strength. 

The  instrument  whereby  it  is  wrought,  is  dignified  with  the  title 
of  power.  The  gospel  which  God  useth  in  this  great  affair  is  called 
"  The  power  of  God  to  salvation"  (Eom.  1.  16),  and  the  "  Eod  of 
his  strength"  (Ps.  ex.  2) ;  and  the  day  of  the  gospel's  appearance  in 
the  heart  is  emphatically  called,  "The  day  of  power"  (ver.  3); 
wherein  he  brings  down  strong-holds  and  towering  imaginations. 
And,  therefore,  the  angel  Gabriel,  which  name  signifies  the  power 
of  God,  was  always  sent  upon  those  messages  which  concerned  the 
gospel,  as  to  Daniel,  Zacharias,  Mary.o  The  gospel  is  the  power  of 
God  in  a  way  of  instrumentality,  but  the  almightiness  of  God  is  the 
principal  in  a  way  of  efficiency.  The  gospel  is  the  sceptre  of  Christ ; 
but  the  power  of  Christ  is  the  mover  of  that  sceptre.  The  gospel 
is  not  as  a  bare  word  spoken,  and  proposing  the  thing ;  but  as 
backed  with  a  higher  efficacy  of  grace ;  as  the  sword  doth  instru- 
mentally  cut,  but  the  arm  that  wields  it  gives  the  blow,  and  makes 
it  successful  in  the  stroke.  But  this  gospel  is  the  power  of  God, 
because  he  edgeth  this  by  his  own  power,  to  surmount  all  resist- 
ance, and  vanquish  the  greatest  malice  of  that  man  he  designs  to 
work  upon.     The  power  of  God  is  conspicuous, 

1,  In  turning  the  heart  of  man  against  the  strength  of  the  inclina- 
tions of  nature.  In  the  forming  of  man  of  the  dust  of  the  ground ; 
as  the  matter  contributed  nothing  to  the  action  whereby  God  formed 
it,  so  it  had  no  principle  of  resistance  contrary  to  the  design  of  God ; 
but  in  converting  the  heart,  there  is  not  only  wanting  a  principle  of 
assistance  from  him  in  this  work,  but  the  whole  strength  of  corrupt 
nature  is  alarmed  to  combat  against  the  power  of  his  grace.  When 
the  gospel  is  presented,  the  understanding  is  not  only  ignorant  of  it, 
but  the  will  perverse  against  it ;  the  one  doth  not  relish,  and  the 

"  Grotius  in  Luke  i.  19. 


76  CHARNOCK  ON  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

other  dotli  not  esteem,  the  excellency  of  the  object.  The  carnal 
wisdom  in  the  mind  contrives  against  it,  and  the  rebellious  will  puts 
the  orders  in  execution  against  the  counsel  of  God,  which  requires 
the  invincible  power  of  God  to  enlighten  the  dark  mind,  to  know 
what  it  slights ;  and  the  fierce  will,  to  embrace  what  it  loathes. 
The  stream  of  nature  cannot  be  turned,  but  by  a  power  above  na- 
ture ;  it  is  not  all  the  created  power  in  heaven  and  earth  can  change 
a  swine  into  a  man,  or  a  venemous  toad  into  an  holy  and  illustrious 
angel.  Yet  this  work  is  not  so  great,  in  some  respect,  as  the  stilling 
the  fierceness  of  nature,  the  silencing  the  swelling  waves  in  the 
heart,  and  the  casting  out  those  brutish  affections  which  are  born 
and  grow  up  with  us.  There  would  be  no,  or  far  less,  resistance  in 
a  mere  animal,  to  be  changed  into  a  creature  of  a  higher  rank,  than 
there  is  in  a  natural  man  to  be  turned  into  a  serious  Christian. 
There  is  in  every  natural  man  a  stoutness  of  heart,  a  stiff  neck,  un- 
willingness to  good,  forwardness  to  evil ;  Infinite  Power  quells  this 
stoutness,  demolisheth  these  strongholds,  turns  this  wild  ass  in  her 
course,  and  routs  those  armies  of  turbulent  nature  against  the  grace 
of  God,  To  stop  the  floods  of  the  sea  is  not  such  an  act  of  power, 
as  to  turn  the  tide  of  the  heart.  This  power  hath  been  employed 
upon  every  convert  in  the  world ;  what  would  you  say,  then,  if 
you  knew  all  the  channels  in  which  it  hath  run  since  the  days  of 
Adam  ?  If  the  alteration  of  one  rocky  heart  into  a  pool  of  water  be 
a  wonder  of  power,  what  then  is  the  calming  and  sweetening  by  his 
word  those  144,000  of  the  tribes  of  Israel,  and  that  numberless 
multitude  of  all  nations  and  people  that  shall  stand  "before  the 
throne"  (Rev.  vii.  9),  which  were  all  naturally  so  many  raging  seas? 
Not  one  converted  soul  from  Adam  to  the  last  that  shall  be  in  the 
end  of  the  world,  but  is  a  trophy  of  the  Divine  conquest.  None 
were  pure  volunteers,  nor  listed  themselves  in  his  service,  till  he  put 
forth  his  strong  arm  to  draw  them  to  him.  No  man's  understand- 
ing, but  was  chained  with  darkness,  and  fond  of  it ;  no  man  but 
had  corruption  in  his  will,  which  was  dearer  to  him  than  anything 
else  which  could  be  proposed  for  his  true  happiness.  These  things 
are  most  evident  in  Scripture  and  experience. 

2.  As  it  is  wrought  against  the  inclinations  of  nature,  so  against 
a  multitude  of  corrupt  habits  rooted  in  the  souls  of  men.  A  dis- 
temper in  its  first  invasion  may  more  easily  be  cured,  than  when  it 
becomes  chronical  and  inveterate.  The  strength  of  a  disease,  or  the 
complication  of  many,  magnifies  the  power  of  the  physician,  and 
efl&cacy  of  the  medicine  that  tames  and  expels  it.  What  power  is 
that  which  hath  made  men  stoop,  when  natural  habits  have  been 
grown  giants  by  custom ;  when  the  putrefaction  of  nature  hath  en- 
gendered a  multitude  of  worms ;  when  the  ulcers  are  many  and  de- 
plorable ;  when  many  cords,  wherewith  God  would  have  bound  the 
sinner,  have  been  broken,  and  (like  Sampson)  the  wicked  heart  hath 
gloried  in  its  strength,  and  grown  more  proud,  that  it  hath  stood  like 
a  strong  fort  against  those  batteries,  under  which  others  have  fallen 
flat ;  every  proud  thought,  every  evil  habit  captivated,  serves  for 
matter  of  triumph  to  the  "power  of  God"  (2  Cor.  x.  5).  What  re- 
sistance will  a  multitude  of  them  make,  when  one  of  them  is  enough 


ON  THE   POWER  OF  GOD.  77 

to  hold  tlie  faculty  under  its  dominion,  and  intercept  its  operations? 
So  many  customary  habits,  so  many  old  natures,  so  many  different 
strengtlis  added  to  nature,  every  one  of  them  standing  as  a  barricado 
against  the  way  of  grace ;  all  the  errors  the*  understanding  is  pos- 
sessed with,  think  the  gospel  folly ;  all  the  vices  the  will  is  filled 
with,  count  it  the  fetter  and  band.  Nothing  so  contrary  to  man,  as 
to  be  thought  a  fool ;  nothing  so  contrary  to  man,  as  to  enter  into 
slaver3^  It  is  no  easy  matter  to  plant  the  cross  of  Christ  upon  a 
heart  guided  by  many  principles  against  the  truth  of  it,  and  biased 
by  a  world  of  wickedness  against  the  holiness  of  it.  Nature  renders 
a  man  too  feeble  and  indisposed,  and  custom  renders  a  man  more 
weak  and  unwilling  to  change  his  hue  (Jer.  xiii.  23).  To  dispossess 
man  then  of  his  self-esteem  and  self-excellency  ;  to  make  room  for 
God  in  the  heart,  where  there  was  none  but  for  sin,  as  dear  to  him 
as  himself ;  to  hurl  down  the  pride  of  nature  ;  to  make  stout  ima- 
ginations stoop  to  the  cross ;  to  makes  desires  of  self-advancement 
sink  into  a  zeal  for  the  glorifying  of  God,  and  an  overruling  de- 
sign for  his  honor,  is  not  to  be  ascribed  to  any  but  an  outstretched 
arm  wielding  the  sword  of  the  Spirit.  To  have  a  heart  full  of  the 
fear  of  God,  that  was  just  before  filled  with  a  contempt  of  him ;  to 
have  a  sense  of  his  power,  an  eye  to  his  glory,  admiring  thoughts 
of  his  wisdom,  a  faith  in  his  truth,  that  had  lower  thoughts  of  him 
and  all  his  perfections,  than  he  had  of  a  creature ;  to  have  a  hatred 
of  his  habitual  lusts,  that  had  brought  him  in  much  sensitive  plea- 
sure ;  to  loath  them  as  much  as  he  loved  them  ;  to  cherish  the  du- 
ties he  hated ;  to  live  by  faith  in,  and  obedience  to,  the  Eedeemer, 
who  was  before  so  heartily  under  the  conduct  of  Satan  and  self;  to 
chase  the  acts  of  sin  from  his  members,  and  the  pleasing  thoughts  of 
sin  from  his  mind ;  to  make  a  stout  wretch  willingly  fall  down,  crawl 
upon  the  ground,  and  adore  that  Saviour  whom  before  he  out-dared,  is 
a  triumphant  act  of  Infinite  Power  that  can  subdue  all  things  to  itself, 
and  break  those  multitudes  of  locks  and  bolts  that  were  upon  us. 

3.  Against  a  multitude  of  temptations  and  interests.  The  tempta- 
tions rich  men  have  in  this  world  are  so  numerous  and  strong,  that 
the  entrance  of  one  of  them  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  that  is,  the 
entertainment  of  the  gospel,  is  made  by  our  Saviour  an  impossible 
thing  with  men,  and  procurable  only  by  the  power  of  God  (Luke 
xviii.  24 — 26).  The  Divine  strength  only  can  separate  the  world 
from  the  heart,  and  the  heart  from  the  world.  There  must  be  an  in- 
comprehensible power  to  chase  away  the  devil,  that  had  so  long,  so 
strong  a  footing  in  the  affections ;  to  render  the  soil  he  had  sown 
with  so  many  tares  and  weeds,  capable  of  good  grain ;  to  make 
spirits,  that  had  found  the  sweetness  of  worldly  prosperity,  wrapt  up 
all  their  happiness  in  it,  and  not  only  bent  down,  but — as  it  were — 
buried  in  earth  and  mud,  to  be  loosened  from  those  beloved  cords, 
to  disrelish  the  earth  for  a  crucified  Christ ;  I  say,  this  must  be  the 
effect  of  an  almighty  power. 

4.  The  manner  of  conversion  shews  no  less  the  power  of  God. 
There  is  not  only  an  irresistible  force  used  in  it,  but  an  agTceable 
sweetness.  The  power  is  so  efficacious,  that  nothing  can  vanquish 
it ;  and  so  sweet,  that  none  did  ever  complain  of  it.     The  Almighty 


78  CHARNOCK  ON  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

virtue  displays  itself  invincibly,  yet  witliout  constraint ;  compelling 
the  will  without  offering  violence  to  it,  and  making  it  cease  to  be 
will:  not  forcing  it,  but  changing  it:  not  dragging  it,  but  drawing 
it ;  maldng  it  will  where  before  it  nilled  ;  removing  the  corrupt  na- 
ture of  the  will,  without  invading  the  created  nature  and  rights  of 
the  faculty ;  not  working  in  us  against  the  physical  nature  of  the 
will,  but  working  it  "  to  will"  (Phil.  ii.  13).  This  work  is  therefore 
called  creation,  resurrection,  to  shew  its  irresistible  power ;  it  is  called 
illumination,  persuasion,  drawing,  to  shew  the  suitableness  of  its  effi- 
cacy to  the  nature  of  the  human  faculties:  it  is  a  drawing  with 
cords,  wdiich  testifies  an  invincible  strength ;  but,  with  cords  of  love, 
which  testifies  a  delightful  conquest.  It  is  hard  to  determine 
whether  it  be  more  powerful  than  sweet,  or  more  sweet  than  power- 
ful. It  is  no  mean  part  of  the  power  of  God  to  twist  together  vic- 
tory and  pleasure  ;  to  give  a  blow  as  delightful  as  strong,  as  pleasing 
to  the  sufferer,  as  it  is  sharp  to  the  sinner. 

Secondly,  The  power  of  God,  in  the  application  of  redemption,  is 
evident  in  the  pardoning  a  sinner. 

1.  In  the  pardon  itself.  The  power  of  God  is  made  the  ground  of 
his  patience  ;  or  the  reason  why  he  is  patient,  is,  because  he  would 
"shew  his  power"  (Rom.  ix.  22).  It  is  apart  of  magnanimity  to  pass 
by  injuries  :  as  weaker  stomachs  cannot  concoct  the  tougher  food,  so 
weak  minds  cannot  digest  the  harder  injuries:  he  that  passes  over  a 
wrong  is  superior  to  his  adversary  that  does  it.  When  God  speaks 
of  his  own  name  as  merciful^  he  speaks  first  of  himself  as  powerful 
(Exod.  xxxiv.  6),  "  The  Lord,  The  Lord  God,"  that  is.  The  Lord, 
the  strong  Lord,  Jehovah,  the  strong  Jehovah.  Let  the  power  of 
ray  Lord  be  great,  saith  Moses,  when  he  prays  for  the  forgiveness  of 
the  people  :p  the  word  jigdal  is  written  with  a  great  jod^  or  a  jod 
above  the  other  letters.  The  power  of  God  in  pardoning  is  advanced 
beyond  an  ordinary  strain,  beyond  the  creative  strength.  In  the 
creation,  he  had  power  over  the  creatures ;  in  this,  power  over  him- 
self: in  creation,  not  himself,  but  the  creatures  were  the  object  of  his 
power ;  in  that,  no  attribute  of  his  nature  could  article  against  his 
design.  In  the  pardon  of  a  sinner,  after  many  overtures  made  to 
him  and  refused  by  him,  God  exerciseth  a  power  over  himself;  for 
the  sinner  hath  dishonored  God,  provoked  his  justice,  abused  his 
goodness,  done  injury  to  all  those  attributes  which  are  necessary  to 
his  relief :  it  was  not  so  in  creation,  nothing  was  incapable  of  dis- 
obliging God  from  bringing  it  into  being.  The  dust,  which  was  the 
matter  of  Adam's  body,  needed  only  the  extrinsic  power  of  God  to 
form  it  into  a  man,  and  inspire  it  with  a  living  soul :  it  had  not  ren- 
dered itself  obnoxious  to  Divine  justice,  nor  was  capable  to  excite 
any  disputes  between  his  perfections.  But  after  the  entrance  of  sin, 
and  the  merit  of  death,  thereby  there  was  a  resistance  in  justice  to 
the  free  remission  of  man  :  God  was  to  exercise  a  power  over  him- 
self, to  answer  his  justice,  and  pardon  the  sinner ;  as  well  as  a  power 
over  the  creature,  to  reduce  the  run  away  and  rebel.  Unless  we 
have  recourse  to  the  infiniteness  of  God's  power,  the  infiniteness  of 
our  guilt  will  weigh  us  down :  we  must  consider  not  only  that  we 

P  Numb.  xiv.  17.    vfud/jru,  be  exalted.        Sept.  Streugth,  <feo. 


ON  THE   POWER  OF   GOD.  79 

have  a  miglitj  guilt  to  press  us,  but  a  miglity  God  to  relieve  us.  In 
the  same  act  of  his  being  our  righteousness,  he  is  our  strength :  "In 
the  Lord  have  I  righteousness  and  strength"  (Isa.  xlv.  24). 

2.  In  the  sense  of  pardon.  When  the  soul  hath  been  wounded 
with  the  sense  of  sin,  and  its  iniquities  have  stared  it  in  the  face,  the 
raising  the  soul  from  a  despairing  condition,  and  lifting  it  above  those 
waters  which  terrified  it,  to  cast  the  light  of  comfort,  as  well  as  the 
light  of  grace,  into  a  heart  covered  with  more  than  an  Egyptian 
darkness,  is  an  act  of  his  infinite  and  creating  power  (Isa.  Ivii.  19); 
"  I  create  the  fruit  of  the  lips ;  Peace."  Men  may  wear  out  their  lips 
with  numbering  up  the  promises  of  grace  and  arguments  of  peace, 
but  all  will  signify  no  more,  without  a  creative  power,  than  if  all 
men  and  angels  should  call  to  that  white  upon  the  wall  to  shine  as 
splendidly  as  the  sun.  God  only  can  create  Jerusalem,  and  every 
child  of  Jerusalem  a  rejoicing  (Isa.  xlv.  18).  A  man  is  no  more 
able  to  apply  to  himself  any  word  of  comfort,  under  the  sense  of  sin, 
than  he  is  able  to  convert  himself,  and  turn  the  proposals  of  the 
word  into  gracious  afl:ections  in  his  heart.  To  restore  the  joy  of  sal- 
vation, is,  in  David's  judgment,  an  act  of  sovereign  power,  equal  to 
that  of  creating  a  clean  heart  (Ps.  li.  10,  12).  Alas !  it  is  a  state  like 
to  that  of  death  ;  as  infinite  power  can  only  raise  from  natural  death, 
so  from  a  spiritual  death ;  also  from  a  comfortless  death :  "In  his  fa- 
vor there  is  life ;"  in  the  want  of  his  favor  there  is  death.  The 
power  of  God  hath  so  placed  light  in  the  sun,  that  all  creatures  in 
the  world,  all  the  torches  upon  earth,  kindled  together,  cannot  make 
it  day,  if  that  doth  not  rise ;  so  all  the  angels  in  heaven,  and  men 
upon  earth,  are  not  competent  chirurgeons  for  a  wounded  spirit.  The 
cure  of  our  spiritual  ulcers,  and  the  pouring  in  balm,  is  an  act  of 
sovereign  creative  power :  it  is  m.ore  visible  in  silencing  a  tempes- 
tuous conscience  than  the  power  of  our  Saviour  was  in  the  stilling 
the  stormy  winds  and  the  roaring  waves.  As  none  but  infinite 
power  can  remove  the  guilt  of  sin,  so  none  but  infinite  power  can  re- 
move the  despairing  sense  of  it. 

Thirdly,  This  power  is  evident  in  the  preserving  grace.  As  the 
providence  of  God  is  a  manifestation  of  his  power  in  a  continued 
creation,  so  the  preservation  of  grace  is  a  manifestation  of  his  power 
in  a  continued  regeneration.  To  keep  a  nation  under  the  yoke,  is  an  act 
of  the  same  power  that  subdued  it.  It  is  this  that  strengthens  men  in 
suffering  against  the  fury  of  hell  (Col.  i.  13) ;  it  is  this  that  keeps  them 
from  falling  against  the  force  of  hell — the  Father's  hand  (John  x. 
29).  His  strength  abates  and  moderates  the  violence  of  temptations  ; 
his  staff  sustains  his  people  under  them  ;  his  might  defeats  the  power 
of  Satan,  and  bruiseth  him  under  a  believer's  feet.  The  counter- 
workings  of  indwelling  corruption,  the  reluctances  of  the  flesh 
against  the  breathings  of  the  spirit,  the  fallacy  of  the  senses,  and  the 
rovings  of  the  mind,  have  ability  quickly  to  stifle  and  extinguish 
grace,  if  it  were  not  maintained  hj  that  powerful  blast  that  first  im- 
breathed  it.  No  less  power  is  seen  in  perfecting  it,  than  was  in 
planting  it  (2  Pet.  i  3)  ;  no  less  in  fulfilling  the  work  of  faith,  than 
in  engrafting  the  word  of  faith  (2  Thess.  i.  11).  The  apostle  well 
understood  the  necessity  and  efficacy  of  it  in  the  preservation  of  faith, 


80  CHARNOCK  ON  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

as  well  as  in  the  first  infusion,  when  lie  expresses  himself  in  those 
terms  of  a  greatness  or  hyperbole  of  power,  "  His  mighty  power," 
or  the  power  of  his  might  (Eph.  i.  19).  The  salvation  he  bestows, 
and  the  strength  whereby  he  effects  it,  are  joined  together  in  the  i^ro- 
phet's  song  (Isa.  xii.  2) :  "  The  Lord  is  my  strength  and  my  salva- 
tion." And  indeed,  God  doth  more  magnify  his  power  in  continu- 
ing a  believer  in  the  world,  a  weak  and  half-rigged  vessel,  in  the 
midst  of  so  many  sands  wheron  it  might  sj)lit,  so  many  rocks  whereon 
it  might  dash,  so  many  corruptions  within,  and  so  many  temptations 
without,  than  if  he  did  immediately  transport  him  into  heaven,  and 
clothe  hiin  with  a  perfect  sanctified  nature. — To  conclude,  what  is 
there,  then,  in  the  world  which  is  destitute  of  notices  of  Divine 
power  ?  Every  creature  affords  us  the  lesson  ;  all  acts  of  Divine  gov- 
ernment are  the  marks  of  it.  Look  into  the  word,  and  the  manner  of 
its  propagation  instructs  ns  in  it ;  your  changed  natures,  your  par- 
doned guilt,  your  shining  comfort,  your  quelled  corruptions,  the 
standing  of  your  staggering  graces,  are  sufficient  to  preserve  a  sense, 
and  to  prevent  a  forgetfulncss,  of  this  great  attribute,  so  necessary  for 
\  your  support,  and  conducing  so  much  to  your  comfort. 
•^^  Use  I.  Of  information  and  instruction. 
^^"^"^^^  Instruct.  1.  If  incomprehensible  and  infinite  power  belongs  to  the 
nature  of  God,  then  Jesus  Christ  hath  a  divine  nature,  because  the 
acts  of  power  proper  to  God  are  ascribed  to  him.  This  perfection 
of  omnipotence  doth  unquestionably  pertain  to  the  Deity,  and  is  an 
incommunicable  property,  and  the  same  with  the  essence  of  God :  he, 
therefore,  to  whom  this  attribute  is  ascribed,  is  essentially  God.  This 
is  challenged  by  Christ,  in  conjunction  with  eternity  (Rev.  i.  8);  "I 
am  Alpha  and  Omega,  the  beginning  and  the  ending,  saith  the  Lord, 
which  is,  and  which  was,  and  which  is  to  come,  the  Almighty." 
This  the  Lord  Christ  speaks  of  himself.  He  who  was  equal  with 
God,  proclaims  himself  by  the  essential  title  of  the  Godhead,  part  of 
which  he  repeats  again  (ver.  11),  and  this  is  the  person  which  "  walks 
in  the  midst  of  the  seven  golden  candlesticks,"  the  person  that  "was 
dead  and  now  lives"  (ver.  17,  18),  which  cannot  possibly  be  meant 
of  the  Father,  the  First  Person,  who  can  never  come  under  the  de- 
nomination of  having  been  dead.  Being,  therefore,  adorned  with 
the  same  title,  he  hath  the  same  Deity;  and  though  his  omnipotence 
be  only  positively  asserted  (ver.  8),  yet,  his  eternity  being  asserted 
(ver.  li,  17),  it  inferreth  his  immense  power;  for  he  that  is  eternal, 
without  limits  of  time,  must  needs  be  conceived  powerful,  without 
any  dash  of  infirmity.  Again,  when  he  is  said  to  be  a  child  born, 
and  a  son  given,  in  the  same  breath  he  is  called  the  Mighty  God 
(Isa,  ix.  6).  It  is  introduced  as  a  ground  of  comfort  to  the  church, 
to  preserve  their  hopes  in  the  accomplishment  of  the  promises  made 
to  them  before.  They  should  not  imagine  him  to  have  only  the 
infirmity  of  a  man,  though  he  was  veiled  in  the  appearance  of  a  man. 
No,  they  should  look  through  the  disguise  of  his  flesh,  to  the  might 
of  his  Godhead.  The  attribute  of  mighty  is  added  to  the  title  of 
God,  because  the  consideration  of  power  is  most  capable  to  sustain 
the  drooping  church  in  such  a  condition,  and  to  prop  up  her  hopes. 
It  is  upon  this  account  he  saith  of  himself,  "  Whatsoever  things  the 


ON  THE   POWER   OF   GOD.  81 

Father  doth,  those  also  dotli  the  Son  likewise"  (John  v.  19).  In  the 
creation  of  heaven,  earth,  sea,  and  the  preservation  of  all  creatures, 
the  Son  works  with  the  same  will,  wisdom,  virtue,  power,  as  the 
Father  works :  not  as  two  may  concur  in  an  action  in  a  different 
manner,  as  an  agent  and  an  instrument,  a  carpenter  and  his  tools, 
but  in  the  same  manner  of  operation,  v,uoioig,  which  we  translate  like- 
ness, which  doth  not  express  so  well  the  emphasis  of  the  word. 
There  is  no  diversity  of  action  between  us;  what  the  Father  doth, 
that  I  do  by  the  same  power,  with  the  same  easiness  in  every  re- 
spect ;  there  is  the  same  creative,  productive,  conservative  power  in 
both  of  us ;  and  that  not  in  one  work  that  is  done,  ad  extra^  but  in 
all,  in  whatsoever  the  Father  doth.  In  the  same  manner,  not  by  a 
delegated,  but  natural  and  essential  power,  by  one  undivided  opera- 
tion and  manner  of  working. 

1st.  The  creation,  which  is  a  work  of  Omnipotence,  is  more  than 
once  ascribed  to  him.  This  he  doth  own  himself;  the  creation  of 
the  earth,  and  of  man  upon  it ;  the  stretching  out  the  heavens  by  his 
hands,  and  the  forming  of  "  all  the  hosts  of  them  by  his  command" 
(Isa.  xlv.  12).  He  is  not  only  the  Creator  of  Israel,  the  church  (ver. 
12),  but  of  the  whole  world,  and  every  creature  on  the  face  of  the 
earth,  and  in  the  glories  of  the  heavens ;  which  is  repeated  also  ver. 
18,  where,  in  this  act  of  creation,  he  is  called  God  himself,  and 
speaks  of  himself  in  the  terra  Jehovah ;  and  swears  by  himself  (ver. 
23).  What  doth  he  swear  ?  "  That  unto  me  every  knee  shall  bow, 
and  every  tongue  shall  swear."  Is  this  Christ  ?  Yes,  if  the  apostle 
may  be  believed,  who  applies  it  to  him  (Rom.  xiv.  11)  to  prove  the 
appearance  of  all  men  before  the  judgment-seat  of  Christ,  whom  the 
prophet  calls  (ver.  15)  ''  a  God  that  hides  himself;"  and  so  he  was  a 
hidden  God  when  obscured  in  our  fleshly  infirmities.  He  was  in 
conjunction  with  the  Father  when  the  sea  received  his  decree,  and 
the  foundations  of  the  earth  were  appointed ;  not  as  a  spectator,  but 
as  an  artificer,  for  so  the  word  in  Pro  v.  viii.  30,  signifies,  *'  as  one 
brought  up  with  him ;"  it  signifies  also,  "  a  cunning  workman"  (Cant. 
vii.  1).  He  was  the  east,  or  the  sun,  from  whence  sprang  all  the 
light  of  life  and  being  to  the  creature ;  so  the  word  u-^p  (ver.  22), 
which  is  translated,  "before  his  works  of  old,"  is  rendered  by  some^ 
and  signifies  the  east  as  well  as  before :  but  if  it  notes  only  his  exr- 
istence  before,  it  is  enough  to  prove  his  Deity.  The  Scripture  doth 
not  only  allow  him  an  existence  before  the  world,  but  exalts  him  as- 
the  cause  of  the  world :  a  thing  may  precede  another  that  is  not  the 
cause  of  that  which  follows ;  a  precedency  in  age  doth  not  entitle 
one  brother,  or  thing,  the  cause  of  another :  but  our  Saviour  is  not 
only  ancienter  than  the  world,  but  is  the  Creator  of  the  world  (Heb. 
i.  10,  11).  "  Who  laid  the  foundations  of  the  earth,  and  the  heavens 
are  the  work  of  his  hands."  So  great  an  eulogy  cannot  be  given  to 
one  destitute  of  omnipotence ;  since  the  distance  between  being  and 
not  being  is  so  vast  a  gulf  that  cannot  be  surmounded  and  stepped 
over,  but  by  an  Infinite  Power:  he  is  the  first  and  the  last,  that 
called  the  "  generations  from  the  beginning"  (Isa.  xli.  4),  and  had 
an  almighty  voice  to  call  them  out  of  nothing.  In  which  regard  he 
is  called  the  "  everlasting  Father"  (Isa.  ix.  6),  as  being  the  efficient 

VOL.  II. — 6 


82  CHARNOCK   ON   THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

of  creation ;  as  God  is  called  the  Father  of  the  rain,  or  as  father  is 
taken  for  the  inventor  of  an  art ;  as  Jubal,  the  first  framer  and  in- 
ventor of  music,  is  called  "  the  father  of  such  as  handle  the  harp" 
(Gen.  iv.  21).  And  that  Person  is  said  to  "make  the  sea,  and  form 
the  dry  land  by  his  hands"  (Ps.  xcv.  5,  6)  against  whom  Ave  are  ex 
horted  not  to  harden  our  hearts,  which  is  applied  to  Christ  by  the 
apostle  (Heb.  iii.  8) ;  in  ver.  6,  he  is  called  '•  a  great  King,"  and  a 
great  God  our  Maker."  The  places  wherein  the  creation  is  attributed 
to  Christ,  those  that  are  the  antagonists  of  his  Deity,  would  evade 
by  understanding  them  of  the  new,  or  evangelical,  not  of  the  first, 
old  material  creation:  but  what  appearance  is  there  for  such  a  sense? 
Consider, 

(1.)  That  of  Heb.  i.  10,  11,  it  is  spoken  of  that  earth  and  heavens 
which  were  in  the  beginning  of  time ;  it  is  that  earth  shall  perish, 
that  heaven  that  shall  be  folded  up,  that  creation  that  shall  grow  old 
towards  a  decay;  that  is,  only  the  visible  and  material  creation:  the 
spiritual  shall  endure  forever ;  it  grows  not  old  to  decay,  but  grows 
up  to  a  perfection ;  it  sprouts  up  to  its  happiness,  not  to  its  detriment. 
The  same  Person  creates  that  shall  destroy,  and  the  same  world  is 
created  by  him  that  shall  be  destroyed  by  him,  as  well  as  it  subsisted 
by  virtue  of  his  omnipotency. 

(2.)  Can  that  also  (Heb.  i.  2),  "  By  whom  also  he  made  the  worlds," 
speaking  of  Christ,  bear  the  same  plea  ?  It  was  the  same  Person  by 
whom  "God  spake  to  us  in  these  last  times,"  the  same  Person  which 
he  hath  constituted  "  Heir  of  all  things,  by  whom  also  he  made  the 
worlds :"  and  the  particle  also,  intimates  it  to  be  a  distinct  act  from 
his  speaking  or  prophetical  office,  whereby  he  restored  and  new 
created  the  world,  as  Avell  as  the  rightful  foundation  God  had  to 
make  him  "Heir  of  all  things."  It  refers  likewise,  not  to  the  time 
of  Christ's  speaking  upon  earth,  but  to  something  past,  and  some- 
thing different  from  the  publication  of  the  gospel :  it  is  not  "  doth 
make,"  which  had  been  more  likely  if  the  apostle  had  meant  only 
the  new  creation;  but  "hath  made,"q  referring  to  time  long  since 
past,  something  done  before  his  appearance  upon  earth  as  a  Prophet : 
"  By  whom  also  he  made  the  worlds,"  or  ages,  all  things  subjected 
to,  or  measured  by  time ;  which  must  be  meant  according  to  the 
-Jewish  plirase  of  this  material  visible  Avorld :  so  they  entitle  God  in 
itheir  Liturgy,  the  "  Lord  of  Ages,"  that  is,  the  Lord  of  the  world, 
and  all  ages  and  revolutions  of  the  world,  from  the  creation  to  the 
last  period  of  time.  If  anything  were  in  being  before  this  frame  of 
heaven  and  earth,  and  within  the  compass  of  time,  it  received  being 
and  duration  from  the  Son  of  God.  The  apostle  would  give  an  ar- 
gument to  prove  the  equity  of  making  him  Heir  of  all  things  as 
Mediator,  because  he  was  the  framer  of  all  things  as  God.  He  may 
well  be  the  Heir  or  Lord  of  angels  as  well  as  men,  who  created 
angels  as  well  as  men :  all  things  were  justly  under  his  power  as 
Mediator,  since  they  derived  their  existence  from  him  as  Creator. 

(3.)  But  what  evasion  can  there  be  for  that  (Col.  i.  16)?  "  By  him 
were  all  things  created  that  are  in  heaven  and  that  are  in  earth, 
whether  they  be  thrones,  or  dominions,  or  principalities,  or  powers, 

1  ETToiaev. 


ON   THE    POWER   OF   GOD.  83 

all  tilings  were  created  by  liim  and  for  liim."  He  is  said  to  be  the 
Creator  of  material  and  visible  things,  as  well  as  spiritual  and  invis- 
ible ;  of  things  in  heaven,  which  needed  no  restoration,  as  well  as 
things  on  earth,  which  were  polluted  by  sin,  and  stood  in  need  of  a- 
new  creation.  How  could  the  angels  belong  to  the  new  creation, 
who  had  never  put  off  the  honor  and  purity  of  the  first  ?  Since  they 
never  divested  themselves  of  their  original  integrity,  they  could  not 
be  reinvested  with  that  which  they  never  lost.  Besides,  suppose  the 
holy  angels  be  one  way  or  other  reduced  as  parts  of  the  new  crea 
tion,  as  being  under  the  mediatory  government  of  our  Saviour,  as 
their  Head,  and  in  regard  of  their  confirmation  by  him  in  that  happy 
state.  In  what  manner  shall  the  devils  be  ranked  among  new  crea- 
tures? They  are  called  principalities  and  powers  as  well  as  the 
angels,  and  may  come  under  the  title  of  things  invisible :  that  they 
are  called  principalities  and  powers  is  plain  (Eph.  vi.  12):  "For  we 
wrestle  not  against  flesh  and  blood,  but  against  principalities  and 
powers,  and  the  rulers  of  the  darkness  of  this  world ;  against  spiritual 
wickedness  in  high  places."  Good  angels  are  not  there  meant,  for 
what  war  have  believers  with  them,  or  they  with  believers  ?  They 
are  the  guardians  of  them,  since  Christ  hath  taken  away  the  enmity 
between  our  Lord  and  theirs,  in  whose  quarrel  they  were  engaged 
against  us :  and  since  the  apostle,  speaking  of  "  all  things  created  by 
him,"  exprcsseth  it  so,  that  it  cannot  be  conceived  he  should  except 
anything ;  how  come  the  finally  impenitent  and  unbelievers,  which 
are  things  in  earth,  and  visible,  to  be  listed  here  in  the  roll  of  new 
creatures  ?  None  of  these  can  be  called  new  creatures,  because  they 
are  subjected  to  the  government  of  Christ ;  no  more  than  the  earth 
and  sea,  and  the  animals  in  it,  are  made  new  creatures,  because  they 
are  all  under  the  dominion  of  Christ  and  his  providential  govern- 
ment. Again,  the  apostle  manifestly  makes  the  creation  he  here 
speaks  of,  to  be  the  material,  and  not  the  new  creation ;  for  that  he 
speaks  of  afterwards  as  a  distinct  act  of  our  Lord  Jesus,  under  the 
title  of  Reconciliation  (Col.  i.  20,  21),  which  was  the  restoration  of 
the  world,  and  the  satisfying  for  that  curse  that  lay  upon  it.  His 
intent  is  here  to  show  that  not  an  angel  in  heaven,  nor  a  creature 
upon  earth,  but  was  placed  in  their  several  degrees  of  excellency  by 
the  power  of  the  Son  of  God,  who,  after  that  act  of  creation,  and  the 
entrance  of  sin,  was  the  "  reconciler"  of  the  world  through  the  blood 
of  his  cross. 

(4.)  There  is  another  place  as  clear  (John  i.  3) :  "  All  things  were 
made  by  him,  and  without  him  was  nothing  made  that  was  made." 
The  creation  is  here  ascribed  to  him;  affirmatively,  "All  things 
were  made  by  him ;"  negatively,  there  was  nothing  made  without 
him  :  and  the  words  are  emphatical,  odds  ar^  not  one  thing ;  except- 
ing nothing ;  including  invisible  things,  as  well  as  things  conspicu- 
ous to  sense  only,  mentioned  in  the  story  of  the  creation  (Gen.  i.) ; 
not  only  the  entire  mass,  but  the  distinct  parcels,  the  smallest  worm 
and  the  highest  angel,  owe  their  original  to  him.  And  if  not  one 
thing,  then  the  matter  was  not  created  to  his  hands ;  and  his  work 
consisted  not  only  in  the  forming  things  from  that  matter :  if  that 
one  thing  of  matter  were  excepted,  a  chief  thing  were  excepted ;  if 


84  CHARNOCK   ON  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

yiot  one  thing  were  excepted,  then  lie  created  sometliing  of  nothing, 
because  spirits,  as  angels  and  souls,  are  not  made  of  any  pre-existing 
or  fore-created  matter.  How  could  the  evangelist  phrase  it  more 
extensively  and  comprehensively  ?  This  is  a  character  of  Omnipo- 
tency  ;  to  create  the  world,  and  everything  in  it,  of  nothing,  requires 
an  infinite  virtue  and  power.  If  all  things  were  created  by  Him, 
they  were  not  created  by  him  as  man,  because  himself,  as  man,  was 
not  in  being  before  the  creation ;  if  all  things  were  made  by  him, 
then  himself  was  not  made,  himself  was  not  created ;  and  to  be  ex- 
istent without  being  made,  without  being  created,  is  to  be  unbound- 
edly omnipotent.  And  if  we  understand  it  of  the  new  creation,  as 
they  do  that  will  not  allow  him  an  existence  in  his  Deity  before  his 
humanity,  it  cannot  be  true  of  that ;  for  how  could  he  regenerate 
Abraham,  make  Simeon  and  Anna  new  creatures,  who  "  waited  for 
the  salvation  of  Israel,"  and  form  John  Baptist,  and  fill  him  with  the 
Holy  Ghost,  even  from  the  womb  (Luke  i.  15),  who  belonged  to  the 
new  creation,  and  was  to  prepare  the  way,  if  Christ  had  not  a  being 
before  him?  The  evangelist  alludes  to,  and  explains  the  history  of 
the  creation,  in  the  beginning,  and  acquaints  us  what  was  meant  by 
God,  said  so  often,  viz.  the  eternal  Word,  and  describes  him  in  his 
creative  power,  manifested  in  the  framing  the  world,  before  he  de- 
scribes him  in  his  incarnation,  when  he  came  to  lay  the  foundation 
of  the  restoration  of  the  world  (John  i,  14),  "  The  Word  was  made 
flesh  ;"  this  Word  who  was  "  with  God,  who  was  God,  who  made  all 
things,"  and  gave  being  to  the  most  glorious  angels  and  the  meanest 
creature  without  exception  ;  this  Word,  in  time,  "  was  made  flesh." 
(5.)  The  creation  of  things  mentioned  in  these  Scriptures  cannot 
be  attributed  to  him  as  an  instrument.  As  if  when  it  is  said,  "  God 
created  all  things  by  him,  and  by  him  made  the  worlds,"  we  were  to 
understand  the  Father  to  be  the  agent,  and  the  Son  to  be  a  tool  in 
his  Father's  hand,  as  an  axe  in  the  hand  of  a  carpenter,  or  a  file  in 
the  hand  of  a  smith,  or  a  servant  acting  by  command  as  the  organ 
of  his  master.  The  preposition  per,  or  'i^'",  doth  not  always  signify 
an  instrumental  cause:  when  it  is  said,  that  the  apostle  gave  the 
Thessalonians  a  command  "  by  Jesus  Christ"  (1  Tliess.  iv.  2),  was 
Christ  the  instrument,  and  not  the  Lord  of  that  command  the  apostle 
gave  ?  The  immediate  operation  of  Christ  dwelling  in  the  apostles, 
was  that  whereby  they  gave  the  commands  to  their  disciples.  When 
we  are  called  "  by  God"  (1  Cor.  i.  9),  is  he  the  instrumental,  or  prin- 
cipal cause  of  our  effectual  vocation  ?  And  can  the  will  of  God  be 
the  instrument  of  putting  Paul  into  the  apostleship,  or  the  sovereign 
cause  of  investing  him  with  that  dignity,  when  he  calls  himself  an 
"  Apostle  by  the  will  of  God"  (Eph.  i.  3)?  And  when  all  things  are 
said  to  be  through  God,  as  well  as  of  him,  must  he  be  counted  the 
instrumental  cause  of  his  own  creation,  counsels,  and  judgments 
(Rom.  xi.  36)  ?  When  we  "  mortify  the  deeds  of  the  body  through 
the  Spirit  (Rom.  viii.  13),  or  keep  the  "treasure  of  the  word  by  the 
Holy  Ghost"  (2  Tim.  i.  14),  is  the  Holy  Ghost  of  no  more  dignity  in 
such  acts  than  an  instrument  ?  Nor  doth  the  gaining  a  thing  by  a 
person  make  him  a  mere  instrument  or  inferior ;  as  when  a  man 
gains  his  right  in  a  way  of  justice  against  his  adversary  by  the  magis- 


ON  THE   POWER   OF   GOD,  85 

trate,  is  the  judge  inferior  to  tlie  suppliant  ?  If  the  Word  were  an 
instrument  in  creation,  it  must  be  a  created  or  uncreated  instrument : 
if  created,  it  could  not  be  true  what  the  Evangelist  saith,  that  "all 
things  were  made  by  him,'  since  himself,  the  principal  thing,  could 
not  be  made  by  himself:  if  uncreated,  he  was  God,  and  so  acted  by 
a  Divine  omnipotency,  whicii  surmounts  an  instrumental  cause. 
But,  indeed,  an  instrument  is  impossible  in  creation,  since  it  is 
wrought  only  by  an  act  of  the  L  ivine  will.  Do  we  need  any  organ 
to  an  act  of  volition?  The  efficacious  will  of  the  Creator  is  the 
cause  of  the  original  of  the  body  of  the  world,  with  its  particular 
members  and  exact  harmony.  It  was  formed  "by  a  word,  and  es- 
tablished by  a  command"  (Ps.  xxxiii.  9) ;  the  beauty  of  the  creation 
stood  up  at  the  precept  of  his  will.  Nor  was  the  Son  a  partial  cause ; 
as  when  many  are  said  to  build  a  house,  one  works  one  part,  and  an- 
other frames  another  part :  God  created  all  things  by  the  immediate 
operation  of  the  Son,  in  the  unity  of  essence,  goodness,  power,  wis- 
dom ;  not  an  extrinsic,  but  a  connatural  instrument.  As  the  sun 
doth  illustrate  all  things  by  his  light,  and  quickens  all  things  by  his 
heat,  so  God  created  the  worlds  by  Christ,  as  he  was  the  "brightness 
or  splendor  of  his  glor}^  the  exact  image  of  his  person ;"  which  fol- 
lows the  declaration  of  his  making  the  worlds  by  him  (Heb.  i.  3,  4), 
to  show,  that  he  acted  not  as  an  instrument,  but  one  in  essential  con- 
junction with  him,  as  light  and  brightness  with  the  sun.  But  sup- 
pose he  did  make  the  world  as  a  kind  of  instrument,  he  was  then 
before  the  world,  not  bounded  by  time ;  and  eternity  cannot  well  be 
conceived  belonging  to  a  Being  without  omnipotency.  He  is  the 
End,  as  well  as  the  Author,  of  the  creatures  (Col.  i.  16) ;  not  only 
the  principle  which  gave  them  being,  but  the  sea,  into  whose  glory 
they  run  and  dissolve  themselves,  which  consists  not  with  the  mean- 
ness of  an  instrument. 

2d.  As  creation,  so  preservation,  is  ascribed  to  Him  (Col.  i.  17). 
"  By  him  all  things  consist."  As  he  preceded  all  things  in  his  eter- 
nitj^,  so  he  establishes  all  things  by  his  omnipotency,  and  fixes  them  in 
their  several  centres,  that  they  sink  not  into  that  nothing  from 
whence  he  fetched  them.  By  him  they  flourish  in  their  several  be- 
ings, and  observe  the  laws  and  orders  he  first  appointed  :  that  power 
of  his  which  extracted  them  from  insensible  nothing,  upholds  them 
in  their  several  beings  with  the  same  facility  as  he  spake  being  into 
them,  even  "by  the  word  of  his  power"  (Heb.  i.  3),  and  by  one  crea- 
tive continued  voice,  called  all  generations,  from  the  beginning  to 
the  period  of  the  world  (Isa.  xli.  4),  and  causes  them  to  flourish  in 
their  several  seasons.  It  is  "by  him  kings  reign,  and  princes  decree 
justice,"  and  all  things  are  confined  within  the  limits  of  government. 
All  which  are  acts  of  an  Infinite  Power. 

3d.  Kesurrection  is  also  ascribed  to  Him.  The  body  crumbled  to 
dust,  and  that  dust  blown  to  several  quarters  of  the  world,  cannot  be 
gathered  in  its  distinct  parts,  and  new  formed  for  the  entertainment 
of  the  soul,  without  the  strength  of  an  infinite  arm.  This  he  will  do, 
and  more ;  change  the  vileness  of  an  earthly  body  into  the  glory  of 
an  heavenly  one  ;  a  dusty  flesh  into  a  spiritual  body,  which  is  an  ar- 
gument of  a  power  invincible,  to  which  all  things  cannot  but  stoop ; 


86  CHARNOCK  ON  THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

for  it  is  by  such  an  operation,  wliicli  testifies  an  ability  "  to  subdue 
all  things  to  himself"  (Phil.  iii.  21),  especially  when  he  works  it 
with  the  same  ease  as  he  did  the  creation,  by  the  power  of  his  voice. 
(John  V.  28),  "All  that  are  in  the  graves  shall  hear  his  voice,  and 
shall  come  forth :"  speaking  them  into  a  restored  life  from  insensible 
dust,  as  he  did  into  being  from  an  empty  nothing.  The  greatest  acts 
of  power  are  owned  to  belong  to  creation,  preservation,  resurrection. 
Omnipotence,  therefore,  is  his  right ;  and,  therefore,  a  Deity  cannot 
be  denied  to  him  that  inherits  a  perfection  essential  to  none  but  God, 
and  impossible  to  be  entrusted  in,  or  managed  by  the  hands  of  any 
creatures.  And  this  is  no  mean  comfort  to  those  that  believe  in  him : 
he  is,  in  regard  of  his  power,  "  the  horn  of  salvation  ;"  so  Zacharias 
sings  of  him  (Luke  i.  69).  Nor  could  there  be  any  more  mighty 
found  out  upon  whom  God  could  have  "  laid  our  help"  (Ps.  Ixxxix. 
19).  No  reason,  therefore,  to  doubt  his  ability  to  save  to  the  utmost, 
who  hath  the  power  of  creation,  preservation,  and  resurrection  in  his 
hands.  His  promises  must  be  accomplished,  since  nothing  can  resist 
him  :  he  hath  power  to  fulfil  his  word,  and  bring  all  things  to  a  final 
issue,  because  he  is  Almighty :  by  his  outstretched  arm  in  the  de- 
liverance of  his  Israel  from  Egypt,  (for  it  was  his  arm,  1  Cor.  x.)  he 
showed  that  he  was  able  to  deliver  us  from  spiritual  Egypt.  The 
charge  of  Mediator  to  expiate  sin,  vanquish  hell,  form  a  church,  con- 
duct and  perfect  it,  are  not  to  be  effected  by  a  person  of  less  ability 
than  infinite.  Let  this  almightiness  of  His  be  the  bottom,  wherein 
to  cast  and  fix  the  anchor  of  our  hopes. 

Instruct.  2.  Hence  may  be  inferred  the  Deity  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 
Works  of  omnipotency  are  ascribed  to  the  Sj^irit  of  God:  by  the 
motion  of  the  wings  of  this  Spirit,  as  a  bird  over  her  eggs,  was  that 
rude  and  unshapen  mass  hatched  into  a  comely  world. ■■  The  stars, 
— or  perhaps  the  angels,  are  meant  by  the  "garnishing  of  the 
heavens"  in  the  verse  before  the  text, — were  brought  forth  in  their 
comeliness  and  dignity,  as  the  ornaments  of  the  upper  world,  by  this 
Spirit ;  "  By  his  Spirit  he  hath  garnished  the  heavens."  To  this 
Spirit  Job  ascribes  the  formation  both  of  the  body  and  soul,  under 
the  title  of  Almighty  (Job  xxxiii.  4),  "  The  Spirit  of  God  hath  made 
me,  and  the  breath  of  the  Almighty  hath  given  me  life."  Eesurrec- 
tion,  another  work  of  omnipotency,  is  attributed  to  him  (Rom.  viii. 
11).  The  conception  of  our  Saviour  in  the  womb ;  the  miracles 
that  he  wrought,  were  by  the  power  of  the  Spirit  in  him.  Power  is 
a  title  belonging  to  him,  and  sometimes  both  are  put  together  (1 
Thess.  i.  5,  and  other  places).  And  that  great  power  of  changing 
the  heart,  and  sanctifying  a  polluted  nature,  a  work  greater  than 
creation,  is  frequently  acknowledged  in  the  Scripture  to  be  the  pe- 
culiar act  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  The  Father,  Son,  Spirit,  are  one  prin- 
ciple in  creation,  resurrection,  and  all  the  works  of  omnipotence. 

Instruct.  3.  Inference  from  the  doctrine.  The  blessedness  of  God 
is  hence  evidenced.  If  God  be  Almighty,  he  can  want  nothing ; 
all  want  speaks  weakness.  If  he  doth  what  he  will,  he  cannot  be 
miserable  ;  all  misery  consists  in  those  things  which  happen  contrary 
to  our  will.     There  is  nothing  can  hinder  his  happiness,  because  no- 

■■  Gen.  i.  2.     So  the  word  "moved'  properly  signifies. 


ON  THE    POWER   OF   GOD.  87 

thing  can  resist  his  power.  Since  lie  is  omnipotent,  nothing  can 
hurt  him,  nothing  can  strip  him  of  what  he  hath,  of  what  he  is.^  If 
he  can  do  whatsoever  he  will,  he  cannot  want  anything  that  he 
wills.  He  is  as  happy,  as  great,  as  glorious,  as  he  will ;  for  he  hath 
a  perfect  liberty  of  will  to  will,  and  a  perfect  power  to  attain  what 
he  will ;  his  will  cannot  be  restrained,  nor  his  power  meted.  It 
would  be  a  defect  in  blessedness,  to  will  what  he  were  not  able  to 
do :  sorrow  is  the  result  of  a  want  of  power,  with  a  presence  of 
will.  If  he  could  will  anything  which  he  could  not  effect,  he  would 
be  miserable,  and  no  longer  God  :  he  can  do  whatsoever  he  pleases, 
and  therefore  can  Avant  nothing  that  pleases  him.t  He  cannot  be 
happy,  the  original  of  whose  happiness  is  not  in  himself:  nothing 
can  be  infinitely  happy,  that  is  limited  and  bounded. 

Instruct.  4.  Hence  is  the  ground  for  the  immutability  of  God.  As 
he  is  incapable  of  changing  his  resolves,  because  of  his  infinite  wis- 
dom, so  he  is  incapable  of  being  forced  to  any  change,  because  of 
his  infinite  power.  Being  almighty,  he  can  be  no  more  changed 
from  power  to  weakness ;  than,  being  all- wise,  he  can  be  changed 
from  wisdom  to  folly ;  or,  being  omniscient,  from  knowledge  to 
ignorance.  He  cannot  be  altered  in  his  purposes,  because  of  his 
wisdom ;  nor  in  the  manner  and  method  of  his  actions,  because  of 
his  infinite  strength.  Men,  indeed,  when  their  designs  are  laid  deep- 
est, and  their  purposes  stand  firmest,  yet  are  forced  to  stand  still,  or 
change  the  manner  of  the  execution  of  their  resolves,  by  reason  of 
some  outward  accidents  that  obstruct  them  in  their  course ;  for,  hav- 
ing not  wisdom  to  foresee  future  hindrances,  they  have  not  power 
to  prevent  them,  or  strength  to  remove  them,  when  they  unexpect- 
edly interpose  themselves  between  their  desire  and  performance ; 
but  no  created  power  has  strength  enough  to  be  a  bar  against  God. 
By  the  same  act  of  his  will  that  he  resolves  a  thing,  he  can  puff 
away  any  impediments  that  seem  to  rise  up  against  him.  He  that 
wants  no  means  to  effect  his  purposes,  cannot  be  checked  by  any- 
thing that  riseth  up  to  stand  in  his  way ;  heaven,  earth,  sea,  the 
deepest  places,  are  too  weak  to  resist  his  will  (Ps.  cxxxv.  6).  The 
purity  of  the  angels  will  not,  and  the  devil's  malice  cannot,  frustrate 
his  will ;  the  one  voluntarily  obeys  the  beck  of  his  hand,  and  the 
other  is  vanquished  by  the  power  of  it.  What  can  make  him  change 
his  purposes ;  who  (if  he  please)  can  dash  the  earth  against  the 
heavens  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye,  untying  the  world  from  its  cen- 
tre, clap  the  stars  and  elements  together  into  one  mass,  and  blow  the 
whole  creation  of  men  and  devils  into  nothing  ?  Because  he  is  al- 
mighty, therefore  he  is  immutable. 

Instruct.  5.  Hence  is  inferred  the  providence  of  God,  and  his  gov- 
ernment of  the  world.  His  power,  as  well  as  his  wisdom,  gives  him 
a  right  to  govern :  nothing  can  equal  him,  therefore  nothing  can 
share  the  command  with  him ;  since  all  things  are  his  works,  it  is 
fittest  they  should  be  under  his  order :  he  that  frames  a  work,  is 
fittest  to  guide  and  govern  it.  God  hath  the  most  right  to  govern, 
because  he  hath  knowledge  to  direct  his  power,  and  power  to  exe- 
cute the  results  of  his  wisdom :  he  knows  what  is  convenient  to  or- 

•  Sabunde,  Tit.  39.  *  Pont.  Part  VI.  med.  16.  p.  531. 


88  CHARNOCK  ON  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

der,  and  liath  strength  to  effect  wliat  lie  orders.  As  his  power  would 
be  oppressive  without  goodness  and  wisdom,  so  his  goodness  and 
wisdom  would  be  fruitless  without  power.  An  artificer  that  hath 
lost  his  hands  may  direct,  but  cannot  make  an  engine :  a  pilot  that 
hath  lost  his  arms  may  advise  the  way  of  steerage,  but  cannot  hold 
the  helm ;  something  is  wanting  in  him  to  be  a  complete  governor  : 
but  since  both  counsel  and  power  are  infinite  in  God,  hence  results 
an  infinite  right  to  govern,  and  an  infinite  fitness,  because  his  will 
cannot  be  resisted,  his  power  cannot  be  enfeebled  or  diminished ;  he 
can  quicken  and  increase  the  strength  of  all  means  as  he  pleases. 
He  can  hold  all  things  in  the  world  together,  and  preserve  them  in 
those  functions  wherein  he  settled  them,  and  conduct  them  to  those 
ends  for  which  he  designed  them.  Every  artificer,  the  more  excel- 
lent he  is,  and  the  more  excellency  of  power  appears  in  his  work,  is 
the  more  careful  to  maintain  and  cherish  it.  Those  that  deny  Provi- 
dence, do  not  only  ravish  from  him  the  bowels  of  his  goodness,  but 
strip  him  of  a  main  exercise  of  his  power,  and  engender  in  men  a 
suspicion  of  weariness  and  feebleness  in  him  ;  as  though  his  strength 
had  been  spent  in  making  them,  that  none  is  left  to  guide  them. 
They  would  make  him  headless  in  regard  of  his  wisdom,  and  bowel- 
less  in  regard  of  his  goodness,  and  armless  in  regard  of  his  strength. 
If  he  did  not,  or  were  not  able  to  preserve  and  provide  for  his  crea- 
tures, his  power  in  making  them  would  be,  in  a  great  part,  an  in- 
visible power ;  if  he  did  not  preserve  what  he  made,  and  govern 
what  he  preserves,  it  would  be  a  kind  of  strange  and  rude  power, 
to  make,  and  suffer  it  to  be  dashed  in  pieces  at  the  pleasure  of  others. 
If  the  power  of  God  should  relinquish  the  world,  the  life  of  things 
would  be  extinguished,  the  fabric  would  be  confounded,  and  fall 
into  a  deplorable  chaos.  That  which  is  composed  of  so  many  va- 
rious pieces,  could  not  maintain  its  union,  if  there  were  not  a  secret 
virtue  binding  them  together  and  maintaining  those  varieties  of 
links.  Well,  then,  since  God  is  not  only  so  good,  that  he  cannot 
will  anything  but  what  is  good ;  so  wise,  that  he  cannot  err  or  mis- 
take ;  but  also  so  able,  that  he  cannot  be  defeated  or  mated ;  he 
hath  every  way  a  full  ability  to  govern  the  world:  where  those 
three  are  infinite,  the  right  and  fitness  resulting  from  thence  is  un- 
questionable :  and,  indeed,  to  deny  God  this  active  part  of  his 
power,  is  to  render  him  weak,  foolish,  cruel,  or  all. 

Instruct.  6.  Here  is  a  ground  for  the  worship  of  God.  AVisdom 
and  power  are  the  grounds  of  the  respect  we  give  to  men ;  they  be- 
ing both  infinite  in  God,  are  the  foundation  of  a  solemn  honor  to 
be  returned  to  him  by  his  creatures.  If  a  man  makes  a  curious  en- 
gine, we  honor  him  for  his  skill ;  if  another  vanquish  a  vigorous 
enemy,  we  admire  him  for  his  strength :  and  shall  not  the  efficacy 
of  God's  power  in  creation,  government,  redemption,  enflame  us 
with  a  sense  of  the  honor  of  his  name  and  perfections  ?  We  admire 
those  princes  that  have  vast  empires,  numerous  armies,  that  have  a 
power  to  conquer  their  enemies,  and  preserve  their  own  people  in 
peace.  How  much  more  ground  have  we  to  pay  a  mighty  rever- 
ence to  God,  who,  without  trouble  and  weariness,  made  and  manages 
this  vast  empire  of  the  world  by  a  word  and  beck  !     What  sensible 


ON  THE   POWER   OF   GOD.  89 

thoughts  have  wc  of  the  noise  of  thunder,  the  power  of  the  sun,  the 
storms  of  the  sea  !  These  things  that  have  no  understanding  have 
struck  men  with  such  a  reverence,  that  many  have  adored  them  as 
gods.  What  reverence  and  adoration  doth  this  mighty  power,  join- 
ed with  an  infinite  wisdom  in  God,  demand  at  our  hands !  All  re- 
ligion and  worship  stands  especially  upon  two  pillars,  goodness,  and 
power  in  God ;  if  either  of  these  were  defective,  all  religion  would 
faint  away.  We  can  expect  no  entertainment  with  him  without 
goodness,  nor  any  benefit  from  him  without  power.  This  God  pre- 
faceth  to  the  command  to  worship  him,  the  benefit  his  goodness  liad 
conferred  upon  them,  and  the  powerful  manner  of  conveyance  of  it 
to  them  (2  Kings  xvii.  36) :  "  The  Lord  brought  you  up  from  the 
land  of  Egypt  with  great  power,  and  an  out-stretched  arm ;  him 
shall  you  fear,  and  him  shall  you  worship,  and  to  him  shall  you  do 
sacrifice.  Because  this  attribute  is  a  main' foundation  of  prayer,  the 
Lord's  Prayer  is  concluded  with  a  doxology  of  it,  "  For  thine  is  the 
kingdom,  the  power,  and  the  glory."  As  he  is  rich,  possessing  all 
blessings ;  so  he  is  powerfal,  to  confer  all  blessings  on  us,  and  make 
them  efiicacious  to  us.  The  Jews  repeat  many  times  in  their  prayers, 
some  say  an  hundred  times,  cbn-n  nbn,  "The  King  of  the  world;" 
it  is  both  an  awe  and  an  encouragement."  We  could  not,  without 
consideration  of  it,  pray  in  faith  of  success ;  nay,  we  could  not  pray 
at  all,  if  his  power  were  defective  to  help  us,  and  his  mercy  too  weak 
to  relieve  us.  Who  would  solicit  a  lifeless,  or  lie  a  prostrate  sup- 
pliant, to  a  feeble  arm  ?  Upon  this  ability  of  God,  our  Saviour 
built  his  petitions  (Heb.  v.  7) :  "  lie  offered  up  strong  cries  unto 
Him  that  was  able  to  save  him  from  death."  Abraham's  faith  hung 
upon  the  same  string  (Rom.  iv.  21),  and  the  captived  church  sup- 
plicates God  to  act  according  to  the  greatness  of  his  power  (Ps. 
Ixxix.  11).  Li  all  our  addresses  this  is  to  be  eyed  and  considered  ; 
God  is  able  to  help,  to  relieve,  to  ease  me,  let  my  misery  be  never 
so  great,  and  my  strength  never  so  weak  (Matt.  viii.  2) :  "  If  thou 
wilt,  thou  canst  make  me  clean,  was  the  consideration  the  leper  had 
when  he  came  to  worship  Christ ;  he  was  clear  in  his  power,  and 
therefore  Avorshipped  him,  though  he  was  not  equally  clear  in  his 
will.  All  worship  is  shot  wrong  that  is  not  directed  to,  and  con- 
ducted by,  the  thoughts  of  this  attribute,  whose  assistance  we  need. 
When  we  beg  the  pardon  of  our  sins,  we  should  eye  mercy  and 
power ;  when  we  beg  his  righting  us  in  any  case  where  we  are  un- 
justly oppressed,  we  do  not  eye  righteousness  without  power;  when 
we  plead  the  performance  of  his  promise,  we  do  not  regard  his 
faithfalness  only  without  the  prop  of  his  power.  As  power  ushers 
in  all  the  attributes  of  God  in  their  exercise  and  manifestation  in  the 
world,  so  should  it  be  the  butt  our  eyes  should  be  fixed  upon  in  all 
our  acts  of  worship :  as  without  his  power  his  other  attributes  would 
be  useless,  so  without  due  apprehensions  of  his  j^ower  our  prayers 
will  be  faithless  and  comfortless.  The  title  in  the  Lord's  prayer  di- 
rects us  to  a  prospect  both  of  his  goodness  and  power ;  his  goodness 
in  the  word  Father,  his  greatness,  excellency,  and  power,  in  the  word 
Heaven.     The  heedless  consideration  of  the  infiiniteness  of  this  per- 

"  Capel.  ill  1  Tim.  i.  17. 


90  CHARNOCK   ON  THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

fection  roots  up  pietj  in  the  midst  of  us,  and  makes  us  so  careless 
in  worship.  Did  we  more  think  of  that  Power  that  raised  the  world 
out  of  nothing,  tliat  orders  all  creatures  bj  an  act  of  his  will,  that 
performed  so  great  an  exploit  as  that  of  our  redemption,  when  mas- 
terless  sin  had  triumphed  over  the  world,  we  should  give  God  the 
honor  and  adoration  which  so  great  an  excellency  challengeth  and 
deserves  at  our  hands,  though  we  ourselves  had  not  been  the  work 
of  his  hands,  or  the  monuments  of  his  strength ;  how  could  any 
creature  engross  to  itself  that  reverence  from  us  which  is  due  to  the 
powerful  Creator,  of  whom  it  comes  infinitely  short  in  strength  as 
well  as  wisdom? 

Instruct.  7.  From  this  we  have  a  ground  for  the  belief  of  the  re- 
surrection. God  aims  at  the  glory  of  his  power,  as  well  as  the  glory 
of  any  other  attribute.  Moses  else  would  not  have  culled  out  this 
as  the  main  argument,  in  his  pleading  with  God,  for  the  sheathing 
the  sword  which  he  began  to  draw  out  against  them  in  the  wilder- 
ness (Numb.  xiv.  16) :  "  The  nations  will  say,  Because  the  Lord 
was  not  able  to  bring  these  people  into  the  land  which  he  sware  to 
them,"  &c.  As  the  finding  out  the  particulars  of  the  dust  of  our 
bodies  discovers  the  vastness  of  his  knowledge,  so  to  raise  them  will 
manifest  the  glory  of  his  power  as  much  as  creation ;  bodies  that 
have  mouldered  away  into  multitudes  of  atoms,  been  resolved  into 
the  elements,  passed  through  varieties  of  changes,  been  sometimes 
the  matter  to  lodge  the  form  of  a  plant,  or  been  turned  into  the  sub- 
stance of  a  fish  or  fowl,  or  vapored  up  into  a  cloud,  and  been  part 
of  that  matter  which  hath  compacted  a  thunder-bolt,  disposed  of  in 
places  far  distant,  scattered  by  the  winds,  swallowed  and  concocted 
by  beasts  ;  for  these  to  be  called  out  from  their  different  places  of 
abode,  to  meet  in  one  body,  and  be  restored  to  their  former  consist- 
ency, in  a  marriage  union,  in  the  "  twinkling  of  an  eye"  (1  Cor.  xv. 
22),  it  is  a  cojisideration  that  may  justly  amaze  us,  and  our  shallow 
understandings  are  too  feeble  to  comprehend  it.  But  is  it  not  credi- 
ble, since  all  the  disputes  against  it  may  be  silenced  by  reflections  on 
Infinite  Power,  which  nothing  can  oppose,  for  which  nothing  can  be 
esteemed  too  difficult  to  effect,  which  doth  not  imply  a  contradiction 
in  itself?  It  was  no  less  amazing  to  the  blessed  virgin  to  hear  a 
message  that  she  should  conceive  a  Son  without  knowing  a  man ; 
but  she  is  quickly  answered,  by  the  angel,  with  a  "  Nothing  is  im- 
possible to  God"  (Luke  i.  34,  37).  The  distinct  parts  off  our  bodies  can- 
not be  hid  from  his  all-seeing  eye,  wherever  they  are  lodged,  and  in 
all  the  changes  they  pass  through,  as  was  discoursed  when  the 
Omniscience  of  God  was  handled  ;  shall,  then,  the  collection  of  them 
together  be  too  hard  for  his  invincible  power  and  strength,  and  the 
uniting  all  those  parts  into  a  body,  with  new  dispositions  to  receive 
their  several  souls,  be  too  big  and  bulky  for  that  Power  which  never 
yet  was  acquainted  with  any  bar  ?  Was  not  the  miracle  of  our 
Saviour's  multiplying  the  loaves,  suppose  it  had  not  been  by  a  new 
creation,  but  a  collection  of  grain  from  several  parts,  very  near  as 
stupendous  as  this  ?  Had  any  one  of  us  been  the  only  creatures 
made  just  before  the  matter  of  the  world,  and  beheld  that  inform 
chaos  covered  with  a  thick  darkness,  mentioned  Gen.  i.  2,  would  not 


ON   THE   POWER   OF    GOD.  91 

the  report,  that  from  this  dark  deep,  next  to  nothing,  should  be 
raised  such  a  multitude  of  comely  creatures,  with  such  innumerable 
varieties  of  members,  voices,  colors,  motions,  and  such  numbers  of 
shining  stars,  a  bright  sun,  one  uniform  body  of  light  from  this 
darkness,  that  should,  like  a  giant,  rejoice  to  run  a  race,  for  many 
thousands  of  years  together,  without  stop  or  weariness ;  would  not 
all  these  have  seemed  as  incredible  as  the  collection  of  scattered 
dust  ?  What  was  it  that  erected  the  innumerable  host  of  heaven, 
the  glorious  angels,  and  glittering  stars,  for  aught  Ave  know  more 
numerous  than  the  bodies  of  men,  but  an  act  of  the  Divine  will  ? 
and  shall  the  power  that  wrought  this  sink  under  the  charge  of 
gathering  some  dispersed  atoms,  and  compacting  th'fem  into  a  human 
body  ?  Can  you  tell  how  the  dust  of  the  ground  was  kneaded  by 
God  into  the  body  of  man,  and  changed  into  flesh,  skin,  hair,  bones, 
sinews,  veins,  arteries,  and  blood,  and  fitted  for  so  many  several  ac- 
tivities, when  a  human  soul  was  breathed  into  it  ?-'^  Can  you  imagine 
how  a  rib,  taken  from  Adam's  side,  a  lifeless  bone,  was  formed  into 
head,  hands,  feet,  eyes  ?  Why  may  not  the  matter  of  men,  which 
have  been,  be  restored,  as  well  as  that  which  was  not,  be  first  erect- 
ed ?  Is  it  harder  to  repair  those  things  which  were,  than  to  create 
those  things  which  were  not  ?  Is  there  not  the  same  Artificer  ? 
Hath  any  disease  or  sickliness  abated  his  power  ?  Is  the  Ancient 
of  Days  grown  feeble  ?  or  shall  the  elements,  and  other  creatures, 
that  alvvay  yet  obeyed  his  command,  ruffle  against  his  raising  voice, 
and  refuse  to  disgorge  those  remains  of  human  bodies  they  have 
swallowed  up  in  their  several  bowels  ?  Did  the  whole  world,  and 
all  the  parts  of  it,  rise  at  his  word  ?  and  shall  not  some  parts  of  the 
world,  the  dust  of  the  dead,  stand  up  out  of  the  graves  at  a  word  of 
the  same  mighty  efficacy  ?  Do  we  not  annually  see  those  marks  of 
power  which  may  stun  our  incredulity  in  this  concern  ?  Do  you 
see  in  a  small  acorn,  or  little  seed,  any  such  sights,  as  a  tree  with 
body,  bark,  branches,  leaves,  flowers,  fruit — where  can  you  find 
them  ?  Do  you  know  the  invisible  corners  where  they  lurk  in  that 
little  body  ?  And  yet  these  you  afterwards  view  rising  up  from  this 
little  body,  when  sown  in  the  ground,  that  you  could  not  possibly 
have  any  prospect  of  when  you  rolled  it  in  your  hand,  or  opened 
its  bowels.  And  why  may  not  all  the  particulars  of  our  bodies, 
however  disposed  as  to  their  distinct  natures  invisibly  to  us,  remain 
distinct,  as  well  as  if  you  mingle  a  thousand  seeds  together  ?  they 
will  come  up  in  their  distinct  kinds,  and  preserve  their  distinct  vir- 
tues. Again,  is  not  the  making  heaven  and  earth,  the  union  of  the 
Divine  and  human  nature,  eternity  and  infirmity,  to  make  a  virgin 
conceive  a  Son,  bear  the  Creator,  and  bring  fortli  the  Eedeeraer,  to 
form  the  blood  of  God  of  the  flesh  of  a  virgin,  a  greater  work  than 
the  calling  together  and  uniting  the  scattered  parts  of  our  bodies, 
which  are  all  of  one  nature  and  matter  ?  And  since  the  power  of 
God  is  manifested  in  pardoning  innumerable  sins,  is  not  the  scatter- 
ing our  transgressions,  as  far  as  the  east  is  from  the  west,  as  the  ex- 
pression is,  Ps.  ciii.  12,  and  casting  such  numbers  into  the  depths  of 
the  sea,  which  is  God's  power  over  himself,  a  greater  argument  of 

'  Liiigeud.  Tom.  III.  pp.  779,  780. 


92  CHARNOCK  ON  THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

miglit  than  tlie  recalling  and  repairing  the  atoms  of  our  bodies  from 
their  various  receptacles  ?  It  is  not  hard  for  them  to  believe  this 
of  the  resurrection,  that  have  been  sensible  of  the  weight  and  force 
of  their  sins,  and  the  power  of  God  in  pardoning  and  vanquishing 
that  mighty  resistance  which  was  made  in  their  hearts  against  the 
power  of  his  renewing  and  sanctifying  grace.  The  consideration  of 
the  infinite  power  of  God  is  a  good  ground  of  the  belief  of  the  re- 
surrection. 

Instruct.  8.  Since  the  power  of  God  is  so  great  and  incomprehen- 
sible, how  strange  is  it  that  it  should  be  contemned  and  abused  by 
the  creatures  as  it  is !  The  power  of  God  is  beaten  down  by  some, 
outraged  by  others,  blasphemed  by  many,  under  their  sufferings. 
The  stripping  God  of  the  honor  of  his  creation,  and  the  glory  of  his 
preservation  of  the  world,  falls  under  this  charge:  thus  do  they 
that  deny  his  framing  the  world  alone,  or  thought  the  first  matter 
was  not  of  God's  creation,  and  such  as  fancied  an  evil  princijDle,  the 
author  of  all  evil,  as  God  is  the  author  of  all  good,  and  so  exempt 
from  the  power  of  God,  that  it  could  not  be  vanquished  by  him. 
These  things  have  formerly  found  defenders  in  the  world ;  but  they 
are,  in  themselves,  ridiculous  and  vain,  and  have  no  footing  in  com- 
mon reason,  and  are  not  worthy  of  debate  in  a  christian  auditory. 

In  general,  all  idolatry  in  the  world  did  arise  from  the  want  of  a 
due  notion  of  this  Infinite  Power.  The  heathen  thought  one  God 
Avas  not  suQicient  for  the  managing  all  thing-s  in  the  world,  and 
therefore  they  feigned  several  gods,  that  had  several  charges ;  as 
Ceres  presided  over  the  fruits  of  the  earth;  Esculajiius  over  the 
cure  of  distempers  ;  Mercury  for  merchandise  and  trade ;  Mars  for 
war  and  battles ;  Apollo  and  Minerva  for  learning  and  ingenious 
arts ;  and  Fortune  for  casual  things.  Whence  doth  the  other  sort 
of  idolatry,  the  adoring  our  bags  and  gold,  our  dependencies  on,  and 
trusting  in,  creatures  for  help  arise,  but  from  ignorance  of  God's 
power,  or  mean  and  slender  apprehensions  of  it  ?  First,  there  is  a 
contempt  of  it.     Secondly,  An  abuse  of  it. 

1.  It  is  contemned  in  every  sin,  especially  in  obstinacy  in  sin. 
All  sin  whatsoever  is  built  upon  some  false  notion  or  monstrous 
conception  of  one  or  other  of  God's  23erfections,  and  in  particular  of 
this.  It  includes  a  secret  and  lurking  imagination,  that  we  are  able 
to  grapple  with  Omnipotence,  and  enter  the  lists  with  Almightiness ; 
what  else  can  be  judged  of  the  apostle's  expression  (1  Cor.  x.  22), 
"Do  we  provoke  the  Lord  to  jealousy;'  are  we  stronger  than  he?" 
Do  we  think  we  have  an  arm  too  powerful  for  that  justice  we  pro- 
voke, and  can  repel  that  vengeance  we  exasperate  ?  Do  we  think 
we  are  an  even  match  for  God,  and  are  able  to  despoil  him  of  his 
Divinity  ?  To  despise  his  will,  violate  his  order,  practise  what  he 
forbids  with  a  severe  threatening,  and  pawns  his  power  to  make  it 
good,  is  to  pretend  to  have  an  arm  like  God,  and  be  able  to  thunder 
with  a  voice  equal  or  superior  to  him,  as  the  expression  is  (Job 
xl.  9).  All  security  in  sin  is  of  this  strain ;  when  men  are  not 
concerned  at  Divine  threatenings,  nor  staggered  in  their  sinful 
race,  they  intimate,  that  the  declarations  of  Divine  Power  are  but 
vain-glorious  boastings ;  that  God  is  not  so  strono-  and  able  as  he 


ON  THE   POWER   OF   GOD.  93 

reports  liimself  to  be  ;  and  therefore  they  will  venture  it,  and  dare 
him  to  try,  whether  the  strength  of  his  arm  be  as  forcible  as  the 
words  of  his  mouth  are  terrible  in  his  threats ;  this  is  to  believe 
themselves  Creators,  not  creatures.  We  magnify  God's  power  in 
our  wants,  and  debase  it  in  our  rebellions ;  as  though  Omnipotence 
were  only  able  to  supply  our  necessities,  and  unable  to  revenge 
the  injuries  we  offer  him. 

2.  This  power  is  contemned  in  distrust  of  God.  All  distrust  is 
founded  in  a  doubting  of  his  truth,  as  if  he  would  not  be  as  good  as 
his  word ;  or  of  his  omniscience,  as  if  he  had  not  a  memory  to  re- 
tain his  word ;  or  of  his  power,  as  if  he  could  not  be  as  great  as  his 
word.  We  measure  the  infinite  power  of  God  by  the  short  line  of 
our  understandings,  as  if  infinite  strength  were  bounded  within  the 
narrow  compass  of  our  finite  reason  ;  as  if  he  could  do  no  more 
than  we  were  able  to  do.  How  soon  did  those  Israelites  lose  the 
remembrance  of  God's  outstretched  arm,  when  they  uttered  that 
atheistical  speech  (Ps.  Ixxviii.  19),  "  Can  God  furnish  a  table  in  the 
wilderness  ?"  As  if  he  that  turned  the  dust  of  Egypt  into  lice,  for 
the  punishment  of  their  oppressors,  could  not  turn  the  dust  of  the  wil- 
derness into  corn,  for  the  support  of  their  bodies!  As  if  he  that 
had  miraculously  rebuked  the  Red  Sea,  for  their  safety,  could  not 
provide  bread,  tor  their  nourishment !  Though  they  had  seen  the 
Egyptians  with  lost  lives  in  the  morning,  in  the  same  place  where 
their  lives  had  been  miraculously  preserved  in  the  evening,  yet  they 
disgrace  that  experimental  power,  by  opposing  to  it  the  stature  of 
the  Anakims,  the  strength  of  their  cities,  and  the  height  of  their 
walls  (Numb.  xiii.  32).  And  (Numb.  xiv.  3).  "  Wherefore  hath 
the  Lord  brought  us  into  this  land  to  fall  by  the  sword  ?"  As  though 
the  giants  of  Canaan  were  too  strong  for  Him,  for  whom  they  had 
seen  the  armies  of  Egypt  too  weak.  How  did  they  contract  the 
almightiness  of  God  into  the  littleness  of  a  little  man,  as  if  he  must 
needs  sink  under  the  sword  of  a  Canaanite?  This  distrust  must 
arise  either  from  a  flat  atheism,  a  denial  of  the  being  of  God,  or  his 
government  of  the  world ;  or  unworthy  conceits  of  a  weakness  in 
him,  that  he  had  made  creatures  too  hard  for  himself;  that  he  were 
not  strong  enough  to  grapple  with  those  mighty  Anakims,  and 
give  them  the  possession  of  Canaan  against  so  great  a  force.  Dis- 
trust of  him  implies  either  that  he  was  always  destitute  of  power,  or 
that  his  power  is  exhausted  by  his  former  works,  or  that  it  is  limited, 
and  near  a  period  :  it  is  to  deny  him  to  be  the  Creator  that  moulded 
heaven  and  earth.  Why  should  we,  by  distrust,  jout  a  slight  upon 
that  power  which  he  hath  so  often  expressed,  and  which,  in  the 
minutest  works  of  his  hands,  surmount  the  force  of  the  sharpest 
understanding  ? 

3.  It  is  contemned  in  too  great  a  fear  of  man,  which  ariseth  from 
a  distrust  of  Divine  power.  Fear  of  man  is  a  crediting  the  might 
of  man  with  a  disrepute  of  the  arm  of  God,  it  takes  away  the  glory 
of  his  might,  and  renders  the  creature  stronger  than  God ;  and  God 
more  feeble  than  a  mortal ;  as  if  the  arm  of  man  were  a  rod  of  iron, 
and  the  arm  of  God  a  brittle  reed.  How  often  do  men  tremble  at 
the  threatenings  and  hcctorings  of  ruffians,  yet  will  stand  as  stakes 


94  CHAENOCK  ON  THE  ATTEIBUTES. 

against  tlie  precepts  and  threatenings  of  God,  as  thougli  lie  had  less 
power  to  preserve  us,  than  enemies  had  to  destroy  ?  With  what  dis- 
dain doth  God  speak  to  men  infected  with  this  humor  (Isa.  li.  12, 13)  ? 
"  Wlio  art  thou,  that  art  afraid  of  a  man  that  shall  die,  and  the 
Son  of  man  that  shall  be  made  as  grass ;  and  forgettest  the  Lord 
thy  Maker,  that  hath  stretched  forth  the  heavens,  and  laid  the  foun- 
dation of  the  earth ;  and  hast  feared  continually  every  day,  because 
of  the  fury  of  the  oppressor?"  To  fear  man  that  is  as  grass,  that 
cannot  think  a  thought  without  a  Divine  concourse,  that  cannot 
breathe,  but  by  a  Divine  power,  nor  touch  a  hair  without  license 
first  granted  from  heaven ;  this  is  forgetfulness,  and  consequently  a 
slight  of  that  Infinite  Power,  which  hath  been  manifested  in  found- 
ing the  earth  and  garnishing  the  heavens.  All  fear  of  man,  in  the 
way  of  our  duty,  doth  in  some  sort  thrust  out  the  remembrance, 
and  discredit  the  great  actions  of  the  Creator.  Would  not  a  mighty 
prince  think  it  a  disparagement  to  him,  if  his  servant  should  decline 
his  command  for  fear  of  one  of  his  subjects?  and  hath  not  the 
great  God  just  cause  to  think  himself  disgraced  by  us,  when  we  deny 
him  obedience  for  fear  of  a  creature :  as  though  he  had  but  an 
infant  ability  too  feeble  to  bear  us  out  in  duty,  and  incapable  to 
balance  the  strength  of  an  arm  of  flesh  ? 

4.  It  is  contemned  by  trusting  in  ourselves,  in  means,  in  man, 
more  than  in  God.  When  in  any  distress  we  will  try  every  creature 
refuge,  before  we  have  recourse  to  God ;  and  when  we  apply  our- 
selves to  him,  we  do  it  with  such  slight  and  perfunctory  frames, 
and  with  so  much  despondency,  as  if  we  despaired  either  of  his 
ability  or  will  to  help  us ;  and  implore  him  with  cooler  affections 
than  we  solicit  creatures :  or,  when  in  a  disease  we  depend  upon 
the  virtue  of  the  medicine,  the  ability  of  the  physician,  and  reflect 
not  upon  that  power  that  endued. the  medicine  with  that  virtue,  and 
supports  the  quality  in  it,  and  concure  to  the  operation  of  it.  When 
we  depend  upon  the  activity  of  the  means,  as  if  they  had  power 
originally  in  themselves,  and  not  derivatively  ;  and  do  not  eye  the 
power  of  God  animating  and  assisting  them.  We  cannot  expect  re- 
lief from  anything  with  a  neglect  of  God,  but  we  render  it  in  our 
thoughts  more  powerftd  than  God:  we  acknowledge  a  greater 
fulness  in  a  shallow  stream,  than  in  an  eternal  spring ;  we  do,  in 
effect,  depose  the  true  God,  and  create  to  ourselves  a  new  one  ;  we 
assert,  by  such  a  kind  of  acting,  the  creature,  if  not  superior,  yet 
equal  with  God,  and  independent  on  him.  When  we  trust  in  our 
own  strength,  without  begging  his  assistance  ;  or  boast  of  our  own 
strength,  without  acknowledging  his  concurrence,  as  the  Assyrian  ; 
"  By  the  strength  of  my  hand  have  I  done  this;  I  have  put  down 
the  inhabitants  like  a  vahant  man"  (Isa.  x.  13).  It  is,  as  if  the  axe 
should  boast  itself  against  him  that  hews  therewith,  and  thinks 
itself  more  mighty  than  the  arm  that  wields  it  (ver.  15),  when  we 
trust  in  others  more  than  in  God.  Thus  God  upbraids  those  by  the 
prophet,  that  sought  help  from  Egypt,  telling  them  (Isa.  xxxi.  3), 
"  The  Egyptians  were  men,  and  not  gods  ;  intimating,  that  by  their 
dependence  on  them,  they  rendered  them  gods  and  not  men,  and 
advanced  them  from  the  state  of  creatures  to  that  of  almighty 


ON  THE   POWER   OF  GOD.  95 

deities.  It  is  to  set  a  pile  of  dust,  a  heap  of  ashes,  above  Him  that 
created  and  preserves  tlie  world.  To  trust  in  a  creature,  is  to  make 
it  as  infinite  as  God ;  to  do  that  which  is  impossible  in  itself  to  be 
done.  God  himself  cannot  make  a  creature  infinite,  for  that  were 
to  make  him  God.  It  is  also  contemned  when  we  ascribe  what  we 
receive  to  the  power  of  instruments,  and  not  to  the  power  of  God. 
Men,  in  whatsoever  they  do  for  us,  are  but  the  tools  whereby  the 
Creator  works.  Is  it  not  a  disgrace  to  the  limner  to  admire  his 
pencil,  and  not  himself;  to  the  artificer,  to  admire  his  file  and  en- 
gines, and  not  his  power?  "It  is  not  I,"  saith  Paul,  "that  labor, 
but  the  grace,  the  efficacious  grace  of  God,  which  is  in  me."  What- 
soever good  we  do  is  from  him,  not  from  ourselves ;  to  ascribe  it  to 
ourselves,  or  to  instruments,  is  to  overlook  and  contemn  his  power. 

5.  Unbelief  of  the  gospel  is  a  contempt  and  disowning  Divine 
power.  This  perfection  hath  been  discovered  in  the  conception  of 
Christ,  the  union  of  the  two  natures,  his  resurrection  from  the  grave, 
the  restoration  of  the  world,  and  the  conversion  of  men,  more  than 
in  the  creation  of  the  world :  then  what  a  disgrace  is  unbelief  to  all 
that  power  that  so  severely  punished  the  Jews  for  the  rejecting  the 
gospel :  turned  so  many  nations  from  their  beloved  superstitions ; 
humbled  the  power  of  princes  and  the  wisdom  of  philosophers ; 
chased  devils  from  their  temples  by  the  weakness  of  fishermen; 
planted  the  standard  of  the  gospel  against  the  common  notions  and 
inveterate  customs  of  the  world !  What  a  disgrace  is  unbelief  to 
this  power  which  hath  preserved  Christianity  from  being  extinguish- 
ed by  the  force  of  men  and  devils,  and  kept  it  flourishing  in  the 
midst  of  sword,  fire,  and  executioners ;  that  hath  made  the  simplici- 
ty of  the  gospel  overpower  the  eloquence  of  orators,  and  multiplied 
it  from  the  ashes  of  martyrs,  when  it  was  destitute  of  all  human  as- 
sistances !  Not  heartily  to  believe  and  embrace  that  doctrine,  which 
hath  been  attended  with  such  marks  of  power,  is  a  high  reflection 
upon  this  Divine  perfection,  so  highly  manifested  in  the  first  publi- 
cation, propagation,  and  preservation  of  it. 

Secondly,  The  power  of  God  is  abused,  as  well  as  contemned.  1. 
When  we  make  use  of  it  to  justify  contradictions.  The  doctrine  of 
transubstantiation  is  an  abuse  of  this  power.  When  the  maintainers 
of  it  cannot  answer  the  absurdities  alleged  against  it,  they  have  re- 
course to  the  power  of  God.  It  implies  a  contradiction,  that  the 
same  body  should  be  on  earth  and  in  heaven  at  the  same  instant  of 
time  ;  that  it  should  be  at  the  right  hand  of  God,  and  in  the  mouth 
and  stomach  of  a  man  ;  that  it  should  be  a  body  of  flesh,  and  yet 
bread  to  the  eye  and  to  the  taste ;  that  it  should  be  visible  and  in- 
visible, a  glorious  body,  and  yet  gnawn  by  the  teeth  of  a  creature  ; 
that  it  should  be  multiplied  in  a  thousand  places,  and  yet  an  entire 
body  in  every  one,  where  there  is  no  member  to  be  seen,  no  flesh  to 
be  tasted ;  that  it  should  be  above  us  in  the  highest  heavens,  and 
yet  within  us  in  our  lower  bowels  ;  such  contracfictions  as  these  are 
an  abuse  of  the  power  of  God.  Again,  we  abuse  this  power  when 
we  believe  every  idle  story  that  is  reported,  because  God  is  able  to 
make  it  so  if  he  pleased.  We  may  as  well  believe  -^sop's  Fables  to 
be  true,  that  birds  spake,  and  beasts  reasoned,  because  the  power  of 


96  CHAENOCK  ON  THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

God  can  enable  sucli  creatures  to  such  acts.  God's  power  is  not  the 
rule  of  our  belief  of  a  thing  without  the  exercise  of  it  in  matter  of 
fact,  and  the  declaration  of  it  upon  sufficient  evidence. 

2.  The  power  of  God  is  abused  bj  presuming  on  it,  without  using 
the  means  he  hath  appointed.  When  men  sit  with  folded  arms,  and 
make  a  confidence  in  his  power  a  glorious  title  to  their  idleness  and 
disobedience,  thej  would  have  his  strength  do  all,  and  his  precept 
should  move  them  to  do  nothing  ;  this  is  a  trust  of  his  power  against 
his  command,  a  pretended  glorifying  his  jDOwer  with  a  slight  of  his 
sovereignty.  Though  God  be  almighty,  yet,  for  the  most  part,  he 
exerciseth  his  might  in  giving  life  and  success  to  second  causes  and 
lawful  endeavors.  When  we  stay  in  the  mouth  of  danger,  without 
any  call  ordering  us  to  continue,  and  against  a  door  of  providence 
opened  for  our  rescue,  and  sanctuary  ourselves  in  the  power  of  God 
without  any  promise,  without  any  providence  conducting  us ;  this 
is  not  to  glorify  the  Divine  might,  but  to  neglect  it,  in  neglecting  the 
means  which  his  power  affords  to  us  for  our  escape  ;  to  condemn  it 
to  our  humors,  to  work  miracles  for  us  according  to  our  wills,  and 
against  his  own.y  God  could  have  sent  a  worm  to  be  Herod's  exe- 
cutioner when  he  sought  the  life  of  our  Saviour,  or  employed  an 
angel  from  heaven  to  have  tied  liis  hands  or  stopped  his  breath,  and 
not  put  Joseph  upon  a  flight  to  Egypt  with  our  Saviour ;  yet  had  it 
not  been  an  abuse  of  the  power  of  God,  for  Joseph  to  have  neglected 
the  precept,  and  slighted  the  means  God  gave  him  for  the  preserving 
his  own  life  and  that  of  the  child's  ?  Christ  himself,  when  the  Jews 
consulted  to  destroy  him,  presumed  not  upon  the  power  of  God  to 
secure  him,  but  used  ordinary  means  for  his  preservation,  by  walking 
no  more  openly,  but  retiring  himself  into  a  city  near  the  wilderness 
till  the  hour  was  come,  and  the  call  of  his  Father  manifest"  (John 
xi.  53,  54).  A  rash  running  upon  danger,  though  for  the  truth  it- 
self, is  a  presuming  upon,  and  consequently  an  abuse  of,  this  power ; 
a  proud  challenging  it  to  serve  our  turns  against  the  authority  of  his 
will,  and  the  force  of  his  precept ;  a  not  resting  in  his  ordinate 
power,  but  demanding  his  absolute  power  to  pleasure  our  follies  and 
presumptions  ;  concluding  and  expecting  more  from  it  than  what  is 
authorized  by  his  will. 

Instruct.  9.  If  infinite  power  be  a  peculiar  property  of  God,  how 
miserable  will  all  wicked  rebels  be  under  this  power  of  God  !  Men 
may  break  his  laws,  but  not  impair  his  arm ;  they  may  slight  his 
word,  but  cannot  resist  his  power.  If  he  swear  that  he  will  sweep  a 
place  with  the  besom  of  destruction,  "as  he  hath  thought,  so  shall 
it  come  to  pass ;  and  as  he  hath  purposed,  so  shall  it  stand,"  (Isa. 
xiv.  23,  24).  Rebels  against  an  earthly  prince  may  exceed  him  in 
strength,  and  be  more  powerful  than  their  sovereign ;  none  can  equal 
God,  much  less  exceed  him.  As  none  can  exercise  an  act  of  hostility 
against  him  without  his  permissive  will,  so  none  can  struggle  from 
under  his  hand  without  his  positive  will.  He  hath  an  arm  not  to  be 
moved,  a  hand  not  to  be  wrung  aside.  God  is  represented  on  his 
throne  like  a  "jasper  stone"  (Rev.  iv.  3),  as  one  of  invincible  power 
when  he  comes  to  judge  ;  the  jasper  is  a  stone  which  withstands  the 

y  Harwood,  p.  13. 


ON  THE   POWER  OF  GOD,  97 

greatest  force.  ^  Though  men  resist  the  order  of  his  laws,  they  can- 
not the  sentence  of  their  punishment,  nor  the  execution  of  it.  None 
can  any  more  exempt  themselves  from  the  arm  of  his  strength,  than 
they  can  from  the  authority  of  his  dominion.  As  they  must  bow 
to  his  sovereignty,  so  must  they  sink  under  his  force.  A  prisoner 
in  this  world  may  make  his  escape,  but  a  prisoner  in  the  world .  to 
come  cannot  (Job  x,  7).  "  There  is  none  that  can  deliver  out  of 
thine  hand."  There  is  none  to  deliver  when  he  tears  in  pieces"  (Ps. 
1.  22).  His  strength  is  uncontrollable  ;  hence  his  throne  his  repre- 
sented as  a  "  fiery  flame"  (Dan.  vii.  9).  As  a  spark  of  fire  hath 
power  to  kindle  one  thing  after  another,  and  increase  till  it  consumes 
a  forest,  a  city,  swallow  up  all  combustible  matter  till  it  consumes  a 
world,  and  many  worlds,  if  they  were  in  being,  what  power  hath  the 
tree  to  resist  the  fire,  though  it  seems  mighty,  when  it  outbraves  the 
winds  ?  What,  man,  to  this  day,  hath  been  able  to  free  himself  from 
that  chain  of  death  God  clapped  upon  him  for  his  revolt  ?  And  if 
he  be  too  feeble  to  rescue  himself  from  a  temporal,  much  less  from 
an  eternal  death.  The  devils  have,  to  this  minute,  groaned  under  the 
pile  of  wrath,  without  any  success  in  delivering  themselves  by  all 
their  strength,  which  much  surmounts  all  the  strength  of  mankind, 
nor  have  they  any  hopes  to  work  their  rescue  to  eternity.  How 
foolish  is  every  sinner !  Can  we  poor  worms  strut  it  out  against  In- 
finite Power  ?  We  cannot  resist  the  meanest  creatures  when  God 
commissions  them,  and  puts  a  sword  into  their  hands.  They  will 
not,  no,  not  the  worms,  be  startled  at  the  glory  of  a  king,  when  they 
have  the  Creator's  warrant  to  be  his  executioners  (Acts  xii.  23). 
Who  can  withstand  him,  when  he  commands  the  waves  and  inun- 
dations of  the  sea  to  leap  over  the  shore ;  when  he  divides  the 
ground  in  earthquakes,  and  makes  it  gape  wide  to  swallow  the  in- 
habitants of  it ;  when  the  air  is  corrupted  to  breed  pestilences ; 
when  storms  and  showers,  unseasonably  falling,  putrify  the  fruits 
of  the  earth ;  what  created  power  can  mend  the  matter,  and,  with 
a  prevailing  voice,  say  to  him,  What  dost  thou?  There  are  two 
attributes  God  will  make  glister  in  hell  to  the  full ;  his  wrath 
and  his  power  (Rom.  ix.  22) :  "  What  if  God,  Avilling  to  show 
his  wrath,  and  to  make  his  power  known,  endured  with  much 
long  suffering  the  vessels  of  wrath  fitted  for  destruction  ?"  If  it 
were  mere  wrath,  and  no  power  to  second  it,  it  were  not  so  ter- 
rible ;  but  it  is  wrath  and  power :  both  are  joined  together.  It 
is  not  only  a  sharp  sword,  but  a  powerful  arm ;  and  not  only 
that,  for  then  it  were  well  for  the  damned  creature.  To  have 
many  sharp  blows,  and  from  a  strong  arm,  this  may  be  without 
putting  forth  the  highest  strength  a  man  hath ;  but  in  this  God 
makes  it  his  design  to  make  his  power  known  and  conspicuous  ;  he 
takes  the  sword,  as  it  were,  in  both  hands,  that  he  may  show  the 
strength  of  his  arm  in  striking  the  harder  blow  ;  and  therefore  the 
apostles  calls  it  (2  Thess.  i.  9)  "  the  glory  of  his  power,"  which  puts 
a  sting  into  his  wrath ;  and  it  is  called  (Rev.  xix.  15)  "  the  fierce- 
ness of  the  wrath  of  the  Almighty."  God  will  do  it  in  such  a  man- 
ner as  to  make  men  sensible  of  his  almightiness  in  every  stroke. 

»  Grot,  in  loc, 
VOL.  II, — 7 


98  CHARNOCK   ON   THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

How  great  must  that  vengeance  be,  that  is  backed  by  all  tbe  strength 
of  God  !  When  there  will  be  a  powerful  wrath,  without  a  powerful 
compassion ;  when  all  his  power  shall  be  exercised  in  punishing,  and 
not  the  least  mite  of  it  exercised  in  pitying ;  how  irresistible  will  be 
the  load  of  such  a  weighty  hand !  How  can  the  dust  of  the  bal- 
ance break  the  mighty  bars,  or  get  out  of  the  lists  of  a  powerful 
vengeance,  or  hope  for  any  grain  of  comfort  ?  O,  that  every  obsti- 
nate sinner  would  think  of  this,  and  consider  his  unmeasurable  bold- 
ness in  thinking  himself  able  to  grapple  with  Omnipotence  !  What 
force  can  any  have  to  resist  the  presence  of  Him,  before  whom  rocks 
melt,  and  the  heavens,  at  length,  shall  be  shrivelled  up  as  a  parch- 
ment by  the  last  fire  !  As  the  light  of  God's  face  is  too  dazzling  to 
be  beheld  by  us,  so  the  arm  of  his  power  is  too  mighty  to  be  opposed 
by  us.  His  almightiness  is  above  the  reach  of  our  potsherd  strength, 
as  his  infiniteness  is  above  the  capacity  of  our  purblind  understand- 
ing. God  were  not  omnipotent,  if  his  power  could  be  rendered  in- 
effectual by  any. 

Use  II.  A  second  use  of  this  point,  from  the  consideration  of  the 
infinite  power  of  God,  is  of  comfort.  As  Omnipotence  is  an  ocean 
that  cannot  be  fathomed,  so  the  comforts  from  it  are  streams  that 
cannot  be  exhausted.  What  joy  can  be  wanting  to  him  that  finds 
himself  folded  in  the  arms  of  Omnipotence?  This  perfection  is 
made  over  to  believers  in  the  covenant,  as  well  as  any  other  attri- 
bute ;  "  I  am  the  Lord,  your  God  ;"  therefore,  that  power,  which  is 
as  essential  to  the  Godhead  as  any  other  perfection  of  his  nature,  is, 
in  the  rights  and  extent  of  it,  assured  unto  you.  Nay,  may  we  not 
say,  it  is  made  over  more  than  any  other,  because  it  is  that  which 
animates  every  other  perfection ;  and  is  the  Spirit  that  gives  them 
motion  and  appearance  in  the  world.  If  God  had  expressed  himself 
in  particular,  as,  "  I  am  a  true  God,  a  wise  God,  a  loving  God,  a 
righteous  God,  I  am  yours ;"  what  would  all,  or  any  of  those,  have 
signified,  unless  the  other  also  had  been  implied,  as,  "I  am  an  al- 
mighty God,  I  am  your  God  ?"  In  God's  making  over  himself  in 
any  particular  attribute,  this  of  his  power  is  included  in  every  one, 
without  which,  all  his  other  grants  would  be  insignificant.  It  is  a 
comfort  that  power  is  in  the  hands  of  God ;  it  can  never  be  better 
placed,  for  he  can  never  use  his  power  to  injure  his  confiding  crea- 
ture; if  it  were  in  our  own  hands,  we  might  use  it  to  injure  our- 
selves. It  is  a  power  in  the  hands  of  an  indulgent  Father,  not  a 
hard-hearted  tyrant ;  it  is  a  just  power;  "  His  right  hand  is  fall  of 
righteousness"  (Ps.  xlviii.  10) ;  because  of  his  righteousness  he  can 
never  use  it  ill,  and  because  of  his  wisdom  he  can  never  use  it  un- 
seasonably. Men  that  have  strength,  often  misplace  the  actings  of 
it,  because  of  their  folly ;  and  sometimes  employ  it  to  base  ends,  be- 
cause of  their  wickedness ;  but  this  power  in  God  is  always  awakened 
by  goodness,  and  conducted  by  wisdom ;  it  is  never  exercised  by 
self-will  and  passion,  but  according  to  the  immutable  rule  of  his  own 
nature,  which  is  righteousness.  How  comfortable  is  it  to  think,  that 
you  have  a  God  that  can  do  what  he  pleases ;  nothing  so  difficult  but 
he  can  effect,  nothing  so  strong  but  he  can  overrule !  You  need 
not  dread  men,  since  you  have  One  to  restrain  them ;  nor  fear  devils, 


ON  THE   POWER   OP   GOD.  99 

since  you  have  One  to  chain  them ;  no  creature  but  is  acted  by  this 
power;  no  creature  but  must  fall  upon  the  withdrawing  of  this 
power.  It  was  not  all  laid  out  in  creation  ;  it  is  not  weakened  by  his 
preservation  of  things ;  he  yet  hath  a  fullness  of  power,  and  a  residue 
of  Spirit ;  for  whom  should  that  eternal  arm  of  the  Lord  be  displayed, 
and  that  incomprehensible  thunder  of  his  power  be  shot  out,  but  for 
those  for  whose  sake  and  for  whose  comfort  it  is  revealed  in  his  word  ? 
In  particular, 

1.  Here  is  comfort  in  all  afflictions  and  distresses.  Our  evils  can 
never  Be  so  great  to  oppress  us,  as  his  power  is  great  to  deliver  us. 
The  same  power  that  brought  a  world  out  of  a  chaos,  and  constitu- 
ted, and  hath  hitherto  preserved,  the  regular  motion  of  the  stars,  can 
bring  order  out  of  our  confusions,  and  light  out  of  our  darkness. 
When  our  Saviour  was  in  the  greatest  distress,  and  beheld  the  face 
of  his  Father  frowning,  while  he  was  upon  the  cross,  in  his  complaint 
to  him,  he  exerciseth  faith  upon  his  power  (Matt,  xxvii.  46) :  "  Eli, 
Eli :  My  God,  my  God,  why  hast  thou  forsaken  me  ?"  that  this,  My 
strong,  my  strong;  El,  is  a  name  of  power,  belonging  to  God;  he 
comforts  himself  in  his  power,  while  he  complains  of  his  frowns. 
Follow  his  pattern,  and  forget  not  that  power  that  can  scatter  the 
clouds,  as  well  as  gather  them  together.  The  Psalmist's  support  in 
his  distress,  was  in  the  creative  power  of  God  (Ps.  cxxi.  2) :  "  My 
help  comes  from  the  Lord,  which  made  heaven  and  earth." 

2.  It  is  comfort  in  all  strong  and  stirring  corruptions  and  mighty 
temptations.  It  is  by  this  we  may  arm  ourselves,  and  "  be  strong  in 
the  power  of  his  might"  (Eph.  vi,  10) ;  by  this  we  may  conquer  prin- 
cipalities and  powers,  as  dreadful  as  hell,  but  not  so  mighty  as  heaven ; 
by  this  we  may  triumph  over  lusts  within,  too  strong  for  an  arm  of 
flesh ;  by  this  the  devils  that  have  possessed  us  may  be  cast  out ;  the 
battered  walls  of  our  souls  may  be  repaired ;  and  the  sons  of  Anak 
laid  flat.  That  power  that  brought  light  out  of  darkness,  and  over- 
mastered the  deformity  of  the  chaos,  and  set  bounds  to  the  ocean, 
and  dried  up  the  Eed  Sea  by  a  rebuke,  can  quell  the  tumults  in  our 
spirits,  and  level  spiritual  Goliahs  by  his  word.  When  the  disciples 
heard  that  terrifying  speech  of  our  Saviour,  concerning  rich  men, 
that  it  was  "  easier  for  a  camel  to  go  through  the  eye  of  a  needle, 
than  for  a  rich  man  to  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God"  (Matt.  xix.  24), 
to  entertain  the  gospel,  which  commanded  self-denial ;  and  that,  be- 
cause of  the  allurements  of  the  world,  and  the  strong  habits  in  their 
soul ;  Christ  refers  them  to  the  power  of  God  (ver.  26),  who  could 
expel  those  ill  habits,  and  plant  good  ones :  "  With  men  this  is  im- 
possible, but  with  God  all  things  are  possible."  There  is  no  resist- 
ance, but  he  can  surmount ;  no  strong-hold,  but  he  can  demolish ;  no 
tower,  but  he  can  level. 

3.  It  is  comfort  from  hence,  that  all  promises  shall  be  performed. 
Goodness  is  sufficient  to  make  a  promise,  but  power  is  necessary  to 
perform  a  promise.  Men  that  are  honest,  cannot  often  make  good 
their  words,  because  something  may  intervene  that  may  shorten 
their  ability :  but  nothing  can  disable  God,  without  diminishing  his 
godhead.  He  hath  an  infiniteness  of  power  to  accomplish  his  word, 
as  well  as  an  infiniteness  of  goodness  to  make  and  utter  his  word. 


100  CHARNOCK   ON  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

That  might  whereby  he  made  heaven  and  earth,  and  his  keeping 
truth  forever,  are  joined  together  (Ps.  cxlvi.  5,  6) ;  his  Father's  ftiith- 
fulness,  and  his  creative  power  are  Hnked  together.  It  is  upon  this 
basis  the  covenant,  and  every  part  of  it,  is  established,  and  stands 
as  firm  as  the  al mightiness  of  God,  whereby  he  sprung  up  the  earth, 
and  reared  the  heavens.  "  No  power  can  resist  his  will"  (Rom.  ix. 
19) ;  "  Who  can  disannul  his  purpose,  and  turn  back  his  hand  when 
it  is  stretched  out"  (Isa.  xiv.  27)?  His  word  is  unalterable,  and  his 
power  is  invincible.  He  could  not  deceive  himself,  for  he  knew  his 
own  strength  when  he  promised :  no  unexpected  event  can  "change 
his  resolution,  because  nothing  can  happen  without  the  compass  of 
his  foresight.  No  created  strength  can  stop  him  in  his  action,  be- 
cause all  creatures  are  ready  to  serve  him  at  his  command ;  not  the 
devils  in  hell,  nor  all  the  wicked  men  on  earth,  since  he  hath  strength 
to  restrain  them,  and  an  arm  to  punish  them.  What  can  be  too  hard 
for  Him  that  created  heaven  and  earth  ?  Hence  it  was,  that  when 
God  promised  anything  anciently  to  his  people,  he  used  often  the 
name  of  the  Almighty,  the  Lord  that  created  heaven  and  earth,  as 
that  which  was  an  undeniable  answer  to  any  objection,  against  any- 
thing that  might  be  made  against  the  greatness  and  stupendousness 
of  any  promise ;  by  that  name,  in  all  his  works  of  grace,  was  he 
known  to  them  (Exod.  vi.  3).  AYhen  we  are  sure  of  his  will,  we 
need  not  question  his  strength,  since  he  never  over-engaged  himself 
above  his  ability.  He  that  could  not  be  resisted  by  anything  in  cre- 
ation, nor  vanquished  by  devils  in  redemption,  can  never  want 
power  to  glorify  his  faithfalness  in  his  accomplishment  of  whatsoever 
he  hath  promised. 

4.  From  this  infiniteness  of  power  in  God,  we  have  ground  of  as- 
surance for  perseverance.  Since  conversion  is  resembled  to  the  work? 
of  creation  and  resurrection,  two  great  marks  of  his  strength,  he  doth 
not  surely  employ  himself  in  the  first  of  changing  the  heart,  to  let 
any  created  strength  baffle  that  power  which  he  began  and  intends 
to  glorify.  It  was  this  might  that  struck  off  the  chain,  and  expelled 
that  strong  one  that  possessed  you.  What,  if  you  are  too  weak  to 
keep  him  out  of  his  lost  possession,  will  God  lose  the  glory  of  his 
first  strength,  by  suffering  his  foiled  adversary  to  make  a  re-entry, 
and  regain  his  former  usurpation  ?  His  out-stretched  arm  will  not  do 
less  by  his  spiritual,  than  it  did  by  his  national  Israel :  it  guarded 
them  all  the  way  to  Canaan,  and  left  them  not  to  shift  for  themselves 
after  he  had  struck  off  the  fetters  of  Egypt,  and  buried  their  enemies 
in  the  Red  Sea  (Deut.  i.  31).  This  greatness  of  the  Father,  above 
all,  our  Saviour  makes  the  ground  of  believers'  continuance  forever, 
against  the  blasts  of  hell  and  engines  of  the  world  (John  x.  29).  "  My 
Father  is  greater  than  all,  and  none  is  able  to  pluck  them  out  of  my 
Father's  hands."  Our  keeping  is  not  in  our  own  weak  hands,  but  in 
the  hands  of  Him  who  is  mighty  to  save.  That  power  of  God  keeps  us 
which  intends  our  salvation.  In  all  fears  of  falling  away,  shelter 
yourselves  in  the  power  of  God :  "  He  shall  be  holden  up,"  saith  the 
apostle,  speaking  concerning  one  weak  in  faith ;  and  no  other  reason 
is  rendered  by  him  but  this,  "  For  God  is  able  to  make  him  to  stand" 
(Rom.  xiv.  4). 


ON  THE   POWER  OF  GOD,  101 

5.  From  this  attribute  of  tlie  infinite  power  of  God,  we  liave  a 
ground  of  comfort  in  the  lowest  estate  of  the  church.  Let  the  state 
of  the  church  be  never  so  deplorable,  the  condition  never  so  desper- 
ate, that  Power  that  created  the  world,  and  shall  raise  the  bodies  of 
men,  can  create  a  happy  state  for  the  church,  and  raise  her  from  an 
overwhelming  grave ;  though  the  enemies  trample  upon  her,  they 
cannot  upon  the  arm  that  holds  her,  which  by  the  least  motion  of  it, 
can  lift  her  up  above  tlie  heads  of  her  adversaries,  and  make  them 
feel  the  thunder  of  that  Power  that  none  can  understand :  by  the 
"  blast  of  God  they  perish,  and  by  the  breath  of  his  nostrils  they  are 
consumed"  (Job  iv.  9) ;  they  "  shall  be  scattered  as  chaff  before  the 
wind."  If  once  he  "  draw  his  hand  out  of  his  bosom,"  all  must  fly 
before  him,  or  sink  under  him  (Ps.  Ixxiv,  11) :  and  when  there  is 
"  none  to  help,  his  own  arm  sustains  him,  and  brings  salvation,  and 
his  fury  doth  uphold  him"  (Isa.  Ixiii.  5).  What  if  the  church  totter 
under  the  underminings  of  hell  ?  What  if  it  hath  a  sad  heart  and 
wet  eyes  ?  In  what  a  little  moment  can  he  make  the  night  turn  into 
day,  and  make  the  Jews,  that  were  preparing  for  death  in  Shushan, 
triumph  over  the  necks  of  their  enemies,  and  march  in  one  hour  with 
swords  in  their  hands,  that  expected  the  last  hour  "ropes about  their 
necks  (Esth.  ix.  1,  6)  ?  If  Israel  be  pursued  by  Pharaoh,  the  sea 
shall  open  its  arms  to  protect  them :  if  they  be  thirsty,  a  rock  shall 
spout  out  water  to  refresh  them :  if  they  be  hungry,  heaven  shall  be 
their  granary  for  manna :  if  Jerusalem  be  besieged,  and  hath  not  force 
enough  to  encounter  Sennacherib,  an  angel  shall  turn  the  camp  into 
an  Aceldema,  a  field  of  blood.  His  people  shall  not  want  deliver- 
ances, till  God  want  a  power  of  working  miracles  for  their  security : 
he  is  more  jealous  of  his  power,  than  the  church  can  be  of  her  safety. 
And  if  we  should  want  other  arguments  to  press  him,  we  may  im- 
plore him  by  virtue  of  his  power :  for  when  there  is  nothing  in  the 
church  as  a  motive  to  him  to  save  it,  there  is  enough  in  his  own 
name,  and  "  the  illustration  of  his  power"  (Ps.  cvi.  8).  Who  can 
grapple  with  the  omnipotency  of  that  God,  who  is  jealous  of,  and 
zealous  for,  the  honor  of  it?  And  therefore  God,  for  the  most  part, 
takes  such  opportunities  to  deliver,  wherein  his  almightiness  may  be 
most  conspicuous,  and  his  counsels  most  admirable.  He  awakened 
not  himself  to  deliver  Israel,  till  they  were  upon  the  brink  of  the 
Red  Sea ;  nor  to  rescue  the  three  children,  till  they  were  in  the  fiery 
furnace ;  nor  Daniel,  till  he  was  in  the  lion's  den.  It  is  in  the  weak- 
ness of  his  creature  that  his  strength  is  perfected,  not  in  a  way  of  ad- 
dition of  perfectness  to  it,  but  in  a  way  of  manifestation  of  the  per- 
fection of  it ;  as  it  is  the  perfection  of  the  sun  to  shine  and  enlighten 
the  world,  not  that  the  sun  receives  an  increase  of  light  by  the  dart- 
ing of  his  beams,  but  discovers  his  glory  to  the  admiration  of  men, 
and  pleasure  of  the  world.  If  it  were  not  for  such  occasions,  the 
world  would  not  regard  the  mightiness  of  God,  nor  know  what  power 
were  in  him.  It  traverses  the  stage  in  its  fulness  and  liveliness  upon 
such  occasions,  when  the  enemies  are  strong,  and  their  strength  edged 
with  an  intense  hatred,  and  but  little  time  between  tlie  contrivance 
and  execution.  It  is  a  great  comfort  that  the  lowest  distresses  of  the 
church  are  a  fit  scene  for  the  discovery  of  this  attribute,  and  that  the 


102  CHARNOCK   ON   TUE   ATTEIBUTES. 

glorj  of  God's  omnipotence,  and  the  cliurch's  security,  are  so  straitly 
linked  together.  It  is  a  promise  that  will  never  be  forgotten  by 
God,  and  ought  never  to  be  forgotten  by  us,  that  "  in  this  mountain 
the  hand  of  the  Lord  shall  rest"  (Isa.  xxv.  10)  ;  that  isj  the  power  of 
the  Lord  shall  abide;  and  Moab  "  shall  be  trodden  under  him,  even 
as  straw  is  trodden  down  for  the  dunghill."  And  the  "  plagues  of 
Babylon  shall  come  in  one  day,  death,  and  mourning,  and  famine ; 
for  strong  is  the  Lord  who  judgeth  her"  (Rev.  xviii.  8). 

Use  III.  The  third  use  is  for  exhortation. 

1.  Meditate  on  this  power  of  God,  and  press  it  often  upon  your 
minds.  We  conclude  many  things  of  God  that  we  do  not  practically 
suck  the  comfort  of,  for  want  of  deep  thoughts  of  it,  and  frequent  in- 
spection into  it.  We  believe  God  to  be  true,  yet  distrust  him ;  we 
acknowledge  him  powerful,  yet  fear  the  motion  of  every  straw. 
Many  truths,  though  assented  to  in  our  understandings,  are  kept 
under  hatches  by  corrupt  affections,  and  have  not  their  due  influ- 
ence, because  they  are  not  brought  forth  into  the  open  air  of  our 
souls  by  meditation.  If  we  will  but  search  our  hearts,  we  shall  find 
it  is  the  power  of  God  we  often  doubt  of  When  the  heart  of  Ahaz 
and  his  subjects  trembled  at  the  combination  of  the  Syrian  and  Isra- 
elitish  kings  against  him,  for  want  of  a  confidence  in  the  power  of 
God,  God  sends  his  prophet  with  commission  to  work  a  miraculous 
sign  at  his  own  choice,  to  rear  up  his  fainting  heart ;  and  when  he 
refused  to  ask  a  sign  out  of  diffidence  of  that  almighty  Power,  the 
prophet  complains  of  it  as  an  affront  to  his  Master  (Isa.  vii.  12,  13). 
Moses,  so  great  a  friend  of  God,  was  overtaken  with  this  kind  of  un- 
belief, after  all  the  experiments  of  God's  miraculous  acts  in  Egypt ; 
the  answer  God  gives  him  manifests  this  to  be  at  the  core :  "Is  the 
Lord's  hand  waxed  short"  (Numb.  xi.  23)  ?  For  want  of  actuated 
thoughts  of  this,  we  are  many  times  turned  from  our  known  duty  by 
the  blast  of  a  creature ;  as  though  man  had  more  power  to  dismay 
us,  than  God  hath  to  support  us  in  his  commanded  way.  The  be- 
lief of  God's  power  is  one  of  the  first  steps  to  all  religion ;  without 
settled  thoughts  of  it,  we  cannot  pray  lively  and  believingly  for  the 
obtaining  the  mercies  we  want,  or  the  averting  the  evils  we  fear ;  we 
should  not  love  him,  unless  we  are  persuaded  he  hath  a  power  to 
bless  us ;  nor  fear  him,  unless  we  were  persuaded  of  his  power  to 
punish  us.  The  frequent  thoughts  of  this  would  render  our  faith 
more  stable,  and  our  hopes  more  stedfast ;  it  would  make  us  more 
feeble  to  sin,  and  more  careful  to  obey.  When  the  virgin  staggered 
at  the  message  of  the  angel,  that  she  should  "  bear  a  Son,"  he,  in  his 
answer,  turns  her  to  the  creative  power  of  God  (Luke  i.  35),  "  The 
power  of  the  Highest  shall  overshadow  thee  ;"  which  seems  to  be  in 
allusion  to  the  Spirit's  moving  upon  the  face  of  the  deep,  and  bring- 
ing a  comely  world  out  of  a  confused  mass.  Is  it  harder  for  God  to 
make  a  virgin  conceive  a  Son  by  the  power  of  his  Spirit,  than  to 
make  a  world  ?  Why  doth  he  reveal  himself  so  often  under  the 
title  of  Almighty,  and  press  it  upon  us,  but  that  we  should  press  it 
upon  ourselves  ?  And  shall  we  be  forgetful  of  that  which  every 
thing  about  us,  everything  within  us,  is  a  mark  of?  How  come  we 
by  a  power  of  seeing  and  hearing,  a  faculty,  and  act  of  understanding 


ON  THE   POWER  OF  GOD.  103 

and  will,  but  by  this  power  framing  us,  tliis  power  assisting  us  ? 
What  though  the  thunder  of  his  power  cannot  be  understood,  no 
more  can  any  other  perfection  of  his  nature ;  shall  we,  therefore, 
seldom  think  of  it  ?  The  sea  cannot  be  fathomed,  yet  the  merchant 
excuseth  not  himself  from  sailing  upon  the  surface  of  it.  We  can- 
not glorify  God  without  due  consideration  of  this  attribute  ;  for  his 
power  is  his  glory  as  much  as  any  other,  and  called  both  by  the 
name  of  glory  (Rom,  vi.  4),  speaking  of  Christ's  resurrection  by  the 
glory  of  the  Father  ;  and  also  "  the  riches  of  his  glory"  (Eph.  iii.  16). 
Those  that  have  strong  temptations  in  their  course  and  over-pressing 
corruptions  in  their  hearts,  have  need  to  think  of  it  out  of  interest, 
since  nothing  but  this  can  relieve  them.  Those  that  have  experi- 
mented the  working  of  it  in  their  new  creation,  are  obliged  to  think 
of  it  out  of  gratitude.  It  was  this  mighty  power  over  himself  that 
gave  rise  to  all  that  pardoning  grace  already  conferred,  or  hereafter 
expected  ;  without  it  our  souls  had  been  consumed,  the  world  over- 
turned ;  we  could  not  have  expected  a  happy  heaven,  but  have  lain 
yelling  in  an  eternal  hell,  had  not  the  power  of  his  mercy  exceeded 
that  of  his  justice,  and  his  infinite  power  executed  what  his  infinite 
wisdom  had  contrived  for  our  redemption.  How  much  also  should 
we  be  raised  in  our  admirations  of  God,  and  ravish  ourselves  in  con- 
templating that  might  that  can  raise  innumerable  worlds  in  those  in- 
finite imaginary  spaces  without  this  globe  of  heaven  and  earth,  and 
exceed  inconceivably  what  he  hath  done  in  the  creation  of  this  ? 

2.  From  the  pressing  the  consideration  of  this  upon  ourselves,  let 
us  be  induced  to  trust  God  upon  the  account  of  his  power.  The 
main  end  of  the  revelation  of  his  power  to  the  patriarchs,  and  of  the 
miraculous  operations  of  it  in  Egypt,  was  to  induce  them  to  an  entire 
reposing  themselves  in  God  :  and  the  Psalmist  doth  scarce  speak  of 
the  Divine  Omnipotence  without  making  this  inference  from  it ;  and 
scarce  exhorts  to  a  trust  in  God,  but  backs  it  with  a  consideration  of 
his  power  in  creation,  it  being  the  chief  support  of  the  soul  (Ps. 
cxlvi.  1) :  "  Happy  is  he  whose  hope  is  in  the  Lord  his  God,  which 
made  heaven  and  earth,  the  sea,  and  all  that  therein  is."  That 
Power  is  invincible  that  drew  the  world  out  of  nothing  :  nothing  can 
happen  to  us  harder  than  the  making  the  world  without  the  concur- 
rence of  instruments :  no  difl&culty  can  nonplus  that  strength,  that 
hath  drawn  all  things  out  of  nothing,  or  out  of  a  confused  matter 
next  to  nothing  :  no  power  can  rifle  what  we  commit  to  him  (2  Tim. 
i.  12).  He  is  all  power,  above  the  reach  of  all  power ;  all  other 
powers  in  the  world  flowing  from  him,  or  depending  on  him,  he  is 
worthy  to  be  trusted,  since  we  know  him  true,  without  ever  breaking 
his  word;  and  Omnipotent,  never  failing  of  his  purpose;  and  a  con- 
fidence in  it  is  the  chief  act  whereby  we  can  glorify  this  power,  and 
credit  his  arm.  A  strong  God,  and  a  weak  faith  in  omnipotence,  do 
not  suit  well  together.  Indeed,  we  are  more  engaged  to  a  trust  in 
Divine  power  than  the  ancient  patriarchs  were ;  they  had  the  verbal 
declaration  of  his  power,  and  many  of  them  little  other  evidence  of 
it,  than  in  the  creation  of  the  world ;  and  their  faith  in  God  being 
established  in  this  iirst  discovery  of  his  omnipotence,  drew  out  itself 
further  to  believe,  that  whatsoever  God  promised  by  his  word,  he 


104:  CHARNOCK   ON  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

was  able  to  perform,  as  well  as  the  creation  of  tlie  world  out  of 
nothing ;  which  seems  to  be  the  intendment  of  the  apostle  (Heb.  xi.  3) ; 
not  barely  to  speak  of  the  creation  of  the  world  by  God,  which  was 
a  thing  the  Hebrews  understood  well  enough  from  their  ancient 
oracles;  but  to  show  the  foundation  of  the  patriarch's  faith,  viz. 
God  making  the  world  by  his  "Word,  and  what  use  they  made  of  the 
discovery  of  his  power  in  that,  to  lead  them  to  believe  the  promise 
of  God  concerning  the  Seed  of  the  woman  to  be  brought  into  the 
world.  But  we  have  not  only  the  same  foundation,  but  superadded 
demonstrations  of  this  attribute  in  the  conception  of  our  Saviour,  the 
union  of  the  two  natures,  the  glorious  redemption,  the  propagation 
of  the  gospel,  and  the  new  creation  of  the  world.  They  relied  upon 
the  naked  power  of  God,  without  those  more  illustrious  appearances 
of  it,  which  have  been  in  the  ages  since,  and  arrived  to  their  notice ; 
we  have  the  wonderful  effects  of  that  which  they  had  but  obscure  ex- 
pectations of 

(1.)  Consider,  trust  in  God  can  never  be  without  taking  in  God's 
power  as  a  concurrent  foundation  with  his  truth.  It  is  the  main 
ground  of  trust,  and  so  set  forth  in  the  prophet  (Isa.  xxvi.  4) ; 
"  Trust  ye  in  the  Lord  for  ever,  for  in  the  Lord  Jehovah  is  everlast- 
ing strength."  And  the  faith  of  the  ancients  so  recommended  (Heb. 
xi),  had  this  chiefly  for  its  ground ;  and  the  faith  in  gospel  times  is 
called  a  "  trusting  on  his  arm"  (Isa.  li.  5.)  All  the  attributes  of  God 
are  the  objects  of  our  veneration,  but  they  do  not  equally  contribute 
to  the  producing  trust  in  our  hearts ;  his  eternity,  simplicity,  infinite- 
ness,  ravish  and  astonish  our  minds  when  we  consider  them ;  but 
there  is  no  immediate  tendency  in  their  nature  to  allure  us  to  a  con- 
fidence in  him,  no,  not  in  an  innocent  state,  much  less  in  a  lapsed 
and  revolted  condition :  but  the  other  jDerfections  of  his  nature,  as 
his  holiness,  righteousness,  mercy,  are  amiable  to  us  in  regard  of  the 
immediate  operations  of  them  upon  and  about  the  creature,  and  so 
have  something  in  their  own  nature  to  allure  us  to  repose  ourselves 
in  him  ;  but  yet  those  cannot  engage  to  an  entire  trust  in  him  with- 
out reflecting  upon  his  ability,  which  can  only  render  those  useful 
and  successful  to  the  creature.^  For  whatsoever  bars  stand  in  the 
way  of  his  holy,  righteous,  and  merciful  proceedings  towards  his 
creatures,  are  not  overmastered  by  those  perfections,  but  by  that 
strength  of  his  which  can  only  relieve  us  in  concurrence  with  the 
other  attributes.  How  could  his  mercy  succor  us  without  his  arm, 
or  his  wisdom  guide  us  without  his  hand,  or  his  truth  perform  pro- 
mises to  us  without  his  strength  ?  As  no  attribute  can  act  without 
it,  so  in  our  addresses  to  him  upon  the  account  of  an}^  particular 
perfection  in  the  Godhead  according  to  our  indigency,  our  eye  must 
be  perpetually  fixed  upon  this  of  his  power,  and  our  faith  would  be 
feeble  and  dispirited  without  eyeing  this :  without  this,  his  holiness, 
which  hates  sin,  would  not  be  regarded ;  and  his  mercy,  pitying  a 
grieving  sinner,  would  not  be  valued.  As  this  power  is  the  ground 
of  a  wicked  man's  fear,  so  it  is  the  ground  of  a  good  man's  trust. 
This  was  that  which  was  the  principal  support  of  Abraham,  not 
barely  his  promise,  but  his  ability  to  make  it  good  (Rom.  iv.  21) ; 

»  Amy  rant  Moral.  Tom.  V.  p.  170. 


ON  THE   POWER  OF  GOD.  105 

and  wlien  he  was  commanded  to  sacrifice  Isaac,  tlie  ability  of  God 
to  raise  him  up  again  (Heb.  xi.  19).  All  faith  would  droop,  and  be 
in  the  mire,  without  leaning  upon  this ;  all  those  attributes  which 
we  consider  as  moral  in  God,  would  have  no  influence  upon  us  with- 
out this,  which  we  consider  physically  in  God.  Though  we '  value 
the  kindness  men  may  express  to  us  in  our  distresses,  yet  we  make 
them  not  the  objects  of  our  confidence,  unless  they  have  an  ability 
to  act  what  they  express.  There  can  be  no  trust  in  God  without  an 
eye  to  his  power. 

(2.)  Sometimes  the  power  of  God  is  the  sole  object  of  trust.  As 
when  we  have  no  promise  to  assure  us  of  his  will,  we  have  nothing 
else  to  pitch  upon  but  his  ability  ;  and  that  not  his  absolute  jiower, 
but  his  ordinate,  in  the  way  of  his  providence ;  we  must  not  trust  in 
it  so  as  to  expect  he  should  please  our  humor  with  fresh  miracles, 
but  rest  upon  his  power,  and  leave  the  manner  to  his  will.  Asa, 
when  ready  to  conflict  with  the  vast  Ethiopian  army,  pleaded  noth- 
ing else  but  this  power  of  God  (2  Chron.  xiv.  11).  And  the  three 
children,  who  had  no  particular  promise  of  deliverance  (that  we 
read  of)  stuck  to  God's  ability  to  preserve  them  against  the  king's 
threatening,  and  owned  it  in  the  face  of  the  king,  yet  with  some 
kind  of  inward  intimations  in  their  own  spirits,  that  he  would  also 
deliver  them  (Dan.  iii.  17).  "Our  God,  whom  we  serve,  is  able  to 
deliver  us  from  the  burning  fiery  furnace."  And  accordingly  the 
fire  burnt  the  cords  that  tied  them,  Avithout  singeing  any  thing  else 
about  them.  But  when  this  power  hath  been  exercised  upon  like 
occasions,  it  is  a  precedent  he  hath  given  us  to  rest  upon.  Prece- 
dents in  law  are  good  pleas,  and  strong  encouragements  to  the  client 
to  expect  success  in  his  suit.  "  Our  fathers  trusted  in  thee,  and  thou 
didst  deliver  them,"  saith  David  (Ps.  xxii.  4).  And  Jehoshaphat, 
in  a  case  of  distress  (2  Chron.  xx.  7),  "  Art  not  thou  our  God,  that 
didst  drive  out  the  inhabitants  of  this  land  before  thy  people  Israel  ?" 
When  we  have  not  any  statute  law  and  promise  to  plead,  we  may 
plead  his  power,  together  with  the  former  precedents  and  act  of  it. 
The  centurion  had  nothing  else  to  act  his  faith  upon  but  the  power 
of  Christ,  and  some  evidences  of  it  in  the  miracles  reported  of  him ; 
but  he  is  silent  in  the  latter,  and  casts  himself  only  upon  the  former, 
acknowledging  that  Christ  had  the  same  command  over  diseases,  as 
himself  had  over  his  soldiers  (Matt.  viii.  10).  And  our  Saviour, 
when  he  receives  the  petition  of  the  blind  men,  requires  no  more  of 
them  in  order  to  a  cure,  but  a  belief  of  his  ability  to  perform  it 
(Matt.  ix.  28).  "  Believe  you  that  I  am  able  to  do  this  ?'  His  will  is 
not  known  but  by  revelation,  but  his  power  is  apprehended  by 
reason,  as  essentially  and  eternally  linked  with  the  notion  of  a  God. 
God  also  is  jealous  of  the  honor  of  this  attribute ;  and  since  it  is  so 
much  virtually  discredited,  he  is  pleased  when  any  do  cordially  own 
it,  and  entirely  resign  themselves  to  the  assistance  of  it.  Well,  then, 
in  all  duties  where  faith  is  particularly  to  be  acted,  forget  not  this  as 
the  main  prop  of  it :  do  you  pray  for  a  flourishing  and  triumphing 
grace?  Consider  him  "as  able  to  make  all  grace  to  abound  in 
you"  (2  Cor.  ix.  8).  Do  you  want  comfort  and  reviving  under  your 
contritions  and  godly  sorrow  ?  Consider  him,  as  he  declares  himself, 


106  CHARNOCK  ON  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

"tlie  liigli  and  lofty  One'  (Isa.  Ivii.  15).  Are  you  under  pressing 
distresses  ?  take  Elipliaz's  advice  to  Job,  when  lie  tells  him  what  lie 
liimself  would  do  if  lie  were  in  liis  case  (Job  v.  8),  "I  would  seek 
unto  God,  and  unto  God  would  I  commit  my  cause:"  but  observe 
under  what  consideration  (ver.  9)  as  to  one  "  that  doth  great  things, 
and  unsearchable ;  marvellous  things  without  number."  When  you 
beg  of  him  the  melting  your  rocky  hearts,  the  dashing  in  pieces  your 
strong  corruptions,  the  drawing  his  beautiful  image  in  your  soul, 
the  quickening  your  dead  hearts,  and  reviving  your  drooping  spirits, 
and  supplying  your  spiritual  wants,  consider  him  as  one  "  able  to 
do  abundantly,"  not  only  "  above  what  you  can  ask,"  but  "  above 
what  you  can  think"  (Eph.  iii.  20).  Faith  will  be  spiritless,  and 
prayer  will  be  liveless,  if  power  be  not  eyed  by  us  in  those  things 
which  cannot  be  done  without  an  arm  of  Omnipotence. 

3.  This  doctrine  teacheth  us  humility  and  submission.  The  vast 
disproportion  between  the  mightiness  of  God,  and  the  meanness  of 
a  creature,  inculcates  the  lesson  of  humility  in  his  presence.  How 
becoming  is  humility  under  a  mighty  hand  (1  Pet.  v.  6) !  What  is 
an  infant  in  a  giant's  hand,  or  a  lamb  in  a  lion's  paw  ?  Submission 
to  irresistible  power  is  the  best  policy,  and  the  best  security ;  this 
gratifies  and  draws  out  goodness,  whereas  murmuring  and  resistance 
exasperates  and  sharpens  power.  We  sanctify  his  name,  and  glorify 
his  strength,  by  falling  down  before  it;  it  is  an  acknowledgment  of 
his  invisible  strength,  and  our  inability  to  match  it.  How  low 
should  we  therefore  lie  before  him,  against  whose  power  our  pride 
and  murmuring  can  do  no  good,  who  can  out-wrestle  us  in  our  con- 
tests, and  alway  overcome  when  he  j  udges  (Rom.  iii.  4) ! 

4.  This  doctrine  teacheth  us  not  to  fear  the  pride  and  force  of 
man.  How  unreasonable  is  it  to  fear  a  limited,  above  an  unbounded 
power !  How  unbecoming  is  the  fear  of  man  in  him,  who  hath  an 
interest  in  a  strength  able  to  curb  the  strongest  devils !  Who  would 
tremble  at  the  threats  of  a  dwarf,  that  hath  a  mighty  and  watchful 
giant  for  his  guard  ?  If  God  doth  but  arise,  his  enemies  are  scattered 
(Ps.  Ixviii.  1)  :  the  least  motion  makes  them  fly  before  him :  it  is  no 
difficult  thing  for  Him,  that  made  them  by  a  word,  to  unmake  their 
designs,  and  shiver  them  in  pieces  by  the  breath  of  his  mouth  :  "  He 
brings  princes  to  nothing,  and  makes  the  j  udges  of  the  earth  vanity ; 
they  wither  when  he  blows  upon  them,  and  their  stock  shall  not 
take  root  in  the  earth.  He  can  command  a  whirlwind  to  take  them 
away  as  stubble"  (Isa.  xl.  23,  24);  yea,  with  the  "shaking  of  his 
hand  he  makes  servants  to  become  rulers  of  those  that  were  their 
masters  (Zecli.  ii.  9).  Whole  nations  are  no  more  in  his  hands  than 
a  "  morning  cloud,'  or  the  "  dew  upon  the  ground,"  or  "  the  chaff 
before  the  wind,"  or  the  smoke  against  the  motion  of  the  air,  which, 
though  it  appear  out  of  a  chimney  like  a  black  invincible  cloud,  is 
quickly  dispersed,  and  becomes  invisible  (Hos.  xiii.  3).  How  incon- 
siderable are  the  most  mighty  to  this  strength,  which  can  puff  away 
a  whole  world  of  proud  grasshoppers,  and  a  whole  sky  of  daring 
clouds !  He  that  by  his  word  masters  the  rage  of  the  sea,  can  over- 
rule the  pride  and  power  of  men.  Where  is  the  fury  of  the  oppres- 
sor ?    It  cannot  overleap  the  bounds  he  hath  set  it,  nor  march  an  inch 


ON  THE   POWER   OF  GOD.  107 

beyond  the  point  lie  hatli  prescribed  it.  Fear  not  the  confederacies 
of  man,  but  "  sanctify  the  Lord  of  hosts ;  let  him  be  your  fear,  and 
let  him  be  your  dread"  (Isa.  viii.  18).  To  fear  men  is  to  dishonor 
the  name  of  God,  and  regard  him  as  a  feeble  Lord,  and  not  as  the 
Lord  of  hosts,  who  is  mighty  in  strength,  so  that  they  that  harden 
themselves  against  him  shall  not  prosper. 

6.  Therefore  this  doctrine  teacheth  us  the  fear  of  God.  The  pro- 
phet Jeremiah  counts  it  as  an  impossible  thing  for  men  to  be  desti- 
tute of  the  fear  of  God,  when  they  seriously  consider  his  name  to  be 
great  and  mighty  (Jer.  x.  6,  7) :  "  Thou  art  great,  and  thy  name  is 
great  in  might :  who  would  not  fear  thee,  O  thou  King  of  nations  ?" 
Shall  we  not  tremble  at  his  presence,  who  hath  placed  the  "  sand  for 
the  bound  of  the  sea  by  a  perpetual  decree  ;"  that  though  the  waves 
thereof  toss  themselves,  yet  they  cannot  prevail  (Jer.  v.  22).  He 
can  arm  the  weakest  creature  for  our  destruction,  and  disarm  the 
strongest  creatures  which  appear  for  our  preservation.  He  can  com- 
mand a  hair,  a  crumb,  a  kernel,  to  go  awry,  and  strangle  us.  He 
can  make  the  heavens  brass  over  our  head,  stop  close  the  bottles 
of  the  clouds,  and  make  the  fruit  of  the  fields  droop,  when  there  is  a 
small  distance  to  the  harvest;  he  can  arm  men's  wit,  wealth,  hands, 
against  themselves ;  he  can  turn  our  sweet  morsels  into  bitter,  and 
our  own  consciences  into  devouring  lions ;  he  can  root  up  cities  by 
moles,  and  conquer  the  proudest  by  lice  and  worms.  The  omnipo- 
tence of  God  is  not  only  the  object  of  a  believer's  trust,  but  a  be- 
liever's fear.  It  is  from  the  consideration  of  this  power  only,  that 
our  Saviour  presses  his  disciples,  whom  he  entitles  his  friends,  to  fear 
God ;  which  lesson  he  presses  by  a  double  repetition,  and  with  a 
kind  of  asseveration,  without  rendering  any  other  reason  than  this 
of  the  ability  of  God  to  cast  into  hell  (Luke  xii.  5).  We  are  to  fear 
Him  because  he  can  ;  but  bless  his  goodness  because  he  will  not.  In 
regard  of  his  omnipotence,  he  is  to  be  reverenced,  not  only  by  mor- 
tal men,  but  by  the  blessed  angels,  who  are  past  the  fear  of  any 
danger  by  his  power,  being  confirmed  in  a  happy  state  by  his  unal- 
terable grace  :  when  they  adore  him  for  his  holiness,  they  reverence 
him  for  his  power  with  covered  faces:  the  title  of  the  "Lord  of 
hosts"  is  joined  in  their  reverential  praise  with  that  of  his  holiness 
(Isa.  vi.  8),  "  Holy,  holy,  holy  is  the  Lord  of  hosts."  How  should 
we  adore  that  Power  which  can  preserve  us,  when  devils  and  men 
conspire  to  destroy  us !  How  should  we  stand  in  awe  of  that  Power 
which  can  destroy  us,  though  angels  and  men  should  combine  to 
preserve  us !  The  parts  of  his  ways  which  are  discovered,  are  suffi- 
cient motives  to  an  humble  and  reverential  adoration  :  but  who  can 
fear  and  adore  him  according  to  the  vastness  of  his  power,  and  his 
excellent  greatness,  since  "  the  thunder  of  his  power  who  can  under- 
stand ?" 


DISCOURSE    XL 
ON    THE    HOLINESS    OF    GOD. 

Exodus  XV.  11. — Who  is  like  unto  thee,  0  Lord,  among  tlie  gods?     Who  is  like  thee^ 
glorious  in  holiness,  fearful  in  praises,  doing  wonders  ? 

This  verse  is  one  of  tlie  loftiest  descriptions  of  the  majesty  and 
excellency  of  God  in  the  whole  Scripture. ''  It  is  a  part  of  Moses' 
'Enifiitioi'j  or  "  triumphant  song,"  after  a  great  and  real,  and  a  typical 
victory ;  in  the  womb  of  which  all  the  deliverances  of  the  church 
were  couched.  It  is  the  first  song  upon  holy  record,  and  it  consists 
of  gratulatory  and  prophetic  matter ;  it  casts  a  look  backward  to 
what  God  did  for  them  in  their  deliverance  from  Egypt ;  and  a  look 
forward  to  what  God  shall  do  for  the  church  in  future  ages.  That 
deliverance  was  but  a  rough  draught  of  something  more  excellent  to 
be  wrought  towards  the  closing  up  of  the  world  ;  when  his  plagues 
shall  be  poured  out  upon  the  anti-christian  powers,  which  should  re- 
vive the  same  song  of  Moses  in  the  church,  as  fitted  so  many  ages 
before  for  such  a  scene  of  affairs  (Rev.  xv.  2,  3).  It  is  observed, 
therefore,  that  many  words  in  this  song  are  put  in  the  future  tense, 
noting  a  time  to  come ;  and  the  very  first  word,  ver.  1,  "  Then  sang 
Moses  and  the  children  of  Israel  this  song  ;"  t't::"',  shall  sing  ;  imply- 
ing, that  it  was  composed  and  calculated  for  the  celebrating  some 
greater  action  of  God's,  which  was  to  be  wrought  in  the  world." 
Upon  this  account,  some  of  the  Jewish  rabbins,  from  the  considera- 
tion of  this  remark,  asserted  the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection  to  be 
meant  in  this  place ;  that  Moses  and  those  Israelites  should  rise 
again  to  sing  the  same  song,  for  some  greater  miracles  God  should 
work,  and  greater  triumphs  he  should  bring  forth,  exceeding  those 
wonders  at  their  deliverance  from  Egypt. 

It  consists  of,  1.  A  preface  (ver.  1);  "I  will  sing  unto  the  Lord."d 
2.  An  historical  narration  of  matter  of  fact  (ver.  3,  4),  "  Pharaoh's 
chariots  and  his  host  hath  he  cast  into  the  Red  Sea;"  which  he  solely 
ascribes  to  God  (ver.  6),  "  Thy  right  hand,  O  Lord,  is  become  glori- 
ous in  power :  thy  right  hand,  O  Lord,  hath  dashed  in  pieces  the 
enemy  ;"  which  he  doth  prophetically,  as  respecting  something  to  be 
done  in  after-times ;  or  further  for  the  completing  of  that  deliver- 
ance ;  or,  as  others  think,  respecting  their  entering  into  Canaan  ;  for 
the  words,  in  these  two  verses,  are  put  in  the  future  tense.  The  man- 
ner of  the  deliverance  is  described  (ver.  8) ;  "  The  floods  stood  up- 

''  Trap,  in  loc.  "  Manass.  bea  Israel,  de  Resurr.  lib.  1,  cap.  1,  p.  7. 

<>  Pareus  in  Exod,  xv. 


ON   THE   HOLINESS   OF   GOD.  109 

right  as  an  heap,  and  the  depths  were  congealed  in  the  heart  of  the  sea." 
In  the  9th  verse,  he  magnifies  the  victory  from  the  vain  glory  and  se- 
curity of  the  enemy;  "Tiie  enemy  said,  I  will  pursue,  I  will  overtake, 
I  will  divide  the  spoil,"  &c.  And  ver.  16, 17,  He  prophetically  describes 
the  fruit  of  this  victory,  in  the  influence  it  shall  have  upon  those  na- 
tions, by  whose  confines  they  were  to  travel  to  the  promised  land  ; 
"  Fear  and  dread  shall  fall  upon  them  ;  by  the  greatness  of  thy  arm 
they  shall  be  as  still  as  a  stone,  till  thy  people  pass  over  which  thou 
hast  purchased."  The  phrase  of  this  and  the  17th  and  18th  verses, 
seems  to  be  more  magnificent  than  to  design  only  the  bringing  the 
Israelites  to  the  earthly  Canaan  ;  but  seems  to  respect  the  gathering 
his  redeemed  ones  together,  to  place  them  in  the  spiritual  sanctuary 
which  he  had  established,  wherein  the  Lord  should  reign  forever 
and  ever,  without  any  enemies  to  disturb  his  royalty  ;  "  The  Lord 
shall  reign  forever  and  ever"  (ver.  18).  The  prophet,  in  the  midst  of 
his  historical  narrative,  seems  to  be  in  an  ecstasy,  and  breaks  out  in 
a  stately  exaltation  of  God  in  the  text. 

Who  is  like  unto  thee,  0  Lord,  among  the  gods?  &c.  Interrogations 
are,  in  Scripture,  the  strongest  affirmations  or  negations ;  it  is  here 
a  strong  affirmation  of  the  incomparableness  of  God,  and  a  strong 
denial  of  the  worthiness  of  all  creatures  to  be  partners  with  him  in 
the  degrees  of  his  excellency ;  it  is  a  preference  of  God  before  all 
creatures  in  holiness,  to  which  the  purity  of  creatures  is  but  a 
shadow  in  desert  of  reverence  and  veneration,  he  being  "  fearful  in 
praises,"  The  angels  cover  their  faces  when  they  adore  him  in  his 
particular  perfections. 

Amongst  the  gods.  Among  the  idols  of  the  nations,  say  some ; 
others  say,^  it  is  not  to  be  found  that  the  Heathen  idols  are  ever  dig- 
nified with  the  title  of  "  strong  or  mighty,"  as  the  word  translated ' 
gods,  doth  import ;  and  therefore  understand  it  of  the  angels,  or 
other  potentates  of  the  world  ;  or  rather  inclusively,  of  all  that  are 
noted  for,  or  can  lay  claim  to,  the  title  of  strength  and  might  upon 
the  earth  or  in  heaven.  God  is  so  great  and  majestic,  that  no  crea- 
ture can  share  with  him  in  his  praise. 

Fearfid  in  praises.  Various  are  the  interpretations  of  this  passage  : 
to  be  "  reverenced  in  praises ;"  his  praise  ought  to  be  celebrated 
with  a  religious  fear.  Fear  is  the  product  of  his  mercy  as  well  as 
his  justice  ;  "He  hath  forgiveness  that  he  may  be  feared"  (Ps.  cxxx. 
4).  Or,  "fearful  in  praises;"  whom  none  can  praise  without  amaze- 
ment at  the  considerations  of  his  works.  None  can  truly  praise  him 
without  being  affected  with  astonishment  at  his  greatness.^  Or, 
"  fearful  in  praises ;"  whom  no  mortal  can  sufficiently  praise, 
since  he  is  above  all  praise.s  Whatsoever  a  human  tongue  can 
speak,  or  an  angelical  understanding  think  of  the  excellency  of 
his  nature  and  the  greatness  of  his  works,  falls  short  of  the  vast- 
ness  of  the  Divine  perfection.  A  creature's  praises  of  God  are  as 
much  below  the  transcendent  cminency  of  God,  as  the  meanness 
of  a  creature's  being  is  below  the  eternal  fulness  of  the  Creator. 
Or,  rather,  "fearful,"  or  terrible,  "in  praises;"  that  is,  in  the 
matter  of  thy  praise :  and  the  learned  Eivet  concurs  with  me  in 
«  Rivet.  ''  Calvin.  e  Munster. 


110  CHAENOCK  ON  THE  ATTEIBUTES. 

tliis  sense.  The  works  of  God,  celebrated  in  this  song,  were  ter- 
rible ;  it  was  the  miraculous  overthrow  of  the  strength  and  flower 
of  a  mighty  nation ;  his  judgments  were  severe,  as  well  as  his 
mercy  was  seasonable.  The  word  n-iis  signifies  glorious  and  illus- 
trious, as  well  as  terrible  and  fearful.  No  man  can  hear  the  praise 
of  thy  name,  for  those  great  judicial  acts,  without  some  astonish- 
ment at  thy  justice,  the  stream,  and  thy  holiness,  the  spring  of  those 
mighty  works.  This  seems  to  be  the  sense  of  the  following  words, 
"  doing  wonders :"  fearful  in  the  matter  of  thy  praise ;  they  being 
wonders  which  thou  hast  done  among  us  and  for  us. 

Doing  wonders.  Congealing  the  waters  by  a  wind,  to  make  them 
stand  like  walls  for  the  rescue  of  the  Israelites  ;  and  melting  them  by 
a  wind,  for  the  overthrow  of  the  Egyptians,  are  prodigies  that  chal- 
lenge the  greatest  adorations  of  that  mercy  which  delivered  the  one, 
and  that  justice  which  punished  the  other;  and  of  the  arm  of  that 
power  whereby  he  effected  both  his  gracious  and  righteous  purposes. 

Whence  observe,  that  the  judgments  of  God  upon  his  enemies,  as 
well  as  his  mercies  to  his  people,  are  matters  of  praise.  The  perfec- 
tions of  God  appear  in  both.  Justice  and  mercy  are  so  linked  to- 
gether in  his  acts  of  providence,  that  the  one  cannot  be  forgotten 
whilst  the  other  is  acknowledged.  He  is  never  so  terrible  as  in  the 
assemblies  of  his  saints,  and  the  deliverance  of  them  (Ps.  Ixxxix.  7). 
As  the  creation  was  erected  by  him  for  his  glory ;  so  all  the  acts  of 
his  government  are  designed  for  the  same  end :  and  his  creatures 
deny  him  his  due,  if  they  acknowledge  not  his  excellency  in  what- 
soever dreadful,  as  well  as  pleasing  garbs,  it  appears  in  the  world. 
His  terror  as  well  as  his  righteousness  ajDpears,  when  he  is  a  God  of 
salvation  (Ps.  ]xv.  5).  "  By  terrible  things  in  righteousness  wilt  thou 
answer  us,  O  God  of  our  salvation."  But  the  expression  I  pitch 
upon  in  the  text  to  handle,  is  glorious  in  holiness.  He  is  magnified 
or  honorable  in  holiness ;  so  the  word  "iixa  is  translated  (Isa.  xlii. 
21).  "  He  will  magnify  the  law,  and  make  it  honorable."  Thy  holi- 
ness hath  shone  forth  admirably  in  this  last  exploit,  against  the  ene- 
mies and  oppressors  of  thy  people.  The  holiness  of  God  is  his  glory, 
as  his  grace  is  his  riches  :  holiness  is  his  crown,  and  his  mercy  is  his 
treasure.  This  is  the  blessedness  and  nobleness  of  his  nature ;  it 
renders  him  glorious  in  himself,  and  glorious  to  his  creatures,  that 
understand  any  thing  of  this  lovely  perfection.  Holiness  is  a  glori- 
ous perfection  belonging  to  the  nature  of  God.  Hence  he  is  in  Scrip- 
ture styled  often  the  Holy  One,  the  Holy  One  of  Jacob,  the  Holy 
One  of  Israel ;  and  oftener  entitled  Holy,  than  Almighty,  and  set 
forth  by  this  part  of  his  dignity  more  than  by  any  other.  This  is  more 
affixed  as  an  epithet  to  his  name  than  any  other :  you  never  find  it 
expressed.  His  mighty  name,  or  his  His  wise  name ;  but  His  great 
name,  and  most  of  all,  His  holy  name.  This  is  his  greatest  title  of 
honor;  in  this  doth  the  majesty  and  venerableness  of  his  name  ap- 
pear. "When  the  sinfulness  of  Sennacherib  is  aggravated,  the  Holy 
Ghost  takes  the  rise  from  this  attribute  (2  Kings  xix.  22).  "  Thou 
hast  lift  up  thine  eyes  on  high,  even  against  the  Holy  One  of  Israel ;" 
not  against  the  wise,  mighty,  &c.,  but  against  the  Holy  One  of 
Israel,  as  that  wherein  the  majesty  of  God  was  most  illustrious.     It 


ON   THE   HOLINESS   OF   GOD.  Ill 

is  "apon  this  account  he  is  called  light,  as  impurity  is  called  dark- 
ness ;  both  in  this  sense  are  opposed  to  one  another :  he  is  a  pure 
and  unmixed  light,  free  from  all  blemish  in  his  essence,  nature,  and 
operations. 

1.  Heathens  have  owned  it.  Proclus  calls  him,  the  undefiled  Go- 
vernor of  the  world.^i  The  poetical  transformations  of  their  false 
gods,  and  the  extravagancies  committed  by  them,  was — in  the  ac- 
count of  the  wisest  of  them — an  unholy  thing  to  report  and  hear.' 
And  some  vindicate  Epicurus  from  the  atheism  wherewith  he  was 
commonly  charged ;  that  he  did  not  deny  the  being  of  God,  but 
those  adulterous  and  contentious  deities  the  people  worshipped,  which 
were  practices  unworthy  and  unbecoming  the  nature  of  God.i^ 
Hence  they  asserted,  that  virtue  was  an  imitation  of  God,  and  a 
virtuous  man  bore  a  resemblance  to  God :  if  virtue  were  a  copy  from 
God,  a  greater  holiness  must  be  owned  in  the  original.  And  when 
some  of  them  were  at  a  loss  how  to  free  God  from  being  the  author 
of  sin  in  the  world,  they  ascribe  the  birth  of  sin  to  matter,  and  run 
into  an  absurd  opinion,  fancying  it  to  be  uncreated,  that  thereby  they 
might  exempt  God  from  all  mixture  of  evil ;  so  sacred  with  them 
was  the  conception  of  God,  as  a  Holy  God. 

2.  The  absurdest  heretics  have  owned  it.  The  Maniches  and 
Marchionites,  that  thought  evil  came  by  necessity,  yet  would  salve 
God's  being  the  author  of  it,  by  asserting  two  distinct  eternal  prin- 
ciples, one  the  original  of  evil,  as  God  was  the  fountain  of  good  :  so 
rooted  Avas  the  notion  of  this  Divine  purity,  that  none  would  ever 
slander  goodness  itself  with  that  which  was  so  disparaging  to  it.i 

3.  The  nature  of  God  cannot  rationally  be  conceived  without  it. 
Though  the  power  of  God  be  the  first  rational  conclusion,  drawn 
from  the  sight  of  his  works,  wisdom  the  next,  from  the  order  and 
connexion  of  his  works,  purity  must  result  from  the  beauty  of  his 
works  :  that  God  cannot  be  deformed  by  evil,  who  hath  made  every 
thing  so  beautiful  in  its  time.  The  notion  of  a  God  cannot  be  en- 
tertained without  separating  from  him  whatsoever  is  impure  and  be- 
spotting  both  in  his  essence  and  actions.  Though  we  conceive  him 
infinite  in  Majesty,  infinite  in  essence,  eternal  in  duration,  mighty  in 
power,  and  wise  and  imnmtable  in  his  counsels;  merciful  in  his 
proceedings  with  men,  and  whatsoever  other  perfections  may  dig- 
nify so  sovereign  a  Being,  yet  if  we  conceive  him  destitute  of  this 
excellent  perfection,  and  imagine  him  possessed  with  the  least  con- 
tagion of  evil,  we  make  him  but  an  infinite  monster,  and  sully  all 
those  perfections  we  ascribed  to  him  before  ;  we  rather  own  him  a 
devil  than  a  God.  It  is  a  contradiction  to  be  God  and  to  be  dark- 
ness, or  to  have  one  mote  of  darkness  mixed  with  his  light.  It  is  a 
less  injury  to  him  to  deny  his  being,  than  to  deny  the  purity  of  it; 
the  one  makes  him  no  god,  the  other  a  deformed,  unlovely,  and  a 
detestable  god.  Plutarch  said  not  amiss,  That  he  should  count  him- 
self less  injured  by  that  man,  that  should  deny  that  there  was  such  a 
man  as  Plutarch,  than  by  him  that  should  affirm  that  there  was  such 

•^  "kxpavTog  JiyEjiuv.  '  ov6'  aKovea'  uatov.    Ammon.  in  Plut.  de  'Ei  apud  Delphos, 

p.  393.  k  Gasseud.  Tom.  I,  Phys.  §  1,  Lb,  4,  cap.  2,  p.  289. 

»  Petav.  Theol  Dogmat.  Tom.  I.  lib.  6,  cap.  5,  p.  415. 


112  CHARNOCK  ON  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

a  one  indeed,  but  lie  was  a  debauched  fellow,  a  loose  and  vicious 
person.  It  is  a  less  wrong  to  God  to  discard  any  acknowledgments 
of  his  being,  and  to  count  him  nothing,  than  to  believe  him  to  exist, 
but  imagine  a  base  and  unholy  Deity  :  he  that  saith,  God  is  not  holy, 
speaks  much  worse  than  he  that  saith,  There  is  no  God  at  all.  Let 
these  two  things  be  considered. 

I.  If  any,  this  attribute  hath  an  excellency  above  his  other  perfec- 
tions. There  are  some  attributes  of  God  we  prefer,  because  of  our 
interest  in  them,  and  the  relation  they  bear  to  us :  as  we  esteem  his 
goodness  before  his  power,  and  his  mercy  whereby  he  relieves  us, 
before  his  justice  whereby  he  punishethus;  as  there  are  some  we 
more  deligtit  in,  because  of  the  goodness  we  receive  by  them ;  so  there 
are  some  that  God  delights  to  honor,  because  of  their  excellency. 

1.  None  is  sounded  out  so  loftily,  with  such  solemnity,  and  so 
frequently  by  angels  that  stand  before  his  throne,  as  this.  Where 
do  you  find  any  other  attribute  trebled  in  the  praises  of  it,  as  this 
(Isa.  vi.  3)  ?  "  Holy,  holy,  holy  is  the  Lord  of  hosts,  the  whole  earth 
is  full  of  his  glory ;"  and  (Rev.  iv.  8),  "The  four  beasts  rest  not  day 
and  night,  saying.  Holy,  holy,  holy.  Lord  God  Almighty,"  &c.  His 
power  or  sovreignty,  as  Lord  of  hosts,  is  but  once  mentioned,  but 
with  a  ternal  repetition  of  his  holiness.  Do  you  hear,  in  any  angeli- 
cal song,  any  other  perfection  of  the  Divine  Nature  thrice  repeated  ? 
Where  do  we  read  of  the  crying  out  Eternal,  eternal,  eternal ;  or. 
Faithful,  faithful,  faithful.  Lord  God  of  Hosts  ?  Whatsoever  other 
attribute  is  left  out,  this  God  would  have  to  fill  the  mouths  of  angels 
and  blessed  spirits  for  ever  in  heaven. 

2.  He  singles  it  out  to  swear  by  (Ps.  Ixxxix.  35) :  "  Once  have  I 
sworn  by  my  holiness,  that  I  will  not  lie  unto  David :"  and  (Amos 
iv.  2),  "  The  Lord  will  swear  by  his  holiness :"  he  twice  swears  by 
his  holiness ;  once  by  his  power  (Isa.  Ixii.  8) ;  once  by  all,  when  he 
swears  by  his  name  (Jer.  xliv.  26).  He  lays  here  his  holiness  to 
pledge  for  the  assurance  of  his  promise,  as  the  attribute  most  dear  to 
him,  most  valued  by  him,  as  though  no  other  could  give  an  assur- 
ance parallel  to  it  in  this  concern  of  an  everlasting  redemption  which 
is  there  spoken  of:  he  that  swears,  swears  by  a  greater  than  himself; 
God  having  no  greater  than  himself,  swears  by  himself:  and  swear- 
ing here  by  his  holiness,  seems  to  equal  that  single  one  to  all  his 
other  attributes,  as  if  he  were  more  concerned  in  the  honor  of  it, 
than  of  all  the  rest.  It  is  as  if  he  should  have  said.  Since  I  have  not 
a  more  excellent  perfection  to  swear  by,  than  that  of  my  holiness,  I 
lay  this  to  pawn  for  your  security,  and  bind  myself  by  that  which  I 
will  never  part  with,  were  it  possible  for  me  to  be  stripped  of  all  the 
rest.  It  is  a  tacit  imprecation  of  himself.  If  I  lie  unto  David,  let  me 
never  be  counted  holy,  or  thought  righteous  enough  to  be  trusted  by 
angels  or  men.     This  attribute  he  makes  most  of. 

3.  It  is  his  glory  and  beauty.  Holiness  is  the  honor  of  the  crea- 
ture ;  sanctification  and  honor  are  linked  together  (1  Thess.  iv,  4) ; 
much  more  is  it  the  honor  of  God ;  it  is  the  image  of  God  in  the 
creature  (Eph.  iv.  24).  When  we  take  the  picture  of  a  man,  we 
draw  the  most  beautiful  part,  the  face,  which  is  a  member  of  the 
greatest  excellency.    When  God  would  be  drawn  to  the  life,  as  much 


ON  THE   HOLINESS   OF   GOD.  113 

as  can  be,  in  tlie  spirit  of  his  creatures,  he  is  drawn  in  this  attribute, 
as  being  the  most  beautiful  perfection  of  God,  and  most  valuable 
with  him.  Power  is  his  hand  and  arm ;  omniscience,  his  eye ;  mercy, 
his  bowels ;  eternity,  his  duration ;  his  holiness  is  his  beauty  (2  Chron. 
XX.  21); — "  should  praise  the  beauty  of  holiness."  In  Ps.  xxvii.  4, 
David  desires  "to  behold  the  beauty  of  the  Lord,  and  inquire  in  his 
holy  temple;"  that  is,  the  holiness  of  God  manifested  in  his  hatred 
of  sin  in  the  daily  sacrifices.  Holiness  was  the  beauty  of  the  temple 
(Isa.  xlvi.  11);  holy  and  beautiful  house  are  joined  together;  much 
more  the  beauty  of  God  that  dwelt  in  the  sanctuary.  This  renders  him 
lovely  to  all  his  innocent  creatures,  though  formidable  to  the  guilty 
ones.  A  heathen  philosopher  could  call  it  the  beauty  of  the  Divine 
essence,  and  say,  that  God  was  not  so  happy  by  an  eternity  of  life, 
as  by  an  excellency  of  virtue.™  And  the  angels'  song  intimate  it  to 
be  his  glory  (Isa.  vi.  3);  "The  whole  earth  is  full  of  thy  glory;"  that 
is,  of  his  holiness  in  his  laws,  and  in  his  judgments  against  sin,  that 
being  the  attribute  applauded  by  them  before. 

4.  It  is  his  very  life.  So  it  is  called  (Eph.  iv.  18),  "  Alienated 
from  the  life  of  God,"  that  is,  from  the  holiness  of  God :  speaking  of 
the  opposite  to  it,  the  unclcanness  and  profaneness  of  the  Gentiles. 
We  are  only  alienated  from  that  which  we  are  bound  to  imitate ;  but 
this  is  the  perfection  alway  set  out  as  the  pattern  of  our  actions, 
"  Be  ye  holy,  as  I  am  holy;"  no  other  is  proposed  as  our  copy ;  alien- 
gtted  from  that  purity  of  God,  which  is  as  much  as  his  life,  without 
which  he  could  not  live.  If  he  were  stripped  of  this,  he  would  be  a 
dead  God,  more  than  by  the  want  of  any  other  perfection.  His 
swearing  by  it  intimates  as  much ;  he  swears  often  by  his  own  life ; 
"  As  I  live,  saith  the  Lord :"  so  he  swears  by  his  holiness,  as  if  it 
were  his  life,  and  more  his  life  than  any  other.  Let  me  not  live,  or 
let  me  not  be  holy,  are  all  one  in  his  oath.  His  Deity  could  not 
outlive  the  life  of  his  purity. 

II.  As  it  seems  to  challenge  an  excellency  above  all  his  other  per- 
fections, so  it  is  the  glory  of  all  the  rest.  As  it  is  the  glory  of  the  God- 
head, so  it  is  the  glory  of  every  perfection  in  the  Godhead,  As  his 
power  is  the  strength  of  them,  so  his  holiness  is  the  beauty  of  them. 
As  all  would  be  weak,  without  almightiness  to  back  them,  so  all 
would  be  uncomely  without  holiness  to  adorn  them.  Should  this  be 
sullied,  all  the  rest  would  lose  their  honor  and  their  comfortable 
efficacy :  as,  at  the  same  instant  that  the  sun  should  lose  its  light,  it 
would  lose  its  heat,  its  strength,  its  generative  and  quickening  virtue. 
As  sincerity  is  the  lustre  of  every  grace  in  a  Christian,  so  is  purity 
the  splendor  of  every  attribute  in  the  Godhead.  His  justice  is  a 
holy  justice ;  his  wisdom  a  holy  wisdom ;  his  arm  of  power  a  holy 
arm  (Ps.  xcviii.  1) ;  his  truth  or  promise  a  holy  promise  (Ps.  cv.  42). 
Holy  and  true  go  hand  in  hand  (Rev.  vi.  10).  His  name,  which 
signifies  all  his  attributes  in  conjunction,  is  holy  (Ps.  ciii.  1);  yea, 
he  is  "  righteous  in  all  his  ways,  and  holy  in  all  his  works"  (Ps.  cxlv. 
17):  it  is  the  rule  of  all  his  acts,  the  source  of  all  his  punishments. 
If  every  attribute  of  the  Deity  were  a  distinct  member,  purity  would 
be  the  form,  the  soul,  the  spirit  to  animate  them.     Without  it,  his 

"  Plutarch  Eugabiu.  dc  Pereuai  Phil.  lib.  6,  cap.  6. 


114  CHARNOCK  ON  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

patience  would  be  an  indulgence  to  sin,  his  mercy  a  fondness,  his 
wrath  a  madness,  his  j^ower  a  tyranny,  his  wisdom  an  unworthy 
subtilty.  It  is  this  gives  a  decorum  to  all.  His  mercy  is  not  ex- 
ercised without  it,  since  he  pardons  none  but  those  that  have  an 
interest,  by  union,  in  the  obedience  of  a  Mediator,  which  was  so 
delightful  to  his  infinite  purity.  His  justice,  which  guilty  man  is 
apt  to  tax  with  cruelty  and  violence  in  the  exercise  of  it,  is  not  acted 
out  of  the  compass  of  this  rule.  In  acts  of  man's  vindictive  justice 
there  is  something  of  impurity,  perturbation,  passion,  some  mixture 
of  cruelty ;  but  none  of  these  fall  upon  God  in  the  severest  acts  of 
wrath.  When  God  appears  to  Ezekiel,  in  the  resemblance  of  fire, 
to  signify  his  anger  against  the  house  of  Judah  for  their  idolatry, 
"  from  his  loins  downward"  there  was  "  the  appearance  of  fire ;"  but, 
from  the  loins  upward,  "the  appearance  of  brightness,  as  the  color  of 
amber"  (Ezek.  viii.  2).  His  heart  is  clear  in  his  most  terrible  acts 
of  vengeance ;  it  is  a  pure  flame,  wherewith  he  scorcheth  and  burns 
his  enemies :  he  is  holy  in  the  most  fiery  appearance.  This  attribute, 
therefore,  is  never  so  much  applauded,  as  when  his  sword  hath  been 
drawn,  and  he  hath  manifested  the  greatest  fierceness  against  his  ene- 
mies. The  magnificent  and  triumphant  expression  of  it  in  the  text, 
follows  just  upon  God's  miraculous  defeat  and  ruin  of  the  Egyptian 
army:  "The  sea  covered  them;  they  sank  as  lead  in  the  mighty 
waters:"  then  it  follows,  "  Who  is  like  unto  thee,  O  Lord,  glorious 
in  holiness  ?"  And  when  it  was  so  celebrated  by  the  seraphims  (Isa. 
vi.  3),  it  was  when  the  "posts  moved,  and  the  house  was  filled  with 
smoke"  (ver.  4),  which  are  signs  of  anger  (Ps.  xviii.  7,  8).  And 
when  he  was  about  to  send  Isaiah  upon  a  message  of  spiritual  and 
temporal  judgments,  that  he  would  make  the  "  heart  of  that  people 
fat,  and  their  ears  heavy,  and  their  eyes  shut ;  waste  their  cities  with- 
out inhabitant,  and  their  houses  without  man,  and  make  the  land 
desolate"  (ver.  9-12):  and  the  angels  which  here  applaud  him  for 
his  holiness,  are  the  executioners  of  his  justice,  and  here  called  sera- 
phims, from  burning  or  fiery  spirits,  as  being  the  ministers  of  his 
wrath.  His  justice  is  part  of  his  holiness,  whereby  he  doth  reduce 
into  order  those  things  that  are  out  of  order.  When  he  is  consuming 
men  by  his  fury,  he  doth  not  diminish,  but  manifest  purity  (Zeph. 
iii.  5) ;  "  The  just  Lord  is  in  the  midst  of  her ;  he  will  do  no  iniquity." 
Every  action  of  his  is  free  from  all  tincture  of  evil.  It  is  also  cele- 
brated with  praise,  by  the  four  beasts  about  his  throne,  when  he  ap- 
pears in  a  covenant  garb  with  a  rainbow  about  his  throne,  and  yet  with 
thunderings  and  lightnings  shot  against  his  enemies  (Rev.  iv.  8, 
compared  with  ver.  3,  5),  to  show  that  all  his  acts  of  mercy,  as  well 
as  justice,  are  clear  from  any  stain.  This  is  the  crown  of  all  his 
attributes,  the  life  of  all  his  decrees,  the  brightness  of  all  his  actions: 
nothing  is  decreed  by  him,  nothing  is  acted  by  him,  but  what  is 
worthy  of  the  dignity,  and  becoming  the  honor,  of  this  attribute. 

For  the  better  understanding  this  attribute,  observe,  I.  The  nature 
of  this  holiness.  II.  The  demonstration  of  it.  III.  The  purity  of 
his  nature  in  all  his  acts  about  sin.     IV.  The  use  of  all  to  ourselves. 

I.  The  nature  of  Divine  holiness  in  general.  The  holiness  of  God 
negatively^  is  a  perfect  and  unpolluted  freedom  from  all  evil.    As  we 


ON  THE   HOLINESS   OF   GOD.  115 

call  gold  pure  that  is  not  embased  by  any  dross,  and  that  garment 
clean  that  is  free  from  any  spot,  so  the  nature  of  God  is  estranged 
from  all  shadow  of  evil,  all  imaginable  contagion.  Positively,  It  is 
the  rectitude  or  integrity  of  the  Divine  nature,  or  that  conformity  of 
it,  in  affection  and  action,  to  the  Divine  will,  as  to  his  eternal  law, 
whereby  he  works  with  a  becomingness  to  his  own  excellency,  and 
whereby  he  hath  a  delight  and  complacency  in  everything  agreeable 
to  his  will,  and  an  abhorrency  of  everything  contrary  thereunto. 
As  there  is  no  darkness  in  his  understanding,  so  there  is  no  spot  in 
his  will :  as  his  mind  is  possessed  with  all  truth,  so  there  is  no  devia- 
tion in  his  will  from  it.  He  loves  all  truth  and  goodness ;  he  hates 
all  falsity  and  evil.  In  regard  of  his  righteousness,  he  loves  right- 
eousness (Ps.  xi.  7);  "  The  righteous  Lord  loveth  righteousness,"  and 
"  hath  no  pleasure  in  wickedness"  (Ps.  v.  4).  He  values  purity  in 
his  creatures,  and  detests  all  impurity,  whether  inward  or  outward. 
We  may,  indeed,  distinguish  the  holiness  of  God  from  his  righteous- 
ness in  our  conceptions :  holiness  is  a  perfection  absolutely  considered 
in  the  nature  of  God;  righteousness,  a  perfection,  as  referred  to 
others,  in  his  actions  towards  them  and  upon  them." 

In  particular,  this  property  of  the  Divine  nature  is,  1.  An  essential 
and  necessary  perfection  :  he  is  essentially  and  necessarily  holy.  It 
is  the  essential  glory  of  his  nature :  his  holiness  is  as  necessary  as  his 
being ;  as  necessary  as  his  omniscience :  as  he  cannot  but  know  what 
is  right,  so  he  cannot  but  do  what  is  just.  His  understanding  is  not 
as  created  understanding,  capable  of  ignorance  as  well  as  knowledge ; 
so  his  will  is  not  as  created  wills,  capable  of  unrighteousness,  as  well 
as  righteousness.  There  can  be  no  contradiction  or  contrariety  in 
the  Divine  nature,  to  know  what  is  right,  and  to  do  what  is  wrong ; 
if  so,  there  would  be  a  diminution  of  his  blessedness,  he  would  not 
be  a  God  alway  blessed,  "  blessed  forever,"  as  he  is  (Rom.  ix.  6). 
He  is  as  necessarily  holy,  as  he  is  necessarily  God ;  as  necessarily 
without  sin,  as  without  change.  As  he  was  God  from  eternity,  so  he 
was  holy  from  eternity.  He  was  gracious,  merciful,  just  in  his  own 
nature,  and  also  holy;  though  no  creature  had  been  framed  by  him 
to  exercise  his  grace,  mercy,  justice,  or  holiness  upon.o  If  God 
had  not  created  a  world,  he  had,  in  his  own  nature,  been  Almighty, 
and  able  to  create  a  world.  If  there  never  had  been  anything  but 
himself,  yet  he  had  been  omniscient,  knowing  everything  that  was 
within  the  verge  and  compass  of  his  infinite  power;  so  he  was  pure 
in  his  own  nature,  though  he  never  had  brought  forth  any  rational 
creature  whereby  to  manifest  this  purity.  These  perfections  are  so 
necessary,  that  the  nature  of  God  could  not  subsist  without  them. 
And  the  acts  of  those,  ad  intra,  or  within  himself,  are  necessary ;  for 
being  omniscient  in  nature,  there  must  be  an  act  of  knowledge  of 
himself  and  his  own  nature.  Being  infinitely  holy,  an  act  of  holiness 
in  infinitely  loving  himself,  must  necessarily  flow  from  this  perfec- 
tion.? As  the  Divine  will  cannot  but  be  perfect,  so  it  cannot  be 
wanting  to  render  the  highest  love  to  itself,  to  its  goodness,  to  the 
Divine  nature,  which  is  due  to  him.     Indeed,  the  acts  of  those,  ad 

"  Martin,  de  Deo,  p.  86.  •  Turretin.  de  Satisfact.  p.  28. 

P  Ochino,  Predic.  Part  III.  Bodic.  51,  pp.  347,  348. 


116  CHARNOCK  ON  THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

extra^  are  not  necessary,  but  upon  a  condition.  To  love  righteous- 
ness, without  himself,  or  to  detect  sin,  or  inflict  punishment  for  the 
committing  of  it,  could  not  have  been,  had  there  been  no  righteous 
creature  for  him  to  love,  no  sinning  creature  for  him  to  loathe,  and 
to  exercise  his  justice  upon,  as  the  object  of  punishment.  Some 
attributes  require  a  condition  to  make  the  acts  of  them  necessary ; 
as  it  is  at  God's  liberty,  whether  he  will  create  a  rational  creature, 
or  no ;  but  when  he  decrees  to  make  either  angel  or  man,  it  is  neces- 
sary, from  the  perfection  of  his  nature,  to  make  them  righteous.  It 
is  at  God's  liberty  whether  he  will  speak  to  man,  or  no ;  but  if  he 
doth,  it  is  impossible  for  him  to  speak  that  which  is  false,  because 
of  his  infinite  perfection  of  veracity.  It  is  at  his  liberty  whether  he 
will  permit  a  creature  to  sin ;  but  if  he  sees  good  to  suffer  it,  it  is  im- 
possible but  that  he  should  detest  that  creature  that  goes  cross  to  his 
righteous  nature.  His  holiness  is  not  solely  an  act  of  his  will,  for 
then  he  might  be  unholy  as  well  as  holy;  he  might  love  iniquity 
and  hate  righteousness ;  he  might  then  command  that  which  is  good, 
and  afterwards  command  that  which  is  bad  and  unworthy ;  for  what 
is  only  an  act  of  his  will,  and  not  belonging  to  his  nature,  is  indiffer- 
ent to  him.  As  the  positive  law  he  gave  to  Adam,  of  not  eating  the 
forbidden  fruit,  was  a  pure  act  of  his  will,  he  might  have  given  him 
liberty  to  eat  of  it,  if  he  had  pleased,  as  well  as  prohibited  him.  But 
what  is  moral  and  good  in  its  own  nature,  is  necessarily  willed  by  God, 
and  cannot  be  changed  by  him,  because  of  the  transcendent  eminency 
of  his  nature,  and  righteousness  of  his  will.  As  it  is  impossible  for 
God  to  command  his  creature  to  hate  him,  or  to  dispense  with  a 
creature  for  not  loving  him, — for  this  would  be  to  command  a  thing 
intrinsically  evil,  the  highest  ingratitude,  the  very  spirit  of  all  wick- 
edness, which  consists  in  the  hating  God, — yet,  though  God  be  thus 
necessarily  holy,  he  is  not  so  by  a  bare  and  simple  necessity,  as  the 
sun  shines,  or  the  fire  burns ;  but  by  a  free  necessity,  not  compelled 
thereunto,  but  inclined  from  the  fulness  of  the  perfection  of  his  own 
nature  and  will ;  so  as  by  no  means  he  can  be  unholy,  because  he 
will  not  be  unholy ;  it  is  against  his  nature  to  be  so, 

2.  God  is  only  absolutely  holy ;  "  There  is  none  holy  as  the 
Lord"  (1  Sam.  ii.  2) ;  it  is  the  peculiar  glory  of  his  nature ;  as 
there  is  none  good  but  God,  so  none  holy  but  God.  No  crea- 
ture can  be  essentially  holy,  because  mutable ;  holiness  is  the  sub- 
stance of  God,  but  a  quality  and  accident  in  a  creature.  God  is  in- 
finitely holy,  creatures  finitely  holy.  He  is  holy  from  himself,  crea- 
tures are  holy  by  derivation  from  him.  He  is  not  only  holy,  but 
holiness ;  holiness  in  the  highest  degree,  is  his  sole  prerogative.  As 
the  highest  heaven  is  called  the  heaven  of  heavens,  because  it  em- 
braceth  in  its  circle  all  the  heavens,  and  contains  the  magnitude  of 
them,  and  hath  a  greater  vastness  above  all  that  it  encloseth,  so  is 
God  the  Holy  of  holies  ;  he  contains  the  holiness  of  all  creatures  put 
together,  and  infinitely  more.  As  all  the  wisdom,  excellency,  and 
power  of  the  creatures  if  compared  with  the  wisdom,  excellency,  and 
power  of  God,  is  but  folly,  vileness,  and  weakness ;  so  the  highest 
created  purity,  if  set  in  parallel  with  God,  is  but  impurity  and  un- 
cleanness  (Eev.  xv.  4) :  "  Thou  only  art  holy."     It  is  like  the  light 


ON  THE  HOLINESS  OF  GOD.  117 

of  a  glow-worm  to  that  of  tlie  sun  (Job  xiii.  15) ;  "  The  heavens  are 
not  pure  in  his  sight,  and  his  angels  he  charged  with  folly"  (Job 
iv.  18).  Though  Grod  hath  crowned  the  angels  with  an  unspotted 
sanctity,  and  placed  them  in  a  habitation  of  glory,  yet,  as  illustrious 
as  they  are,  they  have  an  unworthiness  in  their  own  nature  to  ap- 
pear before  the  throne  of  so  holy  a  God ;  their  holiness  grows  dim 
and  pale  in  his  presence.  It  is  but  a  weak  shadow  of  that  Divine 
purity,  whose  light  is  so  glorious,  that  it  makes  them  cover  their 
faces  out  of  weakness  to  behold  it,  and  cover  their  feet  out  of  shame 
in  themselves.  They  are  not  pure  in  his  sight,  because,  though  they 
love  God  (which  is  a  principle  of  holiness)  as  much  as  they  can, 
yet,  not  so  much  as  he  deserves ;  they  love  him  with  the  intensest 
degree,  according  to  their  power ;  but  not  with  the  intensest  degree, 
according  to  his  own  amiableness ;  for  they  cannot  infinitely  love 
God,  unless  they  were  as  infinite  as  God,  and  had  an  understanding 
of  his  perfections  equal  with  himself,  and  as  immense  as  his  own 
knowledge.  God,  having  an  infinite  knowledge  of  himself,  can  only 
have  an  infinite  love  to  himself,  and,  consequently,  an  infinite  holi- 
ness without  any  defect ;  because  he  loves  himself  according  to  the 
vastness  of  his  own  amiableness,  which  no  finite  being  can.  There- 
fore, though  the  angels  be  exempt  from  corruption  and  soil,  they 
cannot  enter  into  comparison  with  the  purity  of  God,  without  ac- 
knowledgment of  a  dimness  in  themselves.  Besides,  he  charges 
them  with  folly,  and  puts  no  trust  in  them  ;  because  they  have  the 
power  of  sinning,  though  not  the  act  of  sinning ;  they  have  a  pos- 
sible folly  in  their  own  nature  to  be  charged  with.  Holiness  is  a 
quality  separable  from  them,  but  it  is  inseparable  from  God.  Had 
they  not  at  first  a  mutability  in  their  nature,  none  of  them  could 
have  sinned,  there  had  been  no  devils ;  but  because  some  of  them 
sinned,  the  rest  might  have  sinned.  And  though  the  standing 
angels  shall  never  be  changed,  jei  they  are  still  changeable  in  their 
own  nature,  and  their  standing  is  due  to  grace,  not  to  nature  ;  and 
though  they  shall  be  for  ever  preserved,  yet  they  are  not,  nor  ever 
can  be,  immutable  by  nature,  for  then  they  should  stand  upon  the 
same  bottom  with  God  himself;  but  they  are  supported  by  grace 
against  that  changeableness  of  nature  which  is  essential  to  a  crea- 
ture; the  Creator  only  hath  immortality,  that  is,  immutability 
(1  Tim.  iii.  16).  It  is  as  certain  a  truth,  that  no  creature  can  be 
naturally  immutable  and  impeccable,  as  that  God  cannot  create  any 
anything  actually  polluted  and  imperfect.  It  is  as  possible  that 
the  highest  creature  may  sin,  as  it  is  possible  that  it  may  be  anni- 
hilated ;  it  may  become  not  holy,  as  it  may  become  not  a  crea- 
ture, but  nothing.  The  holiness  of  a  creature  may  be  reduced 
into  nothing,  as  well  as  his  substance ;  but  the  holiness  of  the 
Creator  cannot  be  diminished,  dimmed,  or  overshadowed  (James  i. 
17):  "  He  is  the  Father  of  lights,  with  whom  is  no  variableness  or 
shadow  of  turning."  It  is  as  impossible  his  holiness  should  be 
blotted,  as  that  his  Deity  should  be  extinguished :  for  whatsoever 
creature  hath  essentially  such  or  such  qualities,  cannot  be  stripped 
of  them,  without  being  turned  out  of  its  essence.  As  a  man  is  es- 
sentially rational ;  and  if  he  ceaseth  to  be  rational,  he  ceaseth  to  be 


118  CHARNOCK  ON   THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

man.  The  suu  is  essentially  luminous ;  if  it  should  become  dark  in 
its  own  body,  it  would  cease  to  be  the  sun.  In  regard  to  this  abso- 
lute and  only  holiness  of  God,  it  is  thrice  repeated  by  the  seraphims 
(Isa.  vi.  3).  The  three-fold  repetition  of  a  word  notes  the  certainty 
or  absoluteness  of  the  thing,  or  the  irreversibleness  of  the  resolve  ; 
as  (Ezek.  xxi.  27),  "  I  will  overturn,  overturn,  overturn,"  notes  the 
certainty  of  the  judgment;  also,  (Rev.  viii.  8),  "  Woe,  woe,  woe;" 
three  times  repeated,  signifies  the  same.  The  holiness  of  God  is  so 
absolutely  peculiar  to  him,  that  it  can  no  more  be  exjDressed  in 
creatures,  than  his  omnipotence,  whereby  they  may  be  able  to  create 
a  world ;  or  his  omniscience,  whereby  they  may  be  capable  of  know- 
ing all  things,  and  knowing  God  as  he  knows  himself. 

3.  God  is  so  holy,  that  he  cannot  possibly  approve  of  any  evil  done 
by  another,  but  doth  perfectly  abhor  it;  it  would  not  else  be  a 
glorious  holiness  (Ps.  v.  3).  "  He  hath  no  pleasure  in  wickedness." 
He  doth  not  onl}^  love  that  which  is  just,  but  abhor,  with  a  perfect 
hatred,  all  things  contrary  to  the  rule  of  righteousness.  Holiness 
can  no  more  approve  of  sin  than  it  can  commit  it :  to  be  delighted 
with  the  evil  in  another's  act,  contracts  a  guilt,  as  well  as  the  com- 
mission of  it ;  for  approbation  of  a  thing  is  a  consent  to  it.  Some- 
times the  approbation  of  an  evil  in  another  is  a  more  grievous 
crime  than  the  act  itself,  as  aj^pears  in  Rom.  i.  32,  who  knowing 
the  judgment  of  God,  "not  only"  do  the  same,  but  have  pleasure  in 
them  that  do  it ;"  where  the  "  not  only"  manifests  it  to  be  a  greater  guilt 
to  take  pleasure  in  them.  Every  sin  is  aggravated  by  the  delight  in  it ; 
to  take  pleasure  in  the  evil  of  another's  action,  shows  a  more  ardent 
affection  and  love  to  sin,  than  the  committer  himself  may  have.  This, 
therefore,  can  as  little  fall  upon  God,  as  to  do  an  evil  act  himself ;  yet, 
as  a  man  may  be  delighted  with  the  consequences  of  another's  sin, 
as  it  may  occasion  some  public  good,  or  private  good  to  the  guilty 
person,  as  sometimes  it  may  be  an  occasion  of  his  repentance,  when 
the  horridness  of  a  fact  stares  him  in  the  face,  and  occasions  a  self- 
reflection  for  that,  and  other  crimes,  which  is  attended  with  an  in- 
dignation against  them,  and  sincere  remorse  for  them ;  so  God  is 
pleased  with  those  good  things  his  goodness  and  wisdom  bring  forth 
upon  the  occasion  of  sin.  But  in  regard  of  his  holiness,  he  cannot 
approve  of  the  evil,  whence  his  infinite  wisdom  drew  forth  his  own 
glor}^,  and  his  creature's  good.  His  pleasure  is  not  in  the  sinful  act 
of  the  creature,  but  in  the  act  of  his  own  goodness  and  skill,  turn- 
ing it  to  another  end  than  what  the  creature  aimed  at. 
.  (1.)  He  abhors  it  necessarily.  Holiness  is  the  glory  of  the  Deity, 
therefore  necessary.  The  nature  of  God  is  so  holy,  that  he  cannot 
but  hate  it  (Hab.  i.  13) :  "  Thou  art  of  purer  eyes  than  to  behold 
evil,  and  canst  not  look  on  iniquity :"  he  is  more  opposite  to  it  than 
light  to  darkness,  and,  therefore,  it  can  expect  no  coantenance  from 
him.  A  love  of  holiness  cannot  be  without  a  hatred  of  everything 
that  is  contrary  to  it.  As  God  necessarily  loves  himself,  so  he  must 
necessarily  hate  everything  that  is  against  himself :  and  as  he  loves 
himself  for  his  own  excellency  and  holiness,  he  must  necessarily  de- 
test whatsoever  is  repugnant  to  his  holiness,  because  of  the  evil  of 
it.     Since  he  is  infinitely  good,  he  cannot  but  love  goodness,  as  it  is 


ON  THE   HOLINESS  OF   GOD.  119 

a  resemblance  to  himself,  and  cannot  but  ablior  unrighteousness,  as  be- 
ing most  distant  from  him,  and  contrary  to  him.  If  he  have  any 
esteem  for  his  own  perfections,  he  must  needs  have  an  implacable 
aversion  to  all  that  is  so  repugnant  to  him,  that  would,  if  it  were 
possible,  destroy  him,  and  is  a  point  directed,  not  only  against  his 
glory,  but  against  his  life.  If  he  did  not  hate  it,  he  would  hate 
himself:  for  since  righteousness  is  his  image,  and  sin  would  deface 
his  image ;  if  he  did  not  love  his  image,  and  loathe  what  is  against 
his  image,  he  would  loathe  himself,  he  would  be  an  enemy  to  his 
own  nature.  Nay,  if  it  were  possible  for  him  to  love  it,  it  were 
possible  for  him  not  to  be  holy,  it  were  possible  then  for  him  to  deny 
himself,  and  will  that  he  were  no  God,  which  is  a  palpable  contra- 
diction.i  Yet  this  necessity  in  God  of  hating  sin,  is  not  a  brutish 
necessity,  such  as  is  in  mere  animals,  that  avoid,  by  a  natural  in- 
stinct, not  of  choice,  what  is  prejudicial  to  them ;  but  most  free,  as 
well  as  necessary,  arising  from  an  infinite  knowledge  of  his  own  na- 
ture, and  of  the  evil  nature  of  sin,  and  the  contrariety  of  it  to  his 
own  excellency,  and  the  order  of  his  works. 

(2.)  Therefore  intensely.  Nothing  do  men  act  for  more  than  their 
glory.  As  he  doth  infinitely,  and  therefore  perfectly  know  himself, 
so  he  infinitely,  and  therefore  perfectly  knows  what  is  contrary  to 
himself,  and,  as  according  to  the  manner  and  measure  of  his  knowl- 
edge of  himself,  is  his  love  to  himself,  as  infinite  as  his  knowledge, 
and  therefore  inexpressible  and  unconceivable  by  us :  so,  from  the 
perfection  of  his  knowledge  of  the  evil  of  sin,  which  is  infinitely 
above  what  any  creature  can  have,  doth  arise  a  displeasure  against 
it  suitable  to  that  knowledge.  In  creatures  the  degrees  of  affection 
to,  or  aversion  from  a  thing,  arc  suited  to  the  strength  of  their  ap- 
prehensions of  the  good  or  evil  in  them.  God  knows  not  only  the 
workers  of  wickedness,  but  the  wickedness  of  their  works  (Job  xi. 
11),  for  "  he  knows  vain  men,  he  sees  wickedness  also."  The  ve- 
hemency  of  this  hatred  is  expressed  variously  in  Scripture ;  he 
loathes  it  so,  that  he  is  impatient  of  beholding  it ;  the  very  sight  of  it 
affects  him  with  detestation  (Hab.  i.  13) ;  he  hates  the  first  spark  of 
it  in  the  imagination  (Zech.  viii.  17) ;  with  what  variety  of  expres- 
sions doth  he  repeat  his  indignation  at  their  polluted  services  (Amos 
V.  21,  22);  "I  hate,  I  detest,  I  despise,  I  will  not  smell,  I  will  not 
regard ;  take  away  from  me  the  noise  of  thy  songs,  I  will  not  hear !" 
So,  (Isa.  i.  14),  "  My  soul  hates,  they  are  a  trouble  to  me,  I  am 
weary  to  bear  them."  It  is  the  abominable  thing  that  he  hates  (Jer. 
xliv.  4) ;  he  is  vexed  and  fretted  at  it  (Isa.  Ixiii.  10  ;  Ezek.  xvi.  33). 
He  abhors  it  so,  that  his  hatred  redounds  upon  the  person  that  com- 
mits it.  (Ps.  V.  5),  "  He  hates  all  workers  of  iniquity."  Sin  is  the 
only  primary  object  of  his  displeasure  :  he  is  not  displeased  with  the 
nature  of  man  as  man,  for  that  was  derived  from  him ;  but  with  the 
nature  of  man  as  sinful,  which  is  from  the  sinner  himself.  When  a 
man  hath  but  one  object  for  the  exercise  of  all  his  anger,  it  is 
stronger  than  when  diverted  to  many  objects :  a  mighty  torrent, 
when  diverted  into  many  streams,  is  weaker  than  when  it  comes  in 
a  full  body  upon  one  place  only.     The  infinite  anger  and  hatred  of 

1  Turretiu.  de  Satisfact.  pp.  35,  86. 


120  CHAENOCK  ON  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

God,  whicli  is  as  infinite  as  his  love  and  mercy,  lias  no  other  object, 
against  which  he  directs  the  mighty  force  of  it,  but  only  unright 
eousness.  He  hates  no  person  for  all  the  penal  evils  upon  him,  though 
they  were  more  by  ten  thousand  times  than  Job  was  struck  with, 
but  only  for  his  sin.  Again,  sin  being  only  evil,  and  an  unmixed 
evil,  there  is  nothing  in  it  that  can  abate  the  detestation  of  God,  or 
balance  his  hatred  of  it;  there  is  not  the  least  grain  of  goodness  in 
it,  to  incline  him  to  the  least  affection  to  any  part  of  it.  This  ha- 
tred cannot  but  be  intense ;  for  as  the  more  any  creature  is  sancti- 
fied, the  more  is  he  advanced  in  the  abhorrence  of  that  which  is 
contrary  to  holiness ;  therefore,  God  being  the  highest,  most  absolute 
and  infinite  holiness,  doth  infinitely,  and  therefore  intensely,  hate 
unholiness ;  being  infinitely  righteous,  doth  infinitely  abhor  un- 
righteousness ;  being  infinitely  true,  doth  infinitely  abhor  falsity,  as 
it  is  the  greatest  and  most  deformed  evil.  As  it  is  from  the  right- 
eousness of  his  nature  that  he  hath  a  content  and  satisfaction  in 
righteousness  (Ps.  xi,  7),  "The  righteous  Lord  loveth  righteous- 
ness ;"  so  it  is  from  the  same  righteousness  of  his  nature,  that  he  de- 
tests whatso&ver  is  morally  evil :  as  his  nature  therefore  is  infinite, 
so  must  his  abhorrence  be. 

(3.)  Tlierefore  universally,  because  necessarily  and  intensely.  He 
doth  not  hate  it  in  one,  and  indulge  it  in  another,  but  loathes  it 
wherever  he  finds  it ;  not  one  worker  of  iniquity  is  exempt  from  it 
(Ps.  V.  5) :  "  Thou  hatest  all  workers  of  iniquity."  For  it  is  not 
sin,  as  in  this  or  that  person,  or  as  great  or  little  ;  but  sin,  as  sin  is 
the  object  of  his  hatred ;  and,  therefore,  let  the  person  be  never  so 
great,  and  have  particular  characters  of  his  image  upon  him,  it  se- 
cures him  not  from  God's  hatred  of  any  evil  action  he  shall  commit. 
He  is  a  jealous  God,  jealous  of  his  glory  (Exod.  xx.  5)  ;  a  metaphor, 
taken  from  jealous  husbands,  who  will  not  endure  the  least  adultery 
in  their  wives,  nor  God  the  least  defection  of  man  from  his  law. 
Every  act  of  sin  is  a  spiritual  adultery,  denying  God  to  be  the  chief 
good,  and  giving  that  prerogative  by  that  act  to  some  vile  thing. 
He  loves  it  no  more  in  his  own  people  than  he  doth  in  his  enemies ; 
he  frees  them  not  from  his  rod,  the  testimony  of  his  loathing  their 
crimes :  whosoever  sows  iniquity,  shall  reap  afliiction.  It  might  be 
thought  that  he  affected  their  dross,  if  he  did  not  refine  them,  and 
loved  their  filth,  if  he  did  not  cleanse  them  ;  because  of  his  detesta- 
tion of  their  sin,  he  will  not  spare  them  from  the  furnace,  though 
because  of  love  to  their  persons  in  Christ,  he  will  exempt  them  from 
Tophet.  How  did  the  sword  ever  and  anon  drop  down  upon  David's 
family,  after  his  unworthy  dealing  in  Uriah's  case,  and  cut  ofl"  ever 
and  anon  some  of  the  branches  of  it  ?  He  doth  sometimes  punish 
it  more  severely  in  this  life  in  his  own  people,  than  in  others.  Upon 
Jonah's  disobedience  a  storm  pm'sues  him,  and  a  whale  devours  him, 
while  the  profane  world  lived  in  their  lusts  without  control.  Moses, 
for  one  act  of  unbelief,  is  excluded  from  Canaan,  when  greater  sin- 
ners attained  that  happiness.  It  is  not  a  light  punishment,  but  a 
vengeance  he  takes  on  their  inventions  (Ps.  xcix,  8),  to  manifest  that 
he  hates  sin  as  sin,  and  not  because  the  worst  persons  commit  it. 
Perhaps,  had  a  profane  man  touched  the  ark,  the  hand  of  God  had 


ON  THE  HOLINESS  OF  GOD.  121 

not  so  suddenly  readied  him ;  but  when  Uzzah,  a  man  zealous  for 
him,  as  may  be  supposed  by  his  care  for  the  support  of  the  tottering 
ark,  would  step  out  of  his  place,  he  strikes  him  down  for  his  dis- 
obedient action,  by  the  side  of  the  ark,  which  he  would  indirectly 
(as  not  being  a  Levite)  sustain  (2  Sam.  vi.  7).  Nor  did  our  Saviour 
so  sharply  reprove  the  Pharisees,  and  turn  so  short  from  them  as  he 
did  from  Peter,  when  he  gave  a  carnal  advice,  and  contrary  to  that 
wherein  was  to  be  the  greatest  manifestation  of  God's  holiness,  viz. 
the  death  of  Christ  (Matt.  xvi.  23).  He  calls  him  Satan,  a  name 
sharper  than  the  title  of  the  devil's  children  wherewith  he  marked 
the  Pharisees,  and  given  (besides  him)  to  none  but  Judas,  who  made 
a  profession  of  love  to  him,  and  was  outwardly  ranked  in  the  num- 
ber of  his  disciples.  A  gardener  hates  a  weed  the  more  for  being 
in  the  bed  with  the  most  precious  flowers.  God's  hatred  is  univer- 
sally fixed  against  sin,  and  he  hates  it  as  much  in  those  whose  per- 
sons shall  not  fall  under  his  eternal  anger,  as  being  secured  in  the 
arms  of  a  Redeemer,  by  whom  the  guilt  is  wiped  off,  and  the  filth 
shall  be  totally  washed  away :  though  he  hates  their  sin,  and  cannot 
but  hate  it,  yet  he  loves  their  persons,  as  being  united  as  members 
to  the  Mediator  and  mystical  Head.  A  man  may  love  a  gangrened 
member,  because  it  is  a  member  of  his  own  body,  or  a  member  of  a 
dear  relation,  but  he  loathes  the  gangrene  in  it  more  than  in  those 
wherein  he  is  not  so  much  concerned.  Though  God's  hatred  of  be- 
lievers' persons  is  removed  by  faith  in  the  satisfactory  death  of  Jesus 
Christ,  yet  his  antipathy  against  sin  was  not  taken  away  by  that 
blood ;  nay,  it  was  impossible  it  should.  It  was  never  designed,  nor 
had  it  any  capacity  to  alter  the  unchangeable  nature  of  God,  but  to 
manifest  the  unspottedness  of  his  will,  and  his  eternal  aversion  to 
anything  that  was  contrary  to  the  purity  of  his  Being,  and  the 
righteousness  of  his  laws. 

(4.)  Perpetually :  this  must  necessarily  follow  upon  the  others. 
He' can  no  more  cease  to  hate  impurity  than  he  can  cease  to  love 
holmess :  if  he  should  in  the  least  instant  approve  of  anything  that 
is  filth}^,  in  that  moment  he  would  disapprove  of  his  own  nature  and 
being ;  there  would  be  an  interruption  in  his  love  of  himself,  which 
is  as  eternal  as  it  is  infinite.  How  can  he  love  any  sin  which  is  con- 
trary to  his  nature,  but  for  one  moment,  without  hating  his  own  na- 
ture, which  is  essentially  contrary  to  sin  ?  Two  contraries  cannot  be 
loved  at  the  same  time ;  God  must  first  begin  to  hate  himself  before 
he  can  approve  of  any  evil  which  is  directly  opposite  to  himself. 
We,  indeed,  are  changed  with  a  temptation,  sometimes  bear  an  affec- 
tion to  it,  and  sometimes  testify  an  indignation  against  it ;  but  God 
is  always  the  same  without  any  shadow  of  change,  and  "  is  angry 
with  the  wicked  every  day"  (Ps.  vii.  11),  that  is,  uninterruptedly  in 
the  nature  of  his  anger,  though  not  in  the  effects  of  it.  God  indeed 
may  be  reconciled  to  the  sinner,  but  never  to  the  sin ;  for  then  he 
should  renounce  himself,  deny  his  own  essence  and  his  own  divinity, 
if  his  inclinations  to  the  love  of  goodness,  and  his  aversion  from  evil, 
could  be  changed,  if  he  sufiered  the  contempt  of  the  one,  and  en- 
couraged the  practice  of  the  other. 

4.  God  is  so  holy,  that  he  cannot  but  love  holiness  in  others. 


122  CHARNOCK  ON  THE  ATTEIBUTES. 

Not  that  lie  owes  anything  to  liis  creature,  but  from  tlie  unspeakable 
holiness  of  his  nature,  whence  affections  to  all  things  that  bear  a  re- 
semblance of  him  do  flow ;  as  light  shoots  out  from  the  sun,  or  any 
glittering  body :  it  is  essential  to  the  infinite  righteousness  of  his  na- 
ture to  love  righteousness  wherever  he  beholds  it  (Ps.  xi.  7)  :  "  The 
righteous  Lord  loveth  righteousness,"  He  cannot,  because  of  his  na- 
ture, but  love  that  which  bears  some  agreement  with  his  nature,  that 
which  is  the  curious  draught  of  his  own  wisdom  and  purity  :  he  can- 
not but  be  delighted  with  a  copy  of  himself:  he  would  not  have  a 
holy  nature,  if  he  did  not  love  holiness  in  every  nature :  his  own 
nature  would  be  denied  by  him,  if  he  did  not  affect  everything  that 
had  a  stamp  of  his  own  nature  uj)on  it.  There  was  indeed  nothing 
without  God,  that  could  invite  him  to  manifest  such  goodness  to 
man,  as  he  did  in  creation :  but  after  he  had  stamped  that  rational 
nature  with  a  righteousness  convenient  for  it,  it  was  impossible  but 
that  he  should  ardently  love  that  impression  of  himself,  because  he 
loves  his  own  Deity,  and  consequently  all  things  which  are  any  sparks 
and  images  of  it :  and  were  the  devils  capable  of  an  act  of  righteous- 
ness, the  holiness  of  his  nature  would  incline  him  to  love  it,  even  in 
those  dark  and  revolted  spirits. 

5.  God  is  so  holy,  that  he  cannot  positively  will  or  encourage  sin 
in  any.  How  can  he  give  any  encouragement  to  that  which  he  can- 
not in  the  least  approve  of,  or  look  upon  without  loathing,  not  only 
the  crime,  but  the  criminal  ?  Light  may  sooner  be  the  cause  of 
darkness  than  holiness  itself  be  the  cause  of  unholiness,  absolutely 
contrary  to  it  :  it  is  a  contradiction,  that  he  that  is  the  Fountain  of 
good  should  be  the  source  of  evil ;  as  if  the  same  fountain  should 
bubble  up  both  sweet  and  bitter  streams,  salt  and  fresh  (James  iii. 
11) ;  since  whatsoever  good  is  in  man  acknowledges  God  for  its  au- 
thor, it  follows  that  men  are  evil  by  their  own  fault.  There  is  no 
need  for  men  to  be  incited  to  that  to  which  the  corruption  of  their 
own  nature  doth  so  powerfully  bend  them.  Water  hath  a  forcible 
principle  in  its  own  nature  to  carry  it  downward  ;  it  needs  no  force 
to  hasten  the  motion :  "  God  tempts  no  man,  but  every  man  is  drawn 
away  by  his  own  lust"  (James  i.  13,  14).  All  the  preparations  for 
glory  are  from  God  (Rom.  ix.  23) ;  but  men  are  said  to  "  be  fitted  to 
destruction"  (ver.  22) ;  but  God  is  not  said  to  fit  them ;  they,  by 
their  iniquities,  fit  themselves  for  ruin,  and  he,  by  his  long-suffering, 
keeps  the  destruction  from  them  for  awhile. 

(1.)  God  cannot  command  any  unrighteousness.  As  all  virtue  is 
summed  up  in  a  love  to  God,  so  all  iniquity  is  summed  up  in  an  en- 
mity to  God  :  every  wicked  worlc  declares  a  man  an  enemy  to  God 
(Col.  i.  21) :  "  enemies  in  your  minds  by  wicked  works."  If  he  could 
command  his  creature  anything  which  bears  an  enmity  in  its  nature 
to  himself,  he  would  then  implicitly  command  the  hatred  of  himself, 
and  he  would  be,  in  some  measure,  a  hater  of  himself :  he  that  com- 
mands another  to  deprive  him  of  his  life,  cannot  be  said  to  bear  any 
love  to  his  own  life.  God  can  never  hate  himself,  and  therefore  can- 
not command  anything  that  is  hateful  to  him  and  tends  to  a  hating 
of  him,  and  driving  the  creature  further  from  him ;  in  that  very  mo- 
ment that  God  should  command  such  a  thing,  he  would  cease  to  be 


ON  THE  HOLINESS  OF  GOD.  123 

good.  What  can  be  more  absurd  to  imagine,  tban  that  Infinite 
Goodness  should  enjoin  a  thing  contrary  to  itself,  and  contrary  to 
the  essential  duty  of  a  creature,  and  order  him  to  do  anything  that 
bespeaks  an  enmity  to  the  nature  of  the  Creator,  or  a  deflouring  and 
disparaging  his  works  ?  God  cannot  but  love  himself,  and  his  own 
goodness  ;  he  were  not  otherwise  good ;  and,  therefore,  cannot  order 
the  creature  to  do  anything  opposite  to  this  goodness,  or  anything 
hurtful  to  the  creature  itself,  as  unrighteousness  is, 

(2.)  Nor  can  God  secretly  inspire  any  evil  into  us.  It  is  as  much 
against  his  nature  to  incline  the  heart  to  sin  as  it  is  to  command  it : 
as  it  is  impossible  but  that  he  should  love  himself,  and  therefore  im- 
possible to  enjoin  anything  that  teuds  to  a  hatred  of  himself;  by  the 
same  reason  it  is  as  impossible  that  he  should  infuse  such  a  principle 
in  the  heart,  that  might  carry  a  man  out  to  any  act  of  enmity  against 
him.  To  enjoin  one  thing,  and  incline  to  another,  would  be  an  ar- 
gument of  such  insincerity,  unfaithfulness,  contradiction  to  itself, 
that  it  cannot  be  conceived  to  fall  within  the  compass  of  the  Divine 
nature  (Deut.  xxxii.  4),  who  is  a  "  God  without  iniquity,"  because 
"  a  God  of  truth"  and  sincerity,  "just  and  right  is  he."  To  bestow 
excellent  faculties  upon  man  in  creation,  and  incline  him,  by  a  sud- 
den impulsion,  to  things  contrary  to  the  true  end  of  him,  and  induce 
an  inevitable  ruin  upon  that  work  which  he  had  composed  with  so 
much  wisdom  and  goodness,  and  pronounced  good  with  so  much  de- 
light and  pleasure,  is  inconsistent  with  that  love  which  God  bears  to 
the  creature  of  his  own  framing :  to  incline  his  will  to  that  which 
would  render  him  the  object  of  his  hatred,  the  fuel  for  his  justice, 
and  sink  him  into  deplorable  misery,  it  is  most  absurd,  and  unchris- 
tian-like to  imagine. 

(3.)  Nor  can  God  necessitate  man  to  sin.  Indeed  sin  cannot  be 
committed  by  force ;  there  is  no  sin  but  is  in  some  sort  voluntary ; 
voluntary  in  the  root,  or  voluntary  in  the  branch ;  voluntary  by  an 
immediate  act  of  the  will,  or  voluntary  by  a  general  or  natural  incli- 
nation of  the  will.  That  is  not  a  crime  to  which  a  man  is  violenced, 
without  any  concurrence  of  the  faculties  of  the  soul  to  that  act ;  it  is 
indeed  not  an  act,  but  a  passion ;  a  man  that  is  forced  is  not  an 
agent,  but  a  patient  under  the  force :  but  what  necessity  can  there 
be  upon  man  from  God,  since  he  hath  implanted  such  a  principle  in 
him,  that  he  cannot  desire  anything  but  what  is  good,  either  really 
or  apparently ;  and  if  a  man  mistakes  the  object,  it  is  his  own  fault ; 
for  God  hath  endowed  him  with  reason  to  discern,  and  liberty  of 
will  to  choose  upon  that  judgment.  And  though  it  is  to  be  ac- 
knowledged that  God  hath  an  absolute  sovereign  dominion  over  his 
creature,  without  any  limitation,  and  may  do  what  he  pleases,  and 
dispose  of  it  according  to  his  own  will,  as  a  "  potter  doth  with  his 
vessel"  (Rom.  ix.  21) ;  according  as  the  church  speaks  (Isa.  Ixiv.  8), 
"  We  are  the  clay,  and  thou  our  potter  ;  and  we  all  are  the  work  of 
thy  hand ;"  yet  he  cannot  pollute  any  undefiled  creature  by  virtue 
of  that  sovereign  power,  which  he  hath  to  do  what  he  will  with  it ; 
because  such  an  act  would  be  contrary  to  the  foundation  and  right 
of  his  dominion,  which  consists  in  the  excellency  of  his  nature,  his 
immense  wisdom,  and  unspotted  purity ;  if  God  should  therefore  do 


124  CHARNOCK  ON  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

any  sucli  act,  he  would  expunge  the  right  of  his  dominion  by  blot- 
ting out  that  nature  which  renders  him  fit  for  that  dominion,  and  the 
exercise  of  itj  Any  dominion  which  is  exercised  without  the  rules 
of  goodness,  is  not  a  true  sovereignty,  but  an  insupportable  tyranny. 
G  od  would  cease  to  be  a  rightful  Sovereign  if  he  ceased  to  be  good ; 
and  he  would  cease  to  be  good,  if  he  did  command,  necessitate,  or  by 
any  positive  operation,  incline  inwardly  the  heart  of  a  creature  di- 
rectly to  that  which  were  morally  evil,  and  contrary  to  the  eminency 
of  his  own  nature.  But  that  we  may  the  better  conceive  of  this,  let 
us  trace  man  in  his  first  fall,  whereby  he  subjected  himself  and  all 
his  posterity  to  the  curse  of  the  law  and  hatred  of  God ;  we  shall 
find  no  footsteps,  either  of  precept,  outward  force,  or  inward  impul- 
sion.s  The  plain  story  of  man's  apostasy  dischargeth  God  from  any 
interest  in  the  crime  as  an  encouragement,  and  excuseth  him  from 
any  appearance  of  suspicion,  when  he  showed  him  the  tree  he  had 
reserved,  as  a  mark  of  his  sovereignty,  and  forbad  him  to  eat  of  the 
fruit  of  it ;  he  backed  the  prohibition  with  the  threatening  the  great- 
est evi],  viz.  death  ;  which  could  be  understood  to  imply  nothing  less 
than  the  loss  of  all  his  happiness ;  and  in  that  couched  an  assurance 
of  the  perpetuity  of  his  felicity,  if  he  did  not,  rebelliously,  reach  forth 
his  hand  to  take  and  "eat  of  the  fruit"  (Gen.  ii.  16,  17).  It  is  true 
God  had  given  that  fruit  an  excellency,  "  a  goodness  for  food,  and  a 
pleasantness  to  the  eye"  (Gen.  iii.  6).  lie  had  given  man  an  appe- 
tite, whereby  he  was  capable  of  desiring  so  pleasant  a  fruit ;  but  God 
had,  by  creation,  arranged  it  under  the  command  of  reason,  if  man 
would  have  kept  it  in  its  due  obedience;  he  had  fixed  a  severe 
threatening  to  bar  the  unlawful  excursions  of  it ;  he  had  allowed  him 
a  multitude  of  other  fruits  in  the  garden,  and  given  him  liberty 
enough  to  satisfy  his  curiosity  in  all,  except  this  only.  Could  there 
be  anything  more  obliging  to  man,  to  let  God  have  his  reserve  of 
that  one  tree,  than  the  grant  of  all  the  rest ;  and  more  deterring  from 
any  disobedient  attempt  than  so  strict  a  command,  spiiited  with  so 
dreadful  a  penalty  ?  God  did  not  solicit  him  to  rebel  against  him  ; 
a  solicitation  to  it,  and  a  command  against  it,  were  inconsistent. 
The  devil  assaults  him,  and  God  permitted  it,  and  stands,  as  it  were, 
a  spectator  of  the  issue  of  the  combat.  There  could  be  no  necessity 
upon  man  to  listen  to,  and  entertain  the  suggestions  of  the  serpent ; 
he  had  a  power  to  resist  him,  and  he  had  an  answer  ready  for  all  the 
devil's  arguments,  had  they  been  multiplied  to  more  than  they  were ; 
the  opposing  the  order  of  God  had  been  a  sufficient  confutation  of 
all  the  devil's  plausible  reasonings  ;  that  Creator,  who  hath  given  me 
my  being,  hath  ordered  me  not  to  eat  of  it.  Though  the  pleasure 
of  the  fruit  might  allure  him,  yet  the  force  of  his  reason  might  have 
quelled  the  liquorishness  of  his  sense ;  the  perpetual  thinking  of,  and 
sounding  out,  the  command  of  God,  had  silenced  both  Satan  and  his 
own  appetite  ;  had  disarmed  the  tempter,  and  preserved  his  sensitive 
part  in  its  due  subjection.  What  inclination  can  we  suppose  there 
could  be  from  the  Creator,  when,  upon  the  very  first  offer  of  the 
temptation,  Eve  opposes  to  the  tempter  the  prohibition  and  threat- 
ening of  God,  and  strains  it  to  a  higher  peg  than  we  find  God  had 

'  Amyrald.  Disert.  pp.  103,  104.  «  Amyrald.  Defens.  de  Calvin,  pp.  151,  152. 


ON   THE   HOLINESS   OF   GOD.  125 

delivered  it  in?  For  in  Gen.  ii.  17,  it  is,  "  You  shall  not  eat  of  it ;" 
but  she  adds  (Gen.  iii.  3),  "  Neither  shall  you  touch  it ;"  which  was 
a  remark  that  might  have  had  more  influence  to  restrain  her.  Had 
our  first  parents  kept  this  fixed  upon  their  understandings  and 
thoughts,  that  God  had  forbidden  any  such  act  as  the  eating  of  the 
fruit,  and  that  he  was  true  to  execute  the  threatening  he  had  uttered, 
of  which  truth  of  God  they  could  not  but  have  a  natural  notion,  with 
what  ease  might  they  have  withstood  the  devil's  attack,  and  defeated 
his  design !  And  it  had  been  easy  with  them,  to  have  kept  their 
understandings  by  the  force  of  such  a  thought,  from  entertaining  any 
contrary  imagination.  There  is  no  ground  for  any  jealousy  of  any 
encouragements,  inward  impulsions,  or  necessity  from  God  in  this 
affair.  A  discharge  of  God  from  this  first  sin  will  easily  induce  a 
freedom  of  him  from  all  other  sins  which  follow  upon  it.  God  doth 
not  then  encourage,  or  excite,  or  incline  to  sin.  How  can  he  excite 
to  that  which,  when  it  is  done,  he  will  be  sure  to  condemn  ?  How 
can  he  be  a  righteous  Judge  to  sentence  a  sinner  to  misery  for  a 
crime  acted  by  a  secret  inspiration  from  himself?  Iniquity  would 
deserve  no  reproof  fi-om  him,  if  he  were  any  way  positively  the 
author  of  it.  Were  God  the  author  of  it  in  us,  what  is  the  reason 
our  own  consciences  accuse  us  for  it,  and  convince  us  of  it  ?  that, 
being  God's  deputy,  would  not' accuse  us  of  it,  if  the  sovereign  power 
by  which  it  acts,  did  incline  us  to  it.  How  can  he  be  thought  to 
excite  to  that  which  he  hath  enacted  such  severe  laws  to  restrain,  or 
incline  man  to  that  which  he  hath  so  dreadfully  punished  in  his  Son, 
and  which  it  is  impossible  but  the  excellency  of  his  nature  must  in- 
cline him  eternally  to  hate  ?  We  may  sooner  imagine,  that  a  pure 
flame  shall  engender  cold,  and  darkness  be  the  offspring  of  a  sun- 
beam, as  imagine  such  a  thing  as  this.  "  What  shall  we  say,  is  there 
unrighteousness  with  God  ?  God  forbid."  The  apostle  execrates 
such  a  thought  (Eom.  ix.  14.) 

6.  God  cannot  act  any  evil,  in  or  by  himself.  If  he  cannot  ap- 
prove of  sin  in  others,  nor  excite  any  to  iniquity,  which  is  less,  he 
cannot  commit  evil  himself,  which  is  greater ;  what  he  cannot  pos- 
itively will  in  another,  can  never  be  willed  in  himself ;  he  cannot  do 
evil  through  ignorance,  because  of  his  infinite  knowledge;  nor 
through  weakness,  because  of  his  infinite  power ;  nor  through  malice, 
because  of  his  infinite  rectitude.  He  cannot  will  any  unjust  thing, 
because,  having  an  infinitely  perfect  understanding,  he  cannot  judge 
that  to  be  true  which  is  false ;  or  that  to  be  good  which  is  evil :  his 
will  is  regulated  by  his  wisdom.  If  he  could  will  any  unjust  and 
irrational  thing,  his  will  would  be  repugnant  to  his  understanding ; 
there  would  be  a  disagreement  in  God,  will  against  mind,  and  will 
against  wisdom  ;  he  being  the  highest  reason,  the  first  truth,  cannot 
do  an  unreasonable,  false,  defective  action.  It  is  not  a  defect  in  God 
that  he  cannot  do  evil,  but  a  fulness  and  excellency  of  power ;  as  it 
is  not  a  weakness  in  the  light,  but  the  perfection  of  it,  that  it  is  un- 
able to  produce  darkness  ;  "  God  is  the  Father  of  lights,  with  whom 
is  no  variableness"  (James  i.  17).  Nothing  pleases  him,  nothing  is 
acted  by  him,  but  what  is  beseeming  the  infinite  excellency  of  his 
own  nature  ;  the  voluntary  necessity  whereby  God  cannot  be  unjust. 


126  CHARNOCK   ON  THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

renders  him  a  God  blessed  forever ;  he  would  hate  himself  for  the 
chief  good,  if,  in  any  of  his  actions,  he  should  disagree  with  his  good- 
ness. He  cannot  do  any  unworthy  thing,  not  because  he  wants  an 
infinite  power,  but  because  he  is  possessed  of  an  infinite  wisdom,  and 
adorned  with  an  infinite  purity ;  and  being  infinitely  pure,  cannot 
have  the  least  mixture  of  impurity.  As  if  you  can  suppose  fire  in- 
finitely hot,  you  cannot  suppose  it  to  have  the  least  mixture  of  cold- 
ness ;  the  better  anything  is,  the  more  unable  it  is  to  do  evil ;  God 
being  the  only  goodness,  can  as  little  be  changed  in  his  goodness  as 
in  his  essence. 

II.  The  next  inquiry  is.  The  proof  that  God  is  holy,  or  the  mani- 
festation of  it.  Purity  is  as  requisite  to  the  blessedness  of  God,  as 
to  the  being  of  God ;  as  he  could  not  be  God  without  being  blessed, 
so  he  could  not  be  blessed  without  being  holy.  He  is  called  by  the 
title  of  Blessed,  as  well  as  by  that  of  holy  (Mark  xiv.  61);  "Art 
thou  the  Christ,  the  son  of  the  Blessed  ?"  Unrighteousness  is  a  misery 
and  turbulency  in  any  spirit  wherein  it  is ;  for  it  is  a  privation  of  an 
excellency  which  ought  to  be  in  every  intellectual  being,  and  what 
can  follow  upon  the  privation  of  an  excellency  but  unquietness  and 
grief,  the  moth  of  happiness  ?  An  unrighteous  man,  as  an  unright- 
eous man,  can  never  be  blessed,  though  he  were  in  a  local  heaven. 
Had  God  the  least  spot  upon  his  purity,  it  would  render  him  as  mis- 
erable in  the  midst  of  his  infinite  sufficiency,  as  iniquity  renders  a 
man  in  the  confluence  of  his  earthly  enjoyments.  The  holiness  and 
felicity  of  God  are  inseparable  in  him.  The  apostle  intimates  that 
the  heathen  made  an  attempt  to  sully  his  blessedness,  when  they 
would  liken  him  to  corruptible,  mutable,  impure  man  (Rom.  i.  23, 
25):  "They  changed  the  glory  of  the  incorruptible  God  into  an 
image,  made  like  to  corruptible  man ;"  and  after,  he  entitles  God  a 
"  God  blessed  forever."  The  gospel  is  therefore  called,  "  The  glorious 
gospel  of  the  blessed  God"  (1  Tim.  i.  11),  in  regard  of  the  holiness 
of  the  gospel  precepts,  and  in  regard  of  the  declaration  of  the  holi- 
ness of  God  in  all  the  streams  and  branches,  wherein  his  purity,  in 
which  his  blessedness  consists,  is  as  illustrious  as  any  other  perfection 
of  the  Divine  Being.  God  hath  highly  manifested  this  attribute  in 
the  state  of  nature ;  in  the  legal  administration ;  in  the  dispensation 
of  the  gospel.  His  wisdom,  goodness,  and  power,  are  declared  in 
creation ;  his  sovereign  authority  in  his  law ;  his  grace  and  mercy 
in  the  gospel,  and  his  righteousness  in  all.  Suitable  to  this  threefold 
state,  may  be  that  eternal  repetition  of  his  holiness  in  the  prophecy 
(Isa.  vi.  3) ;  holy,  as  Creator  and  Benefactor ;  holy,  as  Lawgiver  and 
Judge  ;  holy,  as  Restorer  and  Redeemer. 

First,  His  holiness  appears,  as  he  is  Creator,  in  framing  man  in  a 
perfect  uprightness.  Angels,  as  made  by  God,  could  not  be  evil ;  for 
God  beheld  his  own  Avorks  with  pleasure,  and  could  not  have  pro- 
nounced them  all  good,  had  some  been  created  pure,  and  others  im- 
pure ;  two  moral  contrarieties  could  not  be  good.  The  angels  had  a 
first  estate,  wherein  they  were  happy  (Jude  6) ;  and  had  they  not 
left  their  own  habitation  and  state,  they  could  not  have  been  miser- 
able. But,  because  the  Scripture  speaks  only  of  the  creation  of 
man,  we  will  consider,  that  the  human  nature  was  well  strung  and 


ON  THE  HOLINESS  OF  GOD.  127 

tuned  by  God,  according  to  the  note  of  liis  own  holiness  (Eccles.  vii. 
29)  ;  "  God  hath  made  man  upright:"  he  had  declared  his  power  in 
other  creatures,  but  would  declare  in  his  rational  creature,  what  he 
most  valued  in  himself;  and,  therefore,  created  him  upright,  with  a 
wisdom  which  is  the  rectitude  of  the  mind,  with  a  purity  which  is 
the  rectitude  of  the  will  and  affections.  He  had  declared  a  purity 
in  other  creatures,  as  much  as  they  were  capable  of,  viz.  in  the  exact 
tuning  them  to  answer  one  another.  And  that  God,  who  so  well 
tuned  and  composed  other  creatures,  would  not  make  man  a  jarring 
instrument,  and  place  a  cracked  creature  to  be  Lord  of  the  rest  of  his 
earthly  fabric.  God,  being  holy,  could  not  set  his  seal  upon  any 
rational  creature,  but  the  impression  would  be  like  himself,  pure  and 
holy  also  ;  he  could  not  be  created  with  an  error  in  his  understand- 
ing ;  that  had  been  inconsistent  with  the  goodness  of  God  to  his 
rational  creature ;  if  so,  the  erroneous  motion  of  the  will,  which  was 
to  follow  the  dictates  of  the  understanding,  could  not  have  been  im- 
puted to  him  as  his  crime,  because  it  would  have  been,  not  a  volun- 
tary, but  a  necessary  effect  of  his  nature ;  had  there  been  an  error  in 
the  first  wheel,  the  error  of  the  next  could  not  have  been  imputed 
to  the  nature  of  that,  but  to  the  irregular  motion  of  the  first  wheel 
in  the  engine.  The  sin  of  men  and  angels,  proceeded  not  from  any 
natural  defect  in  their  understandings,  but  from  inconsideration ;  he 
that  was  the  author  of  harmony  in  his  other  creatures,  could  not  be 
the  author  of  disorder  in  the  chief  of  his  works.  Other  creatures 
were  his  footsteps,  but  man  was  his  image  (Gen.  i.  26,  27):  "Let  us 
make  man  in  our  image,  after  our  likeness;"  which,  though  it  seems 
to  imply  no  more  in  that  place,  than  an  image  of  his  dominion  over 
the  creatures,  yet  the  apostle  raises  it  a  peg  higher,  and  gives  us  a 
larger  interpretation  of  it  (Col.  iii.  10):  "  And  have  put  on  the  new 
man,  which  is  renewed  in  knowledge  after  the  image  of  Him  that 
created  him ;"  making  it  to  consist  in  a  resemblance  to  his  righteous- 
ness. Image,  say  some,  notes  the  form,  as  man  was  a  spirit  in  regard 
of  his  soul ;  likeness,  notes  the  quality  implanted  in  his  spiritual  na- 
ture ;  the  image  of  God  was  drawn  in  him,  both  as  he  was  a  rational, 
and  as  he  was  a  holy  creature.  The  creatures  manifested  the  being 
of  a  superior  power,  as  their  cause,  but  the  righteousness  of  the  first 
man  evidenced,  not  only  a  sovereign  power,  as  the  donor  of  his  being, 
but  a  holy  power,  as  the  pattern  of  his  work.  God  appeared  to  be  a 
holy  God  in  the  righteousness  of  his  creature,  as  well  as  an  under- 
standing God  in  the  reason  of  his  creature,  while  he  formed  him 
with  all  necessary  knowledge  in  his  mind  and  all  necessary  upright- 
ness in  his  will.  The  law  of  love  to  God,  with  his  whole  soul,  his 
whole  mind,  his  whole  heart  and  strength,  was  originally  written 
upon  his  nature ;  all  the  parts  of  his  nature  were  framed  in  a  moral 
conformity  with  God,  to  answer  tliis  law,  and  imitate  God  in  his 
purity,  which  consists  in  a  love  of  himself,  and  his  own  goodness 
and  excellency.  Thus  doth  the  clearness  of  the  stream  point  us  to 
the  purer  fountain,  and  the  brightness  of  the  beam  evidence  a  greater 
splendor  in  the  sun  which  shot  it  out. 

Secondly,  His  holiness  appears  in  his  laws,  as  he  is  a  Lawgiver 
and  a  Judge.     Since  man  was  bound  to  be  subject  to  God,  as  a  crea- 


128  CHAENOCK  ON  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

ture,  and  liad  a  capacity  to  be  ruled  by  the  law,  as  an  understand- 
ing and  willing  creature ;  God  gave  him  a  law,  taken  from  the 
depths  of  his  holy  nature,  and  suited  to  the  original  faculties  of  man. 
The  rules  which  God  hath  fixed  in  the  world,  are  not  the  resolves 
of  bare  will,  but  result  particularly  from  the  goodness  of  his  nature; 
they  are  nothing  else  but  the  transcripts  of  his  infinite  detestation 
of  sin,  as  he  is  the  unblemished  governor  of  the  world.  This  being 
the  most  adorable  property  of  his  nature,  he  hath  impressed  it  upon 
that  law  which  he  would  have  inviolably  observed  as  a  perpetual 
rule  for  our  actions,  that  we  may  every  moment  think  of  this  beau- 
tifal  perfection.  God  can  command  nothing  but  what  hath  some 
similitude  with  the  rectitude  of  his  own  nature  ;  all  his  laws,  every 
paragraph  of  them,  therefore,  scent  of  this,  and  glitter  with  it  (Deut. 
iv.  8):  "What  nation  hath  statutes  and  judgments  so  righteous  as 
all  this  law  I  set  before  you  this  day  ?"  and,  therefore,  they  are  com- 
pared to  fine  gold,  that  hath  no  speck  or  dross  (Ps.  xix.  10). 

This  purity  is  evident — 1.  In  the  moral  law,  or  law  of  nature.  2. 
In  the  ceremonial  law.  3.  In  the  allurements  annexed  to  it,  for 
keeping  it,  and  the  afFrightments  to  restrain  from  the  breaking  of  it. 
4.  In  the  judgments  inflicted  for  the  violation  of  it. 

1.  In  the  moral  law  :  which  is  therefore  dignified  with  the  title  of 
Holy,  twice  in  one  verse  (Rom.  vii.  12):  "Wherefore,  the  law  is  holy, 
and  the  commandment  is  holy,  just,  and  good  ;"  it  being  the  express 
image  of  God's  will,  as  our  Saviour  was  of  his  person,  and  bearing  a  re- 
semblance to  the  purity  of  his  nature.  The  tables  of  this  law  were  put 
into  the  ark,  that,  as  tlie  mercy  seat  was  to  represent  the  grace  of  God, 
so  the  law  was  to  represent  the  holiness  of  God  (Ps.  xix.  1).  The  Psalm- 
ist, after  he  had  spoken  of  the  glory  of  God  in  the  heavens,  wherein  the 
power  of  God' is  exposed  to  our  view,  introduceth  the  law,  wherein  the 
purity  of  God  is  evidenced  to  our  minds  (ver.  7, 8,  &c.) :  "  Perfect,  pure, 
clean,  righteous,"  are  the  titles  given  to  it.  It  is  clearer  in  holiness 
than  the  sun  is  in  brightness  ;  and  more  mighty  in  itself,  to  command 
the  conscience,  than  the  sun  is  to  run  its  race.  As  the  holiness  of 
the  Scripture  demonstrates  the  divinity  of  its  Author ;  so  the  holi- 
ness of  the  law  doth  the  purity  of  the  Lawgiver. 

(1.)  The  purity  of  this  law  is  seen  in  the  matter  of  it.  It  prescribes 
all  that  becomes  a  creature  towards  God,  and  all  that  becomes  one 
creature  towards  another  of  his  own  rank  and  kind.  The  image  of 
God  is  complete  in  the  holiness  of  the  first  table,  and  the  righteous- 
ness of  the  second ;  which  is  intimated  by  the  apostle  (Eph.  iv.  24), 
the  one  being  the  rule  of  what  we  owe  to  God,  the  other  being  the 
rule  of  what  we  owe  to  man  :  there  is  no  good  but  it  enjoins,  and 
no  evil  but  it  disowns.  It  is  not  sickly  and  lame  in  any  part  of  it ; 
not  a  good  action,  but  it  gives  it  its  due  praise  ;  and  not  an  evil  ac- 
tion, but  it  sets  a  condemning  mark  upon.  The  commands  of  it  are 
frequently  in  Scripture  called  judgments,  because  they  rightly  judge 
of  good  and  evil ;  and  are  a  clear  light  to  inform  the  judgment  of 
man  in  the  knowledge  of  both.  By  this  was  the  understanding  of 
David  enlightened  to  know  every  false  way,  and  to  "  hate  it"  (Ps. 
cxix.  104).  There  is  no  case  can  happen,  but  may  meet  with  a  de- 
termination from  it ;  it  teaches  men  the  noblest  manner  of  living  a 


ON  THE   HOLINESS   OF   GOD.  129 

life  like  God  himself;  honorably  for  the  Lawgiver,  and  joyfully  for 
the  subject.  It  directs  us  to  the  highest  end  ;  sets  us  at  a  distance 
from  all  base  and  sordid  practices  ;  it  proposeth  light  to  the  under- 
standing, and  goodness  to  the  will.  It  would  tune  all  the  strings, 
set  right  all  the  orders  of  mankind  :  it  censures  the  least  mote,  coun- 
tenanceth  not  any  stain  in  the  life.  Not  a  wanton  glance  can  meet 
with  any  justification  from  it  (Matt.  v.  28) ;  not  a  rash  anger  but  it 
frowns  upon  (ver.  22).  As  the  Lawgiver  wants  nothing  as  an  ad- 
dition to  his  blessedness,  so  his  law  wants  nothing  as  a  supplement 
to  its  perfection  (Deut.  iv.  2).  What  our  Saviour  seems  to  add,  is 
not  an  addition  to  mend  any  defects,  but  a  restoration  of  it  from  the 
corrupt  glosses,  wherewith  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees  had  eclipsed 
the  brightness  of  it :  they  had  curtailed  it,  and  diminished  part  of 
its  authority,  cutting  off  its  empire  over  the  least  evil,  and  left  its 
power  only  to  check  the  grosser  practices.  But  Christ  restores  it  to 
the  due  extent  of  its  sovereignty,  and  shows  it  those  dimensions  in 
which  the  holy  men  of  God  considered  it  as  "  exceeding  broad"  (Ps. 
cxix.  96),  reaching  to  all  actions,  all  motions,  all  circumstances  at- 
tending them ;  full  of  inexhaustible  treasures  of  righteousness.  And 
though  this  law,  since  the  fall,  doth  irritate  sin,  it  is  no  disparage- 
ment, but  a  testimony  to  the  righteousness  of  it ;  which  the  apostle 
manifests  by  his  "  Wherefore  (Rom.  vii.  8),  sin,  taking  occasion  by 
the  commandment,  wrought  in  me  all  manner  of  concupiscence  ;" 
and  repeating  the  same  sense  (ver.  11),  subjoins  a  "  Wherefore" 
(ver.  12),  "  Wherefore  the  law  is  holy."  The  rising  of  men's  sinful 
hearts  against  the  law  of  God,  when  it  strikes  with  its  preceptive 
and  minatory  parts  upon  their  consciences,  evidenceth  the  holiness 
of  the  law  and  the  Lawgiver.  In  its  own  nature  it  is  a  directing 
rule,  but  the  malignant  nature  of  sin  is  exasperated  by  it ;  as  an 
hostile  quality  in  a  creature  will  awaken  itself  at  the  appearance  of 
its  enemy.  The  purity  of  this  beam,  and  transcript  of  God,  bears 
witness  to  a  greater  clearness  and  beauty  in  the  sun  and  original. 
Undefiled  streams  manifest  an  untainted  fountain. 

(2.)  It  is  seen  in  the  manner  of  its  precepts.  As  it  prescribes  all 
good,  and  forbids  all  evil,  so  it  doth  enjoin  the  one,  and  banish  the 
other  as  such.  The  laws  of  men  command  virtuous  things  ;  not  as 
virtuous  in  themselves,  but  as  useful  for  human  society  ;  which  the 
magistrate  is  the  conservator  of,  and  the  guardian  of  justice.*  The 
laws  of  men  contain  not  all  the  precepts  of  virtue,  but  only  such  as 
are  accommodated  to  their  customs,  and  are  useful  to  preserve  the 
ligaments  of  their  government.  The  design  of  them  is  not  so  much 
to  render  the  subjects  good  men,  as  good  citizens :  they  order  the 
practice  of  those  virtues  that  may  strengthen  civil  society,  and  dis- 
countenance those  vices  only  which  weaken  the  sinews  of  it :  but 
God,  being  the  guardian  of  universal  righteousness,  doth  not  only 
enact  the  observance  of  all  righteousness,  but  the  observance  of  it 
as  righteousness.  He  commands  that  which  is  just  in  itself,  enjoins 
virtues  as  virtues,  and  prohibits  vices  as  vices  :  as  they  are  profitable 
or  injurious  to  ourselves,  as  well  as  to  others.  Men  command  tem- 
perance and  justice  ;  not  as  virtues  in  themselves,  but  as  they  pre- 
*  Ames  de  Consc.  lib.  v.  cap.  1.  quest.  7. 

VOL.  II. — 9 


130  CHAENOCK  ON  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

vent  disorder  and  confusion  in  a  commonwealtli ;  and  forbid  adultery 
and  theft,  not  as  vices  in  themselves,  but  as  they  are  intrenchments 
upon  property  ;  not  as  hurtful  to  the  person  that  commits  them,  bnt 
as  hurtful  to  the  person  against  whose  right  they  are  committed. 
Upon  this  account,  perhaps,  Paul  applauds  the  holiness  of  the  law 
of  God  in  regard  of  its  own  nature,  as  considered  in  itself,  more 
than  he  doth  the  justice  of  it  in  regard  of  man,  and  the  goodness 
and  conveniency  of  it  to  the  world  (Kom.  vii.  12) ;  the  law  is  holy 
twice,  and  just  and  good  but  once. 

(3.)  In  the  spiritual  extent  of  it.  The  most  righteous  powers  of 
the  world  do  not  so  much  regard  in  their  laws  what  the  inward  af- 
fections of  their  subjects  are  :  the  external  acts  are  only  the  objects 
of  their  decrees,  either  to  encourage  them  if  they  be  useful,  or  dis- 
courage them  if  they  be  hurtful  to  the  community.  And,  indeed, 
they  can  do  no  other,  for  they  have  no  power  proportioned  to  in- 
ward affections,  since  the  inward  disposition  falls  not  under  their 
censure  ;  and  it  would  be  foolish  for  any  legislative  power  to  make 
such  laws,  which  it  is  impossible  for  it  to  put  in  execution.  They 
can  prohibit  the  outward  acts  of  theft  and  murder,  but  they  cannot 
command  the  love  of  God,  the  hatred  of  sin,  the  contempt  of  the 
world ;  they  cannot  prohibit  unclean  thoughts,  and  the  atheism  of 
the  heart.  But  the  law  of  God  surmounts  in  righteousness  all  the 
laws  of  the  best-regulated  commonwealths  in  the  world  :  it  restrains 
the  licentious  heart,  as  well  as  the  violent  hand  ;  it  damps  the  very 
first  bubblings  of  corrupt  nature,  orders  a  purity  in  the  spring,  com- 
mands a  clean  fountain,  clean  streams,  clean  vessels.  It  would  frame 
the  heart  to  an  inward,  as  well  as  the  life  to  an  outward  righteous- 
ness, and  make  the  inside  purer  than  the  outside.  It  forbids  the  first 
belchings  of  a  murderous  or  adulterous  intention :  it  obligeth  a  man 
as  a  rational  creature,  and  therefore  exacts  a  conformity  of  every 
rational  faculty,  and  of  whatsoever  is  under  the  command  of  them. 
It  commands  the  private  closet  to  be  free  from  the  least  cobweb,  as 
well  as  the  outward  porch  to  be  clean  from  mire  and  dirt.  It  frowns 
upon  all  stains  and  pollutions  of  the  most  retired  thoughts  :  hence 
the  apostle  calls  it  a  "spiritual  law"  (Rom.  vii.  14),  as  not  political, 
but  extending  its  force  further  than  the  frontiers  of  the  man ;  placing 
its  ensigns  in  the  metropolis  of  the  heart  and  mind,  and  curbing 
with  its  sceptre  the  inward  motions  of  the  spirit,  and  commanding 
over  the  secrets  of  every  man's  breast. 

(4).  In  regard  of  the  perpetuity  of  it.  The  purity  and  perpetuity 
of  it  are  linked  together  by  the  Psalmist  (Ps.  xix.  9):  "The  fear  of 
the  Lord  is  clean,  enduring  for  ever ;"  the  fear  of  the  Lord,-  that  i.s, 
that  law  which  commands  the  fear  and  worship  of  God,  and  is  the 
rule  of  it.  And,  indeed,  God  values  it  at  such  a  rate,  that  rather 
than  part  with  a  tittle,  or  let  the  honor  of  it  lie  in  the  dust,  he 
would  not  only  let  "heaven  and  earth  pass  away,"  but  expose  his 
Son  to  death  for  the  reparation  of  the  wrong  it  had  sustained.  So 
holy  it  is,  that  the  holiness  and  righteousness  of  God  cannot  dis- 
pense with  it,  cannot  abrogate  it,  without  despoiling  himself  of  his 
own  being:  it  is  a  copy  of  the  eternal  law.  Can  he  ever  abrogate 
the  command  of  love  to  himself,  without  showing  some  contempt 


ON   THE   HOLINESS  OF  GOD.  131 

of  Ms  own  excellency  and  very  being  ?  Before  lie  can  enjoin  a 
creature  not  to  love  him,  lie  must  make  himself  unworthy  of  love, 
and  worthy  of  hatred ;  this  would  be  the  highest  unrighteousness, 
to  order  us  to  hate  that  which  is  only  worthy  of  our  highest  affec- 
tions. So  God  cannot  change  the  first  command,  and  order  us  to 
worship  many  gods  ;  this  would  be  against  the  excellency  and  unity 
of  God:  for  God  cannot  constitute  another  God,- or  make  anything 
worthy  of  an  honor  equal  with  himself"  Those  things  that  are 
good,  only  because  they  are  commanded,  are  alterable  by  God: 
those  things  that  are  intrinsically  and  essentially  good,  and  there- 
fore commanded,  are  unalterable  as  long  as  the  holiness  and  right- 
eousness of  God  stand  firm.  The  intrinsic  goodness  of  the  moral 
law,  the  concern  God  hath  for  it ;  the  perpetuity  of  the  precepts  of 
the  first  table,  and  the  care  he  hath  had  to  imprint  the  precepts  of 
the  second  upon  the  minds  and  consciences  of  men,  as  the  Author 
of  nature  for  the  preservation  of  the  world,  manifests  the  holiness 
of  the  Lawmaker  and  Governor. 

2.  His  holiness  appears  in  the  ceremonial  law :  in  the  variety  of 
sacrifices  for  sin,  wherein  he  writ  his  detestation  of  unrighteousness 
in  bloody  characters.  His  holiness  was  more  constantly  expressed 
in  the  continual  sacrifices,  than  in  those  rarer  sprinklings  of  judg- 
ments now  and  then  upon  the  world ;  which  often  reached,  not  the 
worst,  but  the  most  moderate  sinners,  and  were  the  occasions  of 
the  questioning  of  the  righteousness  of  his  providence  both  by 
Jews  and  Gentiles.  In  judgments  his  purity  was  only  now  and 
then  manifest :  by  his  long  patience,  he  might  be  imagined  by  some 
reconciled  to  their  crimes,  or  not  much  concerned  in  them ;  but  by  the 
morning  and  evening  sacrifice  he  witnessed  a  perpetual  and  unin- 
terrupted abhorrence  of  whatsoever  was  evil.  Besides  those,  the 
occasional  washings  and  sprinklings  upon  ceremonial  defilements, 
which  j)olluted  only  the  body,  gave  an  evidence,  that  everything 
that  had  a  resemblance  to  evil,  was  loathsome  to  him.  Add,  also, 
the  prohibitions  of  eating  such  and  such  creatures  that  were  filthy ; 
as  the  swine  that  wallowed  in  the  mire,  a  fit  emblem  for  the  pro- 
fane and  brutish  sinner ;  which  had  a  moral  signification,  both  of 
the  loathsomeness  of  sin  to  God,  and  the  aversion  themselves  ought 
to  have  to  everything  that  was  filthy. 

3.  This  holiness  appears  in  the  allurements  annexed  to  the  law 
for  keeping  it,  and  the  affrightments  to  restrain  from  the  breaking 
of  it.  Both  promises  and  threatenings  have  their  fundamental  root 
in  the  holiness  of  God,  and  are  both  branches  of  this  peculiar  perfec- 
tion. As  they  respect  the  nature  of  God,  they  are  declarations  of  his 
hatred  of  sin,  and  his  love  of  righteousness ;  the  one  belong  to  his 
threatenings,  the  other  to  his  promises ;  both  join  together  to  repre- 
sent this  divine  perfection  to  the  creature,  and  to  excite  to  an  imi- 
tation in  the  creature.  In  the  one,  God  would  render  sin  odious, 
because  dangerous,  and  curb  the  practice  of  evil,  which  would 
otherwise  be  licentious ;  in  the  other,  he  would  commend  righteous- 
ness, and  excite  a  love  of  it,  which  would  otherwise  be  cold.  By 
there  God  suits  the  two  great  affections  of  men,  fear  and  hope ; 

"  Suarez. 


132  CHARNOCK   ON  THE   ATTRIBUTES, 

both  the  branches  of  self-love  in  man :  the  promises  and  threaten- 
ings  are  both  the  branches  of  holiness  in  God.  The  end  of  the 
promises  is  the  same  with  tlie  exhortation  the  apostle  concludes  from 
them  (2  Cor.  vii.  1);  "Having  these  promises,  let  us  cleanse  our- 
selves from  all  filthiness  of  flesh  and  spirit,  perfecting  holiness  in 
the  fear  of  God."  As  the  end  of  prece23t  is  to  direct,  the  end  of 
threatenings  is  to  deter  from  iniquity,  so  that  the  promises  is  to 
allure  to  obedience.  Thus  God  breathes  out  his  love  to  righteous- 
ness in  every  promise  ;  his  hatred  of  sin  in  every  threatening.  The 
rewards  offered  in  the  one,  are  the  smiles  of  pleased  holiness ;  and 
the  curses  thundered  in  the  other,  are  the  sparklings  of  enraged 
righteousness. 

4.  His  holiness  appears  in  the  judgment  inflicted  for  the  violation 
of  this  law.  Divine  holiness  is  the  root  of  Divine  justice,  and  Divine 
justice  is  the  triumph  of  Divine  holiness.  Hence  both  are  expressed 
in  Scripture  by  one  word  of  righteousness,  which  sometimes  signi- 
fies the  rectitude  of  the  Divine  nature,  and  sometimes  the  vindicative 
stroke  of  his  arm  (Ps.  ciii.  6);  "The  Lord  executeth  righteousness 
and  judgment  for  all  that  are  oppressed."  So  (Dan.  ix.  7)  "  Eigh- 
teousness (that  is,  justice)  belongs  to  thee."  The  vials  of  his  wrath 
are  filled  from  his  implacable  aversion  to  iniquity.  All  penal  evils 
shower  down  upon  the  heads  of  wicked  men,  spread  their  root  in, 
and  branch  out  from,  this  perfection.  All  the  dreadful  storms  and 
tempests  in  the  world  are  blown  up  by  it.  Why  doth  he  "rain 
snares,  fire  and  brimstone,  and  a  horrible  tempest !"  Because  "  the 
righteous  Lord  loveth  righteousness"  (Ps.  xi.  6,  7).  And,  as  was 
observed  before,  when  he  was  going  about  the  dreadfulest  work  that 
ever  was  in  the  world,  the  overturning  the  Jewish  state,  hardening 
the  hearts  of  that  unbelieving  people,  and  cashiering  a  nation,  once 
dear  to  him,  from  the  honor  of  his  protection ;  his  holiness,  as  the 
spring  of  all  this,  is  applauded  by  the  seraphims  (Isa.  vi.  3,  com- 
pared with  ver.  9 — 11),  &;c.  Impunity  argues  the  approbation  of  a 
crime,  and  punishment  the  abhorrency  of  it.  The  greatness  of  the 
crime,  and  the  righteousness  of  the  Judge,  are  the  first  natural  sen- 
timents that  arise  in  the  minds  of  men  upon  the  appearance  of  Di- 
vine judgments  in  the  world,  by  those  that  are  near  them;-"'  as,  when 
men  see  gibbets  erected,  scaffolds  prepared,  instruments  of  death 
and  torture  provided,  and  grievous  punishments  inflicted,  the  first 
reflection  in  the  spectator  is  the  malignity  of  the  crime,  and  the  de- 
testation the  governors  are  possessed  with. 

(1).  How  severely  hath  he  punished  his  most  noble  creatures  for 
it !  The  once  glorious  angels,  upon  whom  he  had  been  at  greater 
cost  than  upon  any  other  creatures,  and  drawn  more  lively  linea- 
ments of  his  own  excellency,  upon  the  transgression  of  his  law,  are 
thrown  into  the  furnace  of  justice,  without  any  mercy  to  pity  them 
(Jude  6).  And  though  there  were  but  one  sort  of  creatures  upon 
the  earth  that  bore  his  image,  and  were  only  fit  to  publish  and  keep 
up  his  honor  below  the  heavens,  yet,  upon  their  apostasy,  though 
upon  a  temptation  from  a  subtle  and  insinuating  spirit,  the  man, 
with  all  his  posterity,  is  sentenced  to  misery  in  life,  and  death  at 

='  Amirant.  Moral.  Tom.  V.  p.  388. 


ON  THE  HOLINESS  OF  GOD.  133 

last ;  and  the  woman,  witli  all  her  sex,  have  standing  punishments 
inflicted  on  them,  which,  as  they  begun  in  their  persons,  were  to 
reach  as  far  as  the  last  member  of  their  successive  generations.  So 
holy  is  God,  that  he  will  not  endure  a  spot  in  his  choicest  work. 
Men,  indeed,  when  there  is  a  crack  in  an  excellent  piece  of  Avork,  or 
a  stain  upon  a  rich  garment,  do  not  cast  it  away  ;  they  value  it  for 
the  remaining  excellency,  more  than  hate  it  for  the  contracted  spot ; 
but  God  saw  no  excellency  in  his  creature  worthy  regarding,  after 
the  image  of  that  which  he  most  esteemed  in  himself  was  defaced. 

(2).  How  detestable  to  him  are  the  very  instruments  of  sin  !  For  the 
ill  use  the  serpent,  an  irrational  creature,  Avas  put  to  by  the  devil,  as 
an  instrument  in  the  fall  of  man,  the  whole  brood  of  those  animals 
are  cursed  (Gen.  iii.  14),  "  cursed  above  all  cattle,  and  above  every 
beast  of  the  field."  Not  only  the  devil's  head  is  threatened  to  be 
for  ever  bruised,  and,  as  some  think,  rendered  irrecoverable  upon 
this  further  testimony  of  his  malice  in  the  seduction  of  man,  who, 
perhaps,  without  this  new  act,  might  have  been  admitted  into  the 
arms  of  mercy,  notwithstanding  his  first  sin ;  "  though  the  Scrip- 
ture gives  us  no  account  of  this,  only  this  is  the  only  sentence  we 
read  of  pronounced  against  the  devil,  which  puts  him  into  an  irre- 
coverable state  by  a  mortal  bruising  of  his  head."  But,  I  sa}'',  he 
is  not  only  punished,  but  the  organ,  whereby  he  blew  in  his  temp- 
tation, is  put  into  a  worse  condition  than  it  was  before.  Thus  God 
hated  the  sponge,  whereby  the  devil  deformed  his  beautiful  image : 
thus  God,  to  manifest  his  detestation  of  sin,  ordered  the  beast, 
whereby  any  man  was  slain,  to  be  slain  as  well  as  the  malefactor 
(Lev.  XX.  15).  The  gold  and  silver  that  had  been  abused  to  idolatry, 
and  were  the  ornaments  of  images,  though  good  in  themselves,  and 
incapable  of  a  criminal  nature,  were  not  to  be  brought  into  their 
houses,  but  detested  and  abhorred  by  them,  because  they  were 
cursed,  and  an  abomination  to  the  Lord.  See  with  what  loathing 
expressions  this  law  is  enjoined  to  them  (Dent.  vii.  25,  26).  So 
contrary  is  the  holy  nature  of  God  to  every  sin,  that  it  curseth 
everything  that  is  instrumental  in  it. 

(3.)  How  detestable  is  everything  to  him  that  is  in  the  sinner's 
possession  I  The  very  earth,  which  God  had  made  Adam  the  pro- 
prietor of,  was  cursed  for  his  sake  (Gen.  iii.  17,  18).  It  lost  its  beauty, 
and  lies  languishing  to  this  day  ;  and,  notwithstanding  the  redemp- 
tion by  Christ,  hath  not  recovered  its  health,  nor  is  it  like  to  do,  till 
the  completing  the  fruits  of  it  upon  the  children  of  God  (Eom.  viii. 
20-22).  The  whole  lower  creation  was  made  subject  to  vanity,  and 
put  into  pangs,  upon  the  sin  of  man,  by  the  righteousness  of  God 
detesting  his  offence.  How  often  hath  his  implacable  aversion  from 
sin  been  shown,  not  only  in  his  judgments  upon  the  offender's  per- 
son, but  by  wrapping  up,  in  the  same  judgment,  those  which  stood 
in  a  near  relation  to  them !  Achan,  with  his  children  and  cattle, 
are  overwhelmed  with  stones,  and  burned  together  (Josh.  vii.  24,  26). 
In  the  destruction  of  Sodom,  not  only  the  grown  malefactors,  but 
the  young  spawn,  the  infants,  at  present  incapable  of  the  same  wick- 
edness, and  their  cattle,  were  burned  up  by  the  same  fire  from 
heaven  ;  and  the  place  where  their  habitations  stood,  is,  at  this  day, 


134  CHARNOCK  ON   THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

partly  a  lieap  of  ashes,  and  partly  an  infectious  lake,  that  chokes  any  fish 
that  swims  into  it  from  Jordan,  and  stifles,  as  is  related,  by  its  vapor, 
any  bird  that  attempts  to  fly  over  it.  O,  how  detestable  is  sin  to  God, 
that  causes  him  to  turn  a  pleasant  land,  as  the  "  garden  of  the  Lord"  (as 
it  is  styled  Gen.  xiii.  10),  into  a  lake  of  sulphur ;  to  make  it,  both  in  his 
word  and  works,  as  a  lasting  monument  of  his  abhorence  of  evil ! 

(4.)  What  design  hath  God  in  all  these  acts  of  severity  and  vin- 
dictive justice,  but  to  set  off  the  lustre  of  his  holiness  ?  He  testifies 
himself  concerned  for  those  laws,  which  he  hath  set  as  hedges  and 
limits  to  the  lusts  of  men ;  and,  therefore,  when  he  breathes  forth 
his  fiery  indignation  against  a  people,  he  is  said  to  get  himself  hon- 
or :  as  when  he  intended  the  Red  Sea  should  swallow  up  the  Egyp- 
tian army  (Exod.  xiv.  17,  18),  which  Moses,  in  his  triumphant  song, 
echoes  back  again  (Exod.  xv.  1) :  "  Tiiou  hast  triumphed  glorious- 
ly ;"  gloriously  in  his  holiness,  which  is  the  glory  of  his  nature,  as 
Moses  himself  interprets  it  in  the  text.  When  men  will  not  own 
the  holiness  of  God,  in  a  way  of  duty,  God  will  vindicate  it  in  a  way 
of  justice  and  punishment.  In  the  destruction  of  Aaron's  sons,  that 
were  will- worshippers,  and  would  take  strange  fire,  "  sanctified"  and 
"  glorified"  are  coupled  (Lev.  x.  3) :  he  glorified  himself  in  that  act, 
in  vindicating  his  holiness  before  all  the  people,  declaring  that  he 
will  not  endure  sin  and  disobedience.  He  doth  therefore,  in  this 
life,  more  severely  punish  the  sins  of  his  people,  when  they  presume 
upon  any  act  of  disobedience,  for  a  testimony  that  the  nearness  and 
dearness  of  any  person  to  him  shall  not  make  him  unconcerned  in 
his  holiness,  or  be  a  plea  for  impurity.  The  end  of  all  his  judg- 
ments is  to  witness  to  the  world  his  abominating  of  sin.  To  punish 
and  witness  against  men,  are  one  and  the  same  thing  (Micah  i.  2) : 
"  The  Lord  shall  witness  against  you  ;"  and  it  is  the  witness  of  God's 
holiness  (Hos.  v.  5) :  "  And  the  pride  of  Israel  doth  testify  to  his 
face  :"  one  renders  it  the  excellency  of  Israel,  and  understands  it  of 
God :  the  word  rss,  which  is  here  in  our  translation,  "  pride,"  is 
rendered  "  excellency"  (Amos  viii.  7)  :  "  The  Lord  God  hath  sworn 
by  his  excellency  ;"  which  is  interpreted  "  holiness"  (Amos  iv.  2) : 
"  The  Lord  God  hath  sworn  by  his  holiness."  What  is  the  issue  or 
end  of  this  swearing  by  "holiness,"  and  of  his  "  excellency"  testify- 
ing against  them  ?  In  all  those  places  you  will  find  them  to  be 
sweeping  judgments:  in  one,  Israel  and  Ephraim  shall  "  fall  in  their 
iniquity  ;"  in  another,  he  will  **  take  them  away  with  hooks,"  and 
"  their  posterity  with  fish-hooks  ;"  and  in  another,  he  would  "  never 
forget  any  of  their  works,"  He  that  punisheth  wickedness  in  those 
he  before  used  with  the  greatest  tenderness,  furnisheth  the  world 
with  an  undeniable  evidence  of  the  detestableness  of  it  to  him.  Were 
not  judgments  sometimes  poured  out  upon  the  world,  it  would  be 
believed  that  God  were  rather  an  approver  than  an  enemy  to  sin. 
To  conclude,  since  God  hath  made  a  stricter  law  to  guide  men,  an- 
nexed promises  above  the  merit  of  obedience  to  allure  them,  and 
threatenings  dreadful  enough  to  affright  men  from  disobedience,  he 
cannot  be  the  cause  of  sin,  nor  a  lover  of  it.  How  can  he  be  the 
author  of  that  which  he  so  severely  forbids  ;  or  love  that  which  he 
delights  to  punish ;  or  be  fondly  indulgent  to  any  evil,  when  he 


ON"  THE  HOLINESS  OF  GOD.  135 

liates  the  ignorant  instruments  in  the  offences  of  his  reasonable 
creatures  ? 

Thirdly.  The  holiness  of  God  appears  in  our  restoration.  It  is  in 
the  glass  of  the  gospel  we  behold  the  "  glory  of  the  Lord"  (2  Cor. 
iii,  18) ;  that  is,  the  glory  of  the  Lord,  into  whose  image  we  are 
changed ;  but  we  are  changed  into  nothing,  as  the  image  of  God, 
but  into  holiness  :  we  bore  not  upon  us  by  creation,  nor  by  regene- 
ration, the  image  of  any  other  perfection :  Ave  cannot  be  changed 
into  his  omnipotence,  omniscience,  &c.,  but  into  the  image  of  his 
righteousness.  This  is  the  pleasing  and  glorious  sight  the  gospel 
mirror  darts  in  our  eyes.  The  whole  scene  of  redemption  is  nothing 
else  but  a  discovery  of  judgment  and  righteousness  (Isa.  i.  27) :  "  Zion 
shall  be  redeemed  with  judgment,  and  her  converts  with  righteousness," 

1.  This  holiness  of  God  appears  in  the  manner  of  our  restoration, 
viz.  by  the  death  of  Christ.  Not  all  the  vials  of  judgments,  that  have, 
or  shall  be  poured  out  upon  the  wicked  world,  nor  the  flaming  furnace 
of  a  sinner's  conscience,  nor  the  irreversible  sentence  pronounced 
against  the  rebellious  devils,  nor  the  groans  of  the  damned  creatures, 
give  such  a  demonstration  of  God's  hatred  of  sin,  as  the  wrath  of  God 
let  loose  upon  his  Son.  Never  did  Divine  holiness  appear  more  beau- 
tiful and  lovely,  than  at  the  time  our  Saviour's  countenance  was  most 
marred  in  the  midst  of  his  dying  groans.  This  himself  acknowledges  in 
that  prophetical  psalm  (xxii.  1,  2),  when  God  had  turned  his  smiling 
face  from  him,  and  thrust  his  sharp  knife  into  his  heart,  which  forced 
that  terrible  cry  from  him,  "  My  God,  my  God,  why  hast  thou  forsaken 
me  ?"  He  adores  this  perfection  of  holiness  (ver.  3),  "  But  thou  art 
holy  ;"  thy  holiness  is  the  spring  of  all  this  sharp  agony,  and  for  this 
thou  inhabitest,  and  shalt  forever  inhabit,  the  praises  of  all  thy  Israel. 
Holiness  drew  the  veil  between  God's  countenance  and  our  Saviour's 
soul.  Justice  indeed  gave  the  stroke,  but  holiness  ordered  it.  In 
this  his  purity  did  sparkle,  and  his  irreversible  justice  manifested 
that  all  those  that  commit  sin  are  worthy  of  death ;  this  was  the 
perfect  index  of  his  "  righteousness"  (Eom.  iii.  25),  that  is,  of  his 
holiness  and  truth  ;  then  it  was  that  God  that  is  holy,  was  "  sanctified  in 
righteousness"  (Isa.  v.  16).     It  appears  the  more,  if  you  consider, 

(1.)  The  dignity  of  the  Eedeemer's  person.  One  that  had  been 
from  eternity ;  had  laid  the  foundations  of  the  world  ;  had  been  the 
object  of  the  Divine  delight :  he  that  was  God  blessed  forever,  be- 
come a  curse ;  he  who  was  blessed  by  angels,  and  by  whom  God 
blessed  the  world,  must  be  seized  with  horror ;  the  Son  of  eternity 
must  bleed  to  death  !  When  did  ever  sin  appear  so  irreconcileable 
to  God  ?  "Where  did  God  ever  break  out  so  furiously  in  his  detes- 
tation of  iniquity  ?  The  Father  would  have  the  most  excellent  per- 
son, one  next  in  order  to  himself,  and  equal  to  him  in  all  the  glori- 
ous perfections  of  his  nature  (Phil.  ii.  6),  die  on  a  disgraceful  cross,  and 
be  exposed  to  the  flames  of  Divine  wrath,  rather  than  sin  should  live, 
and  his  holiness  remain  forever  disparaged  by  the  violations  of  his  law. 

(2.)  The  near  relation  he  stood  in  to  the  Father.  He  was  his 
"own  Son  that  he  delivered  up"  (Rom.  viii.  32)  ;  his  essential  image, 
as  dearly  beloved  by  him  as  himself ;  yet  he  would  abate  nothing 
of  his  hatred  of  those  sins  imputed  to  one  so  dear  to  him,  and  who 


136  CHARNOCK  ON  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

never  bad  done  anything  contrary  to  liis  will.  The  strong  cries 
uttered  by  him  could  not  cause  him  to  cut  off  the  least  fringe  of  this 
royal  garment,  nor  part  with  a  thread  the  robe  of  his  holiness  was 
woven  with.  The  torrent  of  wrath  is  opened  upon  him,  and  the 
Father's  heart  beats  not  in  the  least  notice  of  tenderness  to  sin,  in  the 
midst  of  his  Son's  agonies,  God  seems  to  lay  aside  the  bowels  of  a 
father,  and  put  on  the  garb  of  an  irreconcileable  enemy,  y  upon  which 
account,  probably,  our  Saviour  in  the  midst  of  his  passion  gives  him 
the  title  of  God  ;  not  of  Father,  the  title  he  usually  before  addressed 
to  him  with,  (Matt,  xxvii.  46),  "  My  God,  my  God  ;"  not,  My  Father, 
my  Father ;  "  why  hast  thou  forsaken  me  ?"  He  seems  to  hang  upon 
the  cross  like  a  disinherited  son,  while  he  appeared  in  the  garb  and 
rank  of  a  sinner.  Then  was  his  head  loaded  with  curses,  Avhen  he 
stood  under  that  sentence  of  "  Cursed  is  every  one  that  hangs  upon 
a  tree"  (Gal.  iii.  13),  and  looked  as  one  forlorn  and  rejected  by 
the  Divine  purity  and  tenderness.  God  dealt  not  with  him  as  if  he 
had  been  one  in  so  near  a  relation  to  him.  He  left  him  not  to  the 
will  only  of  the  instruments  of  his  death  ;  he  would  have  the  chiefest 
blow  himself  of  bruising  of  him  (Isa.  liii.  10) :  "It  pleased  the  Lord 
to  bruise  him :"  the  Lord,  because  the  power  of  creatures  could  not 
strike  a  blow  strong  enough  to  satisfy  and  secure  the  rights  of  infi- 
nite holiness.  It  was  therefore  a  cup  tempered  and  put  into  his 
hands  by  his  Father ;  a  cup  given  him  to  drink.  In  other  judg- 
ments he  lets  out  his  wrath  against  his  creatures ;  in  this  he  lets  out 
his  wrath,  as  it  were,  against  himself,  against  his  Son,  one  as  dear  to 
him  as  himself.  As  in  his  making  creatures,  his  power  over  nothing 
to  bring  it  into  being  appeared ;  but  in  pardoning  sin  he  hath  power 
over  himself;  so  in  punishing  creatures,  his  holiness  appears  in  his 
wrath  against  creatures,  against  sinners  by  inherency  ;  but  by  pun- 
ishing sin  in  his  Son,  his  holiness  sharpens  his  wrath  against  him 
who  was  his  equal,  and  only  a  reputed  sinner ;  as  if  his  affection  to 
his  own  holiness  surmounted  his  affection  to  his  Son  :  for  he  chose 
to  suspend  the  breakings  out  of  his  affections  to  his  Son,  and  see 
him  plunged  in  a  sharp  and  ignominious  misery,  without  giving 
him  any  visible  token  of  his  love,  rather  than  see  his  holiness  lie 
groaning  under  the  injuries  of  a  transgressing  world. 

(3.)  The  value  he  puts  upon  his  holiness  appears  further,  in  the 
advancement  of  this  redeeming  person,  after  his  death.  Our  Saviour 
was  advanced,  not  barely  for  his  dying,  but  for  the  respect  he  had 
in  his  death  to  this  attribute  of  God  (Heb.  i.  9) :  "  Thou  hast  loved 
righteousness,  and  hated  iniquity:  therefore  God,  even  thy  God, 
hath  anointed  thee  with  the  oil  of  gladness,"  &c.  By  righteousness 
is  meant  this  perfection,  because  of  the  opposition  of  it  to  iniquity. 
Some  think  "  therefore"  to  be  the  final  cause ;  as  if  this  were  the  sense, 
"Thou  art  anointed  with  the  oil  of  gladness,  that  thou  mightest  love 
righteousness  and  hate  iniquity."  But  the  Holy  Ghost  seeming  to 
speak  in  this  chapter  not  only  of  the  Godhead  of  Christ  but  of  his 
exaltation ;  the  doctrine  whereof  he  had  begun  in  ver.  3,  and  pro- 
secutes in  the  following  verses,  I  would  rather  understand  "there- 
fore," for  "  this  cause,  or  reason,  hath  God  anointed  thee ;"  not  "  to 

y  Lingend.  Tom.  III.  pp.  699,  100. 


ON  THE  HOLINESS  OP  GOD.  137 

this  end."  Christ  indeed  had  an  unction  of  grace,  whereby  he  was 
fitted  for  his  mediatory  work;  he  had  also  an  unction  of  glory, 
whereby  he  was  rewarded  for  it.  In  the  first  regard,  it  was  a 
qualifying  him  for  his  office ;  in  the  second  regard,  it  was  a  solemn 
inaugurating  him  in  his  royal  authority.  And  the  reason  of  his 
being  settled  upon  a  "throne  for  ever  and  ever,"  is,  "because  he 
loved  righteousness."  He  suffered  himself  to  be  pierced  to  death, 
that  sin,  the  enemy  of  God's  purity,  might  be  destroyed,  and  the 
honor  of  the  law,  the  image  of  God's  holiness,  might  be  repaired 
and  fulfilled  in  the  fallen  creature.  He  restored  the  credit  of  Divine 
holiness  in  the  world,  in  manifesting,  by  his  death,  God  an  irrecon- 
cileable  enemy  to  all  sin ;  in  abolishing  the  empire  of  sin,  so  hateful 
to  God,  and  restoring  the  rectitude  of  nature,  and  new  framing  the 
image  of  God  in  his  chosen  ones.  And  God  so  valued  this  vindica- 
tion of  his  holiness,  that  he  confers  upon  him,  in  his  human  nature, 
an  eternal  royalty  and  empire  over  angels  and  men.  Holiness  was 
the  great  attribute  respected  by  Christ  in  his  dying,  and  manifested 
in  his  death ;  and  for  his  love  to  this,  God  would  bestow  an  honor 
upon  his  person,  in  that  nature  wherein  he  did  vindicate  the  honor 
of  so  dear  a  perfection.  In  the  death  of  Christ,  he  showed  his 
resolution  to  preserve  its  rights ;  in  the  exaltation  of  Christ,  he 
evinced  his  mighty  pleasure  for  the  vindication  of  it ;  in  both,  the 
infinite  value  he  had  for  it,  as  dear  to  him  as  his  life  and  glory. 

(4.)  It  may  be  further  considered,  that  in  this  way  of  redemption, 
his  holiness  in  the  hatred  of  sin  seems  to  be  valued  above  any  other 
attribute.  He  proclaims  the  value  of  it  above  the  person  of  his 
Son ;  since  the  Divine  nature  of  the  Eedeemer  is  disguised,  obscured, 
and  vailed,  in  order  to  the  restoring  the  honor  of  it.  And  Christ 
seems  to  value  it  above  hi»  own  person,  since  he  submitted  himself 
to  the  reproaches  of  men,  to  clear  this  perfection  of  the  Divine 
nature,  and  make  it  illustrious  in  the  eyes  of  the  world.  You  heard 
before,  at  the  beginning  of  the  handling  this  argument,  it  was  the 
beauty  of  the  Deity,  the  lustre  of  his  nature,  the  link  of  all  his 
attributes,  his  very  life ;  he  values  it  equal  with  himself,  since  he 
swears  by  it,  as  well  as  by  his  life  ;  and  none  of  his  attributes  would 
have  a  due  decorum  without  it ;  it  is  the  glory  of  power,  mercy, 
justice,  and  wisdom,  that  they  are  all  holy ;  so  that  though  God 
had  an  infinite  tenderness  and  compassion  to  the  fallen  creature,  yet 
it  should  not  extend  itself  in  his  relief  to  the  prejudice  of  the  rights 
of  his  purity :  he  would  have  this  triumph  in  the  tenderness  of  his 
mercy,  as  well  as  the  severities  of  his  justice.  His  mercy  had  not 
appeared  in  its  true  colors,  nor  attained  a  regular  end,  without 
vengeance  on  sin.  It  would  have  been  a  compassion  that  would, 
in  sparing  the  sinner,  have  encouraged  the  sin,  and  afironted  holi- 
ness in  the  issues  of  it :  had  he  dispersed  his  compassions  about  the 
world,  without  the  regard  to  his  hatred  of  sin,  his  mercy  had  been 
too  cheap,  and  his  holiness  had  been  contemned ;  his  mercy  would 
not  have  triumphed  in  his  own  nature,  whilst  his  holiness  had 
suffered;  he  had  exercised  a  mercy  with  the  impairing  his  own 
glory ;  but  now,  in  this  way  of  redemption,  the  rights  of  both  are 
secured,  both  have  their  due  lustre :  the  odiousness  of  sin  is  equally 


138  CHAENOCK  ON   THE  ATTEIBUTES. 

discovered  -witli  tlie  greatest  of  liis  compassions ;  an  infinite  aLlior- 
rence  of  sin,  and  an  infinite  love  to  the  world,  march  hand  in  hand 
together.  Never  was  so  much  of  the  irreconcileableness  of  sin  to 
him  set  forth,  as  in  the  moment  he  was  opening  his  bowels  in  the 
reconciliation  of  the  sinner.  Sin  is  made  the  chiefest  mark  of  his 
displeasure,  while  the  poor  creature  is  made  the  highest  object  of 
Divine  pity.  There  could  have  been  no  motion  of  mercy,  with  the 
least  injury  to  purity  and  holiness.  In  this  way  mercy  and  truth, 
mercy  to  the  misery  of  the  creature,  and  truth  to  the  purity  of  the 
law,  "have  met  together  ;"  the  righteousness  of  God,  and  the  peace 
of  the  sinner,  "  have  kissed  each  other"  (Ps.  Ixxxv.  10). 

2.  The  holiness  of  God  in  his  hatred  of  sin  appears  in  our  justifi- 
cation, and  the  conditions  he  requires  of  all  that  would  enjoy  the 
benefit  of  redemption.  His  wisdom  hath  so  tempered  all  the  condi- 
tions of  it,  that  the  honor  of  his  holiness  is  as  much  preserved,  as 
the  sweetness  of  his  mercy  is  experimented  by  us  ;  all  the  conditions 
are  records  of  his  exact  purity,  as  well  as  of  his  condescending  grace. 
Our  justification  is  not  by  the  imperfect  works  of  creatures,  but  by 
an  exact  and  infinite  righteousness,  as  great  as  that  of  the  Deity 
which  had  been  offended :  it  being  the  righteousness  of  a  Divine  per- 
son, upon  which  account  it  is  called  the  righteousness  of  God  ;  not 
only  in  regard  of  God's  appointing  it,  and  God's  accepting  it,  but  as 
it  is  a  righteousness  of  that  person  that  was  God,  and  is  God.  Faith 
is  the  condition  God  requires  to  justification  ;  but  not  a  dead,  but  an 
active  faith,  such  a  "faith  as  purifies  the  heart"  (James  ii.  20  ;  Acts 
XV.  9).  He  calls  for  repentance,  which  is  a  moral  retracting  our  of- 
fences, and  an  approbation  of  contemned  righteousness  and  a  vio- 
lated law  ;  an  endeavor  to  gain  what  is  lost,  and  to  pluck  out  the  heart 
of  that  sin  we  have  committed.  He  requires  mortification,  which  is 
called  crucifying ;  whereby  a  man  would  strike  as  full  and  deadly  a 
blow  at  his  lusts,  as  was  struck  at  Christ  upon  the  cross,  and  make 
them  as  certainly  die,  as  the  Eedeerner  did.  Our  own  righteousness 
must  be  condemned  by  us,  as  impure  and  imperfect :  we  must  dis- 
own everj^thing  that  is  our  own,  as  to  righteousness,  in  reverence  to 
the  holiness  of  God,  and  the  valuation  of  the  righteousness  of  Christ. 
He  hath  resolved  not  to  bestow  the  inheritance  of  glory  without  the 
root  of  grace.  None  are  partakers  of  the  Divine  blessedness  that 
are  not  partakers  of  the  Divine  nature  :  there  must  be  a  renewing 
of  his  image  before  there  be  a  vision  of  his  face  (Heb.  xii.  14).  He 
will  not  have  men  brought  only  into  a  relative  state  of  happiness  by 
justification,  without  a  real  state  of  grace  by  sanctification  ;  and  so 
resolved  he  is  in  it,  that  there  is  no  admittance  into  heaven  of  a  start- 
ing, but  a  persevering  holiness  (Rom.  ii.  7),  "a  patient  continuance 
in  well-doing :"  patient,  under  the  sharpness  of  affliction,  and  contin- 
uing, under  the  pleasures  of  prosperity.  Hence  it  is  that  the  gospel, 
the  restoring  doctrine,  hath  not  only  the  motives  of  rewards  to  allure 
to  good,  and  the  danger  of  punishments  to  scare  us  from  evil,  as  the 
law  had  ;  but  they  are  set  forth  in  a  higher  strain,  in  a  way  of  stronger 
engagement ;  the  rewards  are  heavenly,  and  the  punishments  eter- 
nal :  and  more  powerful  motives  besides,  from  the  choicer  expres- 
sions of  God's  love  in  the  death  of  his  Son.     The  whole  design  of 


ON  THE  HOLINESS  OF  GOD.  139 

it  is  to  reinstate  us  in  a  resemblance  to  this  Divine  perfection  ;  wliere- 
by  he  shows  what  an  affection  he  hath  to  this  excellency  of  his 
nature,  and  what  a  detestation  he  hath  of  evil,  which  is  contrary 
to  it. 

8.  It  apj)ears  in  the  actual  regeneration  of  the  redeemed  souls, 
and  a  carrying  it  on  to  a  full  perfection.  As  election  is  the  effect 
of  God's  sovereignty,  our  pardon  the  fruit  of  his  mercy,  our  knowl- 
edge a  stream  from  his  wisdom,  our  strength  an  impression  of  his 
power  ;  so  our  j)urity  is  a  beam  from  his  holiness.  The  whole  work 
of  sanctification,  and  the  preservation  of  it,  our  Saviour  begs  for  his 
disciples  of  his  Father,  under  this  title  (John  xvii.  11,  17) :  "  Holy 
Father,  keep  them  through  thy  own  name,"  and  "sanctify  them 
through  thy  truth ;"  as  the  proper  source  whence  holiness  was  to 
flow  to  the  creature :  as  the  sun  is  the  proper  fountain  whence  light 
is  derived,  both  to  the  stars  above,  and  the  bodies  here  below. 
Whence  He  is  not  only  called  Holy,  but  the  Holy  One  of  Israel 
(Isa.  xliii.  15),  "I  am  the  Lord  your  Holy  One,  the  Creator  of  Is- 
rael :"  displaying  his  holiness  in  them,  by  a  new  creation  of  them  as 
his  Israel.  As  the  rectitude  of  the  creature  at  the  first  creation  was 
the  effect  of  his  holiness,  so  the  purity  of  the  creature,  by  a  new 
creation,  is  a  draught  of  the  same  perfection.  He  is  called  the  Holy 
One  of  Israel  more  in  Isaiah,  that  evangelical  prophet,  in  erecting 
Zion,  and  forming  a  people  for  himself,  than  in  the  whole  Scripture 
besides.  As  he  sent  Jesus  Christ  to  satisfy  his  justice  for  the  expia- 
tion of  the  guilt  of  sin,  so  he  sends  the  Holy  Ghost  for  the  cleans- 
ing of  the  filth  of  sin,  and  overmastering  the  power  of  it :  Himself 
is  the  fountain,  the  Son  is  the  pattern,  and  the  Holy  Ghost  the  im- 
mediate imprinter  of  this  stamp  of  holiness  upon  the  creature.  God 
hath  such  a  value  for  this  attribute,  that  he  designs  the  glory  of  this 
in  the  renewing  the  creature,  more  than  the  happiness  of  the  crea- 
ture ;  though  the  one  doth  necessarily  follow  upon  the  other,  yet 
the  one  is  the  principal  design,  and  the  other  the  consequent  of  the 
former :  whence  our  salvation,  is  more  frequently  set  forth,  in  Scrip- 
ture, by  a  redemption  from  sin,  and  sanctification  of  the  soul,  than 
by  a  possession  of  heaven.  ^  Indeed,  as  God  could  not  create  a  ra- 
tional creature,  without  interesting  this  attribute  in  a  special  manner, 
so  he  cannot  restore  the  fallen  creature  without  it.  As  in  creating  a 
rational  creature,  there  must  be  holiness  to  adorn  it,  as  well  as  wis- 
dom to  form  the  design,  and  power  to  effect  it ;  so  in  the  restoration 
of  the  creature,  as  he  could  not  make  a  reasonable  creature  unholy, 
so  he  cannot  restore  a  fallen  creature,  and  put  him  in  a  meet  posture 
to  take  pleasure  in  him,  without  communicating  to  him  a  resem- 
blance of  himself  As  God  cannot  be  blessed  in  himself  without 
this  perfection  of  purity,  so  neither  can  a  creature  be  blessed  without 
it.  As  God  would  be  unlovely  to  himself  without  this  attribute,  so 
would  the  creature  be  unlovely  to  God,  without  a  stamp  and  mark 
of  it  upon  his  nature.  So  much  is  this  perfection  one  with  God, 
valued  by  him,  and  interested  in  all  his  works  and  ways ! 

III.  The  third  thing  I  am  to  do,  is  to  lay  down  some  proposition 
in  the  defence  of  God's  holiness  in  all  his  acts,  about,  or  concerning 

»  Tit.  ii.  11 — 14,  and  many  other  places. 


140  CHARNOCK  ON"  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

sin.  It  was  a  prudent  and  pious  advice  of  Camero,  not  to  be  too 
busy  and  rash  in  inquiries  and  conclusions  about  the  reason  of  God's 
providence  in  the  matter  of  sin.  The  Scripture  hath  put  a  bar  in 
the  way  of  such  curiosity,  by  telhng  us,  that  the  ways  of  God's  wis- 
dom and  righteousness  in  his  judgments  are  "  unsearchable"  (Rom. 
xi.  33) :  much  more  the  ways  of  God's  holiness,  as  he  stands  in  re- 
lation to  sin,  as  a  Governor  of  the  world ;  we  cannot  consider  those 
things  without  danger  of  slipping :  our  eyes  are  too  weak  to  look 
upon  the  sun  without  being  dazzled :  too  much  curiosity  met  with  a 
just  check  in  our  first  parent.  To  be  desirous  to  know  the  reason 
of  all  God's  proceedings  in  the  matter  of  sin,  is  to  second  the  am- 
bition of  Adam,  to  be  as  wise  as  God,  and  know  the  reason  of  his 
actings  equally  with  himself.  It  is  more  easy,  as  the  same  author 
saith,  to  give  an  account  of  God's  providence  since  the  revolt  of 
man,  and  the  poison  that  hath  universally  seized  upon  human  na- 
ture, than  to  make  guesses  at  the  manner  of  the  fall  of  the  first  man. 
The  Scripture  hath  given  us  but  a  short  account  of  the  manner  of 
it,  to  discourage  too  curious  inquiries  into  it.  It  is  certain  that  God 
made  man  upright ;  and  when  man  sinned  in  paradise,  God  was  ac- 
tive in  sustaining  the  substantial  nature  and  act  of  the  sinner  while 
he  was  sinning,  though  not  in  supporting  the  sinfulness  of  the  act : 
he  was  permissive  in  suffering  it :  he  was  negative  in  witholding 
that  grace  which  might  certainly  have  prevented  his  crime,  and  con- 
sequently his  ruin ;  though  he  withheld  nothing  that  was  sufficient 
for  his  resistance  of  that  temptation  wherewith  he  was  assaulted. 
And  since  the  fiill  of  man,  God,  as  a  wise  governor,  is  directive  of 
the  events  of  the  transgression,  and  draws  the  choicest  good  out  of 
the  blackest  evil,  and  limits  the  sins  of  men,  that  they  creep  not  so 
far  as  the  evil  nature  of  men  would  urge  them  to ;  and  as  a  right- 
eous Judge,  he  takes  away  the  talent  from  idle  servants,  and  the 
light  from  wicked  ones,  whereby  they  stumble  and  fiill  into  crimes, 
by  the  inclinations  and  proneness  of  their  own  corrupt  natures,  leaves 
them  to  the  bias  of  their  own  vicious  habits,  denies  that  grace  which 
they  have  forfeited,  and  have  no  right  to  challenge,  and  turns  their  sin- 
ful actions  into  punishments,both  to  the  committers  of  them  and  others. 
Prop.  I.  God's  holiness  is  not  chargeable  with  any  blemish  for  his 
creating  man  in  a  mutable  state.  It  is  true,  angels  and  men  were 
created  with  a  changeable  nature ;  as  though  there  was  a  rich  and 
glorious  stamp  upon  them  by  the  hand  of  God,  yet  their  natures 
were  not  incapable  of  a  base  and  vile  stamp  from  some  other  prin- 
ciple :  as  the  silver  which  bears  upon  it  the  image  of  a  great  prince, 
is  capable  of  being  melted  down,  and  imprinted  with  no  better  an 
image  than  that  of  some  vile  and  monstrous  beast.  Though  God 
made  man  upright,  yet  he  was  capable  of  seeking  "  many  inven- 
tions" (PjccI.  vii.  29) ;  yet  the  hand  of  God  was  not  defiled  by  form- 
ing man  with  such  a  nature.  It  was  suitable  to  the  wisdom  of  God 
to  give  the  rational  creature,  whom  he  had  furnished  with  a  power 
of  acting  righteously,  the  liberty  of  choice,  and  not  fix  him  in  an 
unchangeable  state  without  a  trial  of  him  in  his  natural ;  that  if  he 
did  obey,  his  obedience  might  be  the  more  valuable  ;  and  if  he  did 
freely  offend,  his  offence  might  be  more  inexcusable. 


ON  THE   HOLINESS   OF   GOD.  lil 

1.  No  creature  can  be  capable  of  immutability  by  nature.  Mu- 
tability is  so  essential  to  a  creature,  that  a  creature  cannot  be  sup- 
posed without  it ;  you  must  suppose  it  a  Creator,  not  a  creature,  if 
you  allow  it  to  be  of  an  immutable  nature.  Immutability  is  the  pro- 
perty of  the  Supreme  Being.  God  "  only  hath  immortality"  (1  Tim. 
vi.  16);  immortality,  as  opposed  not  only  to  a  natural,  but  to  a  sin- 
ful death ;  the  word  only  appropriates  every  sort  of  immortality  to 
God,  and  excludes  every  creature,  whether  angel  or  man,  from  a 
partnership  with  God  in  this  by  nature.  Every  creature,  therefore, 
is  capable  of  a  death  in  sin.  "  None  is  good  but  God,"  and  none  is 
naturally  free  from  change  but  God,  which  excludes  every  creature 
from  the  same  prerogative ;  and  certainly,  if  one  angel  sinned,  all 
might  have  sinned,  because  there  was  the  same  root  of  mutability  in 
one  as  well  as  another.  It  is  as  possible  for  a  creature  to  be  a 
Creator,  as  for  a  creature  to  have  naturally  an  incommunicable  pro- 
perty of  the  Creator.  All  things,  whether  angels  or  men,  are  made 
of  nothing,  and  therefore,  capable  of  defection  ;=^  because  a  creature 
being  made  of  nothing,  cannot  be  good,  per  essentiam^  or  essentially 
good,  but  by  participation  from  another.  Again,  every  rational 
creature,  being  made  of  nothing,  hath  a  superior  which  created  him 
and  governs  him,  and  is  capable  of  a  precept ;  and,  consequently, 
capable  of  disobedience  as  well  as  obedience  to  the  precept,  to 
transgress  it,  as  well  as  obey  it.  God  cannot  sin,  because  he  can 
have  no  superior  to  impose  a  precept  on  him.  A  rational  creature, 
with  a  liberty  of  will  and  power  of  choice,  cannot  be  made  by  na- 
ture of  such  a  mould  and  temper,  but  he  must  be  as  well  capable  of 
choosing  wrong,  as  of  choosing  right ;  and,  therefore,  the  standing 
angels,  and  glorified  saints,  though  they  are  immutable,  it  is  not  by 
nature  that  they  are  so,  but  by  grace,  and  the  good  pleasure  of  God ; 
for  though  they  are  in  heaven,  they  have  still  in  their  nature  a  re- 
mote power  of  sinning,  but  it  shall  never  be  brought  into  act,  be- 
cause God  will  always  incline  their  wills  to  love  him,  and  never 
concur  with  their  wills  to  any  evil  act.  Since,  therefore,  mutability 
is  essential  to  a  creature  as  a  creature,  this  changeableness  cannot 
properly  be  charged  upon  God  as  the  author  of  it ;  for  it  was  not 
the  term  of  God's  creating  act,  but  did  necessarily  result  from  the 
nature  of  the  creature,  as  unchangeableness  doth  result  from  the  es- 
sence of  God.  The  brittleness  of  a  glass  is  no  blame  to  the  art  of 
him  that  blew  up  the  glass  into  such  a  fashion  ;  that  imperfection 
of  brittleness  is  not  from  the  workman,  but  the  matter ;  so,  though 
unchangeableness  be  an  imperfection,  yet  it  is  so  necessary  a  one, 
that  no  creature  can  be  naturally  without  it ;  besides,  though  angels 
and  men  were  mutable  by  creation,  and  capable  to  exercise  their 
wills,  yet  they  were  not  necessitated  to  evil,  and  this  mutability  did 
not  infer  a  necessity  that  they  should  fall,  because  some  angels, 
which  had  the  same  root  of  changeableness  in  their  natures  with 
those  that  fell,  did  not  fall,  which  they  would  have  done,  if 
capableness  of  changing,  and  necessity  of  changing,  were  one  and 
the  same  thing. 

2.  Though  God  made  the  creature  mutable,  yet  he  made  him  not 

»  Suarez,  Vol.  11.  p.  548. 


142  CHARNOCK  ON  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

evil.  There  could  be  nothing  of  evil  in  him  that  God  created  after 
his  own  image,  and  pronounced  "good"  (Gen.  i.  27,  31).  Man  had 
an  ability  to  stand,  as  well  as  a  capacity  to  fall:  he  was  created  with 
a  principal  of  acting  freely,  whereby  he  was  capable  of  loving  God 
as  his  chief  good,  and  moving  to  him  as  his  last  end ;  there  was  a 
beam  of  light  in  man's  understanding  to  know  the  rule  he  was  to 
conform  to,  a  harmony  between  his  reason  and  his  affections,  an 
original  righteousness :  so  that  it  seemed  more  easy  for  him  to  de- 
termine his  will  to  continue  in  obedience  to  the  precept,  than  to 
swerve  from  it ;  to  adhere  to  God  as  his  chief  good,  than  to  lis- 
ten to  the  charms  of  Satan.  God  created  him  with  those  advan- 
tages, that  he  might  with  more  facility  have  kept  his  eyes  fixed 
upon  the  Divine  beauty,  than  turn  his  back  upon  it,  and  with 
greater  ease  have  kept  the  precept  God  gave  him,  than  have  broken 
it.  The  very  first  thought  darted,  or  impression  made,  by  God,  upon 
the  angelical  or  human  nature,  was  the  knowledge  of  himself  as 
their  Author,  and  could  be  no  more  than  such  whereby  both  angels 
and  men  might  be  excited  to  a  love  of  that  adorable  Being,  that  had 
framed  them  so  gloriously  out  of  nothing ;  and  if  they  turned  their 
wills  and  affections  to  another  object  it  was  not  by  the  direction 
of  God,  but  contrary  to  the  impression  God  had  made  upon  them, 
or  the  first  thought  he  flashed  into  them.  They  turned  themselves 
to  the  admiring  their  own  excellency,  or  afiecting  an  advantage  dis- 
tinct from  that  which  they  were  to  look  for  only  from  God  (1  Tim. 
iii.  6).  Pride  was  the  cause,  of  the  condemnation  of  the  devil. 
Though  the  wills  of  angels  and  men  were  created  mutable,  and  so 
were  imperfect,  yet  they  were  not  created  evil.  Though  they  might 
sin,  yet  they  might  not  sin,  and,  therefore,  were  not  evil  in  their  own 
nature.  What  reflection,  then,  could  this  mutability  of  their  nature 
be  upon  God  ?  So  far  is  it  from  any,  that  he  is  fully  cleared,  by 
storing  up  in  the  nature  of  man  sufficient  provision  against  his  de- 
parture from  him.  God  was  so  far  from  creating  him  evil,  that  he 
fortified  him  with  a  knowledge  in  his  understanding,  and  a  strength 
in  his  nature  to  withstand  any  invasion.  The  knowledge  was  ex- 
ercised by  Eve,  in  the  very  moment  of  the  serpent's  assaulting  her 
(Gen.  iii.  3) ;  Eve  said  to  the  serpent,  "  God  hath  said,  ye  shall  not 
eat  of  it:"  and  had  her  thoughts  been  intent  upon  this,  "  God  hath 
said,"  and  not  diverted  to  the  motions  of  the  sensitive  appetite  and 
liquorish  palate,  it  had  been  sufficient  to  put  by  all  the  passes  the 
devil  did,  or  could  have  made  at  her.  So  that  you  see,  though  God 
made  the  creature  mutable,  yet  he  made  him  not  evil.  This  clears 
the  holiness  of  God. 

3.  Therefore  it  follows.  That  though  God  created  man  changeable, 
yet  he  was  not  the  cause  of  his  change  by  his  fall.  Though  man 
was  created  defectible,  yet  he  was  not  determined  by  God  influencing 
his  will  by  any  positive  act  to  that  change  and  apostasy.  God  placed 
him  in  a  free  i30sture,  set  life  and  happiness  before  him  on  the  one 
hand,  misery  and  death  on  the  other ;  as  he  did  not  draw  him  into 
the  arms  of  perpetual  blessedness,  so  he  did  not  drive  him  into  the 
gulf  of  his  misery,  b    He  did  not  incline  him  to  evil.    It  was  repugnant 

^  Amyr.  Moral.  Tom.  I.  pp.  615,  616. 


ON  THE  HOLINESS   OF   GOD.  143 

to  the  goodness  of  God  to  corrupt  the  righteousness  of  those  faculties 
he  had  so  lately  beautified  him  with.  It  was  not  likely  he  should 
deface  the  beauty  of  that  work  he  had  comj)osed  with  so  much  wis- 
dom and  skill.  Would  he,  by  any  act  of  his  own,  make  that  bad, 
which,  but  a  little  before,  he  had  acquiesced  in  as  good  ?  Angels 
and  men  were  left  to  their  liberty  and  conduct  of  their  natural  facul- 
ties; and  if  God  inspired  them  with  any  motions,  they  could  not  but 
be  motions  to  good,  and  suited  to  that  righteous  nature  he  had  endued 
them  with.  But  it  is  most  probable  that  God  did  not,  in  a  supernatural 
way,  act  inwardly  upon  the  mind  of  man,  but  left  him  wholly  to  that 
power,  which  he  had,  in  creation,  furnished  him  with.  The  Scrip- 
ture frees  God  fully  from  any  blame  in  this,  and  lays  it  wholly  upon 
Satan,  as  the  tempter,  and  upon  man,  as  the  determiner  of  his  own 
will  (Gen.  iii.  6);  Eve  "took  of  the  fruit,  and  did  eat;"  and  Adam 
took  from  her  of  the  fruit,  "and  did  eat."  And  Solomon  (Eccles. 
vii.  29)  distinguisheth  God's  work  in  the  creation  of  man  "  upright," 
from  man's  work  in  seeking  out  those  ruining  inventions.  God 
created  man  in  a  righteous  state,  and  man  cast  himself  into  a  forlorn 
state.  As  he  was  a  mutable  creature,  he  was  from  God ;  as  he  was 
a  changed  and  corrupted  creature,  it  was  from  the  devil  seducing, 
and  his  own  pliableness  in  admitting.  As  silver,  and  gold,  and  other 
metals,  were  created  by  God  in  such  a  form  and  figure,  yet  capable 
of  receiving  other  forms  by  the  industrious  art  of  man ;  when  the 
image  of  a  man  is  put  upon  a  piece  of  metal,  God  is  not  said  to  create 
that  image,  though  he  created  the  substance  with  such  a  property, 
that  it  was  capable  of  receiving  it ;  this  capacity  is  from  the  nature 
of  the  metal  by  God's  creation  of  it,  but  the  carving  the  figure  of  this 
or  that  man  is  not  the  act  of  God,  but  the  act  of  man.  As  images, 
in  Scripture,  are  called  the  work  of  men's  hands,  in  regard  of  the 
imagery,  though  the  matter,  wood  or  stone,  upon  which  the  image 
was  carved,  was  a  work  of  God's  creative  power.  When  an  artificer 
frames  an  excellent  instrument,  and  a  musician  exactly  tunes  it,  and 
it  comes  out  of  their  hands  without  a  blemish,  but  capable  to  be  un- 
tuned by  some  rude  hand,  or  receive  a  crack  by  a  sudden  fall,  if  it 
meet  with  a  disaster,  is  either  the  workman  or  musician  to  be  blamed  ? 
The  ruin  of  a  house,  caused  by  the  wastefulness  or  carelessness  of  the 
tenant,  is  not  to  be  imputed  to  the  workman  that  built  it  strong,  and 
left  it  in  a  good  posture. 

Prop.  II.  God's  holiness  is  not  blemished  by  enjoining  man  a  law, 
which  he  knew  he  would  not  observe. 

1.  The  law  was  not  above  his  strength.  Had  the  law  been  impos- 
sible to  be  observed,  no  crime  could  have  been  imputed  to  the  sub- 
ject, the  fault  had  lain  wholly  upon  the  Governor;  the  non-observ- 
ance of  it  had  been  from  a  want  of  strength,  and  not  from  a  want  of 
will.  Ilad  God  commanded  Adam  to  fly  up  to  the  sun,  when  he 
had  not  given  him  wings,  Adam  might  have  a  will  to  obey  it,  but 
his  power  would  be  too  short  to  perform  it.  But  the  law  set  him  for 
a  rule,  had  nothing  of  impossibility  in  it ;  it  was  easy  to  be  observed ; 
the  command  was  rather  below,  than  above  his  strength ;  and  the 
sanction  of  it  was  more  apt  to  restrain  and  scare  him  from  the  breach 
of  it,  than  encourage  any  daring  attempts  against  it ;  he  had  as  much 


144  CHARNOCK  ON   THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

power,  or  ratlier  more,  to  conform  to  it,  than  to  warp  from  it ;  and 
greater  arguments  and  interest  to  be  observant  of  it,  than  to  violate 
it ;  his  all  was  secured  by  the  one,  and  his  ruin  ascertained  by  the 
other.  The  commands  of  God  are  not  grievous  (1  John  v.  3) ;  from 
the  first  to  the  last  command,  there  is  nothing  impossible,  nothing 
hard  to  the  original  and  created  nature  of  man,  which  were  all  sum- 
med up  in  a  love  to  God,  which  was  the  pleasure  and  delight  of  man, 
as  well  as  his  duty,  if  he  had  not,  by  inconsiderateness,  neglected  the 
dictates  and  resolves  of  his  own  understanding.  The  law  was  suited 
to  the  strength  of  man,  and  fitted  for  the  improvement  and  perfection 
of  his  nature ;  in  which  respect,  the  apostle  calls  it  "  good,"  as  it  refers 
to  man,  as  well  as  "holy,"  as  it  refers  to  God  (Rom.  vii.  12).  Now, 
since  God  created  man  a  creature  capable  to  be  governed  by  a  law, 
and  as  a  rational  creature  endued  with  understanding  and  will,  not 
to  be  governed,  according  to  his  nature,  without  a  law ;  was  it  con- 
gruous to  the  wisdom  of  God  to  respect  only  the  future  state  of  man, 
which,  from  the  depth  of  his  infinite  knowledge,  he  did  infallibly 
foresee  would  be  miserable,  by  the  wilful  defection  of  man  from  the 
rule  ?  Had  it  been  agreeable  to  the  wisdom  of  God,  to  respect  only 
this  future  state,  and  not  the  present  state  of  the  creature ;  and  there- 
fore leave  him  lawless,  because  he  knew  he  would  violate  the  law  ? 
Should  God  forbear  to  act  like  a  wise  governor,  because  he  saw  that 
man  would  cease  to  act  like  an  obedient  subject  ?  Shall  a  righteous 
magistrate  forbear  to  make  just  and  good  laws,  because  he  foresees, 
either  from  the  dispositions  of  his  subjects,  their  ill-humor,  or  some 
circumstances  which  will  intervene,  that  multitudes  of  them  will 
incline  to  break  those  laws,  and  fall  under  the  jDenalty  of  them  ?  No 
blame  can  be  upon  that  magistrate  who  minds  the  rule  of  righteous- 
ness, and  the  necessary  duty  of  his  government,  since  he  is  not  the 
cause  of  those  turbulent  affections  of  men,  which  he  wisely  foresees 
will  rise  up  against  his  just  edicts. 

2.  Though  the  law  now  be  above  the  strength  of  man,  yet  is  not 
the  holiness  of  God  blemished  by  keeping  it  up.  It  is  true,  God  hath 
been  graciously  pleased  to  mitigate  the  severity  and  rigor  of  the  law, 
by  the  entrance  of  the  gospel ;  yet  where  men  refuse  the  terms  of  the 
gospel,  they  continue  themselves  under  the  condemnation  of  the  law, 
and  are  justly  guilty  of  the  breach  of  it,  though  they  have  no  strength 
to  observe  it.  The  law,  as  I  said  before,  was  not  above  man's  strength, 
when  he  was  possessed  of  original  righteousness,  though  it  be  above 
man's  strength,  since  he  was  stripped  of  original  righteousness.  The 
command  was  dated  before  man  had  contracted  his  impotency,  when 
he  had  a  power  to  keep  it  as  well  as  to  break  it.  Had  it  been  enjoined 
to  man  only  after  the  fall,  and  not  before,  he  might  have  had  a  better 
pretence  to  excuse  himself,  because  of  the  impossibility  of  it ;  yet  he 
would  not  have  had  sufficient  excuse,  since  the  impossibility  did  not 
result  from  the  nature  of  the  law,  but  from  the  corrupted  nature  of 
the  creature.  It  was  "weak  through  the  flesh"  (Rom.  viii.  3),  but  it 
was  promulged  when  man  had  a  strength  proportioned  to  the  com- 
mands of  it.  And  now,  since  man  hath  unhappily  made  himself 
incapable  of  obeying  it,  must  God's  holiness  in  his  law  be  blemished 
for  enjoining  it  ?     Must  he  abrogate  those  commands,  and  prohibit 


ON  THE   HOLINESS   OF   GOD.  145 

"vvTiat  before  lie  enjoined,  for  the  satisfaction  of  tlie  corrupted  creature? 
"Would  not  this  be  his  "ceasing  to  be  holy,"  that  his  creature  might 
be  unblameably  unrighteous  ?  Must  God  strip  himself  of  his  holi- 
ness, because  man  will  not  discharge  his  iniquity  ?  He  cannot  be 
the  cause  of  sin,  by  keeping  up  the  law,  who  would  be  the  cause  of 
all  the  unrighteousness  of  men,  by  removing  the  authority  of  it. 
Some  things  in  the  law  that  are  intrinsically  good  in  their  own 
nature,  are  indispensable,  and  it  is  repugnant  to  the  nature  of  God 
not  to  command  them.  If  he  were  not  the  guardian  of  his  indispen- 
sable law,  he  would  be  the  cause  and  countenancer  of  the  creatures' 
iniquity.  So  little  reason  have  men  to  charge  God  with  being  the 
cause  of  their  sin,  by  not  repealing  his  law  to  gratify  their  impotence, 
that  he  would  be  unholy  if  he  did.  God  must  not  lose  his  purity, 
because  man  hath  lost  his,  and  cast  away  the  right  of  his  sovereignty, 
because  man  hath  cast  away  his  power  of  obedience. 

3.  God's  foreknowledge  that  his  law  would  not  be  observed,  lays 
no  blame  upon  him.  Though  the  foreknowledge  of  God  be  infallible, 
yet  it  doth  not  necessitate  the  creature  in  acting.  It  was  certain 
from  eternity,  that  Adam  would  fall,  that  men  would  do  such  and 
such  actions,  that  Judas  would  betray  our  Saviour;  God  foreknew 
all  those  things  from  eternity ;  but,  it  is  as  certain  that  this  fore- 
knowledge did  not  necessitate  the  will  of  Adam,  or  any  other  branch 
of  his  posterity,  in  the  doing  those  actions  that  were  so  foreseen  by 
God  ;  they  voluntarily  run  into  such  courses,  not  by  any  impulsion. 
God's  knowledge  was  not  suspended  between  certainty  and  uncer- 
tainty ;  he  certainly  foreknew  that  his  law  would  be  broken  by 
Adam ;  he  forekncAV  it  in  his  own  decree  of  not  hindering  him,  by 
giving  Adam  the  efficacious  grace  which  would  infallibly  have  pre- 
vented it ;  yet  Adam  did  freely  break  this  law,  and  never  imagined 
that  the  foreknowledge  of  God  did  necessitate  him  to  it ;  he  could 
find  no  cause  of  his  own  sin,  but  the  liberty  of  his  own  will ;  he 
charges  the  occasion  of  his  sin  upon  the  woman,  and  consequently 
upon  God  in  giving  the  woman  to  him  (Gen.  iii.  12).  He  could  not 
be  so  ignorant  of  the  nature  of  God,  as  to  imagine  him  without  a 
foresight  of  future  things :  since  his  knowledge  of  what  was  to  be 
known  of'God  by  creation,  was  greater  than  any  man's  since,  in  all 
probability.  But,  however,  if  he  were  not  acquainted  with  the  no- 
tion of  God's  foreknowledge,  he  could  not  be  ignorant  of  his  own  act ; 
there  could  not  have  been  any  necessity  upon  him,  any  kind  of  con- 
straint of  him  in  his  action,  that  could  have  been  unknown  to  him  ; 
and  he  would  not  have  omitted  a  plea  of  so  strong  a  nature,  when  he 
was  upon  his  trial  for  life  or  death  ;  especially  when  he  urgeth  so 
weak  an  argument,  to  impute  his  crime  to  God,  as  the  gift  of  the 
woman ;  as  if  that  which  was  designed  him  for  a  help,  were  intend- 
ed for  his  ruin.  If  God's  prescience  takes  away  the  liberty  of  the 
creature,  there  is  no  such  thing  as  a  free  action  in  the  world  (for  there 
is  nothing  done  but  is  foreknown  by  God,  else  we  render  God  of  a 
limited  understanding),  nor  ever  was,  no,  not  by  God  himself,  ad  ex- 
tra ;  for  whatsoever  he  hath  done  in  creation,  whatsoever  he  hath 
done  since  the  creation,  was  foreknown  by  him :  he  resolved  to  do 
it,  and,  therefore,  foreknew  that  he  would  do  it.     Did  God  do  it, 

VOL.   II. — 10 


146  CHARNOCK   ON  THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

therefore,  necessarily,  as  necessity  is  opposed  to  liberty  ?  As  lie 
freely  decrees  what  he  will  do,  so  he  effects  what  he  freely  decreed. 
Foreknowledge  is  so  far  from  intrenching  upon  the  liberty  of  the  will, 
that  predetermination,  which  in  the  notion  of  it  speaks  something 
more,  doth  not  dissolve  it ;  God  did  not  only  foreknow,  but  deter- 
mine the  suffering  of  Christ  (Acts  iv.  27,  28).  It  was  necessary, 
therefore,  that  Clirist  should  suffer,  that  God  might  not  be  mistaken 
in  his  foreknowledge,  or  come  short  of  his  determinate  decree ;  but 
did  this  take  away  the  liberty  of  Christ  in  suffering  ?  (Eph,  v.  2) : 
"  Who  offered  himself  up  to  God ;"  that  is,  by  a  voluntary  act,  as 
well  as  designed  to  do  it  by  a  determinate  counsel.  It  dicl  infallibly 
secure  the  event,  but  did  not  annihilate  the  liberty  of  the  action, 
either  in  Christ's  willingness  to  suffer,  or  the  crime  of  the  Jews  that 
made  him  suffer.  God's  prescience  is  God's  provision  of  things 
arising  from  their  proper  causes ;  as  a  gardener  foresees  in  his  plants 
the  leaves  and  the  flowers  that  will  arise  from  them  in  the  spring, 
because  he  knows  the  strength  and  nature  of  their  several  roots 
which  lie  under  ground ;  but  his  foresight  of  these  things  is  not  the 
cause  of  the  rise  and  appearance  of  those  flowers.  If  any  of  us  see  a 
ship  moving  towards  such  a  rock  or  quicksand,  and  know  it  to  be 
governed  by  a  negligent  pilot,  we  shall  certainly  foresee  that  the 
ship  will  be  torn  in  pieces  by  the  rock,  or  swallowed  up  by  the  sands ; 
but  is  this  foresight  of  ours  from  the  causes,  any  cause  of  the  effect ; 
or  can  we  from  hence  be  said  to  be  the  authors  of  the  miscarriage 
of  the  ship,  and  the  loss  of  the  passengers  and  goods  ?  The  fall  of 
Adam  was  foreseen  by  God  to  come  to  pass  by  the  consent  of  his 
free  will,  in  the  choice  of  the  proposed  temptation.  God  foreknew 
Adam  would  sin,  and  if  Adam  would  not  have  sinned,  God  would 
have  foreknown  that  he  would  not  sin.  Adam  might  easily  have 
detected  the  serjjents  fraud,  and  made  a  better  election  ;  God  foresaw 
that  he  would  not  do  it ;  God's  foreknowledge  did  not  make  Adam 
guilty  or  innocent :  whether  God  had  foreknown  it  or  no,  he  was 
guilty  by  a  free  choice,  and  a  willing  neglect  of  his  own  duty. 
Adam  knew  that  God  foreknew  that  he  might  eat  of  the  fruit,  and 
fall  and  die,  because  God  had  forbidden  him ;  the  foreknowledge 
that  he  would  do  it,  was  no  more  a  cause  of  his  action,,than  the 
foreknowledge  that  he  might  do  it.  Judas  certainly  knew  that  his 
Master  foreknew  that  he  would  betray  him,  for  Christ  had  acquaint- 
ed him  with  it  (John  xiii.  21,  26) ;  yet  he  never  charged  this  fore- 
knowledge of  Christ  with  any  guilt  of  his  treachery. 

Pro'p.  III.  The  holiness  of  God  is  not  blemished  by  decreeing  the 
eternal  rejection  of  some  men.  Keprobation,  in  its  first  notion,  is  an 
act  of  pretention,  or  passing  by.  A  man  is  not  made  wicked  by  the 
the  act  of  God  ;  but  it  supposeth  him  wicked ;  and  so  it  is  nothing 
else  but  God's  leaving  a  man  in  that  guilt  and  filth  wherein  he  be- 
holds him.  In  its  second  notion,  it  is  an  ordination,  not  to  a  crime, 
but  to  a  punishment  (Jude  4) :  "  an  ordaining  to  condemnation." 
And  though  it  be  an  eternal  act  of  God,  yet,  in  order  of  nature,  it 
follows  upon  the  foresight  of  the  transgression  of  man,  and  supposeth 
the  crime.  God  considers  Adam's  revolt,  and  views  the  whole  mass 
of  his  corrupted  posterity,  and  chooses  some  to  reduce  to  himself  by 


ON  THE   HOLINESS   OF   GOD.  147 

his  grace,  and  leaves  otliers  to  lie  sinking  in  tlieir  ruins.  Since  all 
mankind  fell  by  tlie  fall  of  Adam,  and  have  corruption  conveyed  to 
them  successively  by  that  root,  whereof  they  are  branches ;  all  men 
might  justly  be  left  wallowing  in  that  miserable  condition  to  which  they 
are  reduced  by  the  apostasy  of  their  common  head ;  and  God  might 
have  passed  by  the  whole  race  of  man,  as  well  as  he  did  the  fallen 
angels,  without  any  hope  of  redemption.  He  was  no  more  bound  to 
restore  man,  than  to  restore  devils,  nor  bound  to  repair  the  nature 
of  any  one  son  of  Adam  ;  and  had  he  dealt  with  men  as  he  dealt 
with  the  devils,  they  had  had,  all  of  them,  as  little  just  ground  to 
complain  of  God ;  for  all  men  deserved  to  be  left  to  themselves,  for 
all  were  concluded  under  sin ;  but  God  calls  out  some  to  make 
monuments  of  his  grace,  which  is  an  act  of  the  sovereign  mercy  of 
that  dominion,  whereby  "  he  hath  mercy  on  whom  he  will  have 
mercy"  (Rom.  ix.  18) ;  others  he  passes  by,  and  leaves  them  remain- 
ing in  that  corruption  of  nature  wherein  they  were  born.  If  men 
have  a  power  to  dispose  of  their  own  goods,  without  any  unright- 
eousness, why  should  not  God  dispose  of  his  own  grace,  and  bestow 
it  upon  whom  he  pleases  ;  since  it  is  a  debt  to  none,  but  a  free  gift 
to  any  that  enjoy  it  ?  God  is  not  the  cause  of  sin  in  this,  because 
his,  operation  about  this  is  negative ;  it  is  not  an  action,  but  a  denial 
of  action,  and  therefore  cannot  be  the  cause  of  the  evil  actions  of 
men.c  God  acts  nothing,  but  withholds  his  power ;  he  doth  not  en- 
lighten their  minds,  nor  incline  their  wills  so  powerfully,  as  to  expel 
their  darkness,  and  root  out  those  evil  habits  which  possess  them  by 
nature.  God  could,  if  he  would,  savingly  enlighten  the  minds  of  all 
men  in  the  world,  and  quicken  their  hearts  with  a  new  life  by  an  in- 
vincible grace ;  but  in  not  doing  it,  there  is  no  positive  act  of  God, 
but  a  cessation  of  action.  We  may  with  as  much  reason  say,  that 
God  is  the  cause  of  all  the  sinful  actions  that  are  committed  by  the 
corporation  of  devils,  since  their  first  rebellion,  because  he  leaves 
them,  to  themselves,  and  bestows  not  a  new  grace  upon  them, — as 
say,  God  is  the  cause  of  the  sins  of  those  that  he  overlooks  and  leaves 
in  that  state  of  guilt  wherein  he  found  them.  God  did  not  pass  by 
any  without  the  consideration  of  sin  ;  so  that  this  act  of  God  is  not 
repugnant  to  his  holiness,  but  conformable  to  his  justice. 

Prop.  lY.  The  holiness  of  God  is  not  blemished  by  his  secret  will 
to  suft'er  sin  to  enter  into  the  world.  God  never  willed  sin  by  his 
preceptive  will.  It  was  never  founded  upon,  or  produced  by  any 
word  of  his,  as  the  creation  was.  He  never  said,  Let  there  be  sin 
under  the  heaven,  as  he  said,  "Let  there  be  water  under  the  hea- 
ven." Nor  doth  he  will  it  by  infusing  any  habit  of  it,  or  stirring  up 
inclinations  to  it ;  no,  "  God  tempts  no  man"  (James  i.  13).  Nor 
doth  he  will  it  by  his  approving  will ;  it  is  detestable  to  him,  nor 
ever  can  he  be  otherwise ;  he  cannot  approve  it  either  before  com- 
mission or  after. 

1.  The  will  of  God  is  in  some  sort  concurrent  with  sin.  He  doth 
not  properly  will  it,  but  he  wills  not  to  hinder  it,  to  which,  by  his 
omnipotence,  he  could  put  a  bar.  If  he  did  positively  will  it,  it 
might  be  wrought  by  himself,  and  so  could  not  be  evil.     If  he  did 

•=  Amyral.  Defence  de  Calv.  p.  145. 


148  CHAENOCK   OX   THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

in  no  sort  will  it,  it  would  not  be  committed  by  his  creature ;  sin 
entered  into  the  world,  either  God  willing  the  permission  of  it,  or 
not  willing  the  permission  of  it.  The  latter  cannot  be  said ;  for  then 
the  creature  is  more  powerful  than  God,  and  can  do  that  which  God 
will  not  permit.  God  can,  if  he  be  pleased,  banish  all  sin  in  a  mo- 
ment out  of  the  world:  he  could  have  prevented  the  revolt  of  angels, 
and  the  fall  of  man ;  they  did  not  sin  whether  he  would  or  no  :  he 
might,  by  his  grace,  have  stepped  in  the  first  moment,  and  made  a 
special  impression  upon  them  of  the  happiness  they  already  possessed, 
and  the  misery  they  would  incur  by  any  wicked  attempt.  He  could 
as  well  have  prevented  the  sin  of  the  fallen  angels,  and  confirmed 
them  in  grace,  as  of  those  that  continued  in  their  happy  state :  he 
might  have  appeared  to  man,  informed  him  of  the  issue  of  his  de- 
sign, and  made  secret  impressions  upon  his  heart,  since  he  was  ac- 
quainted with  every  avenue  to  his  will.  God  could  have  kept  all 
sin  out  of  the  world,  as  well  as  all  creatures  from  breathing  in  it ;  he 
was  as  well  able  to  bar  sin  forever  out  of  the  world,  as  to  let  crea- 
tures lie  in  the  womb  of  nothing,  wherein  they  were  first  wrapped. 
To  say  God  doth  will  sin  as  he  doth  other  things,  is  to  deny  his  ho- 
liness ;  to  say  it  entered  without  anything  of  his  will,  is  to  deny  his 
omnipotence.  If  he  did  necessitate  Adam  to  fall,  what  shall  we 
think  of  his  purity  ?  If  Adam  did  fall  without  any  concern  of  God's 
will  in  it,  what  shall  we  say  of  his  sovereignty  ?  The  one  taints  his 
holiness,  and  the  other  clips  his  power.  If  it  came  without  anything 
of  his  will  in  it,  and  he  did  not  foresee  it,  where  is  his  omniscience  ? 
If  it  entered  whether  he  would  or  no,  where  is  his  omnipotence 
(Eom.  ix.  19)  ?  "  Who  hath  resisted  his  will  ?"  There  cannot  be  a 
lustful  act  in  Abimelech,  if  God  will  withhold  his  power  (Gen.  xx. 
6) ;  "I  withheld  thee :"  nor  a  cursing  word  in  Balaam's  mouth,  un- 
less God  give  power  to  speak  it  (Numb.  xxii.  38):  "  Have  I  now  any 
power  at  all  to  say  anything?  The  word  that  God  puts  in  my  mouth, 
that  shall  I  speak."  As  no  action  could  be  sinful,  if  God  had  not 
forbidden  it ;  so  no  sin  could  be  committed,  if  God  did  not  will  to 
give  way  to  it. 

2.  God  doth  not  will  directly,  and  by  an  efficacious  will.  He  doth 
not  directly  will  it,  because  he  hath  prohibited  it  by  his  law,  which 
is  a  discovery  of  his  will :  so  that  if  he  should  directly  will  sin,  and 
directly  prohibit  it,  he  would  will  good  and  evil  in  the  same  manner, 
and  there  would  be  contradictions  in  God's  will :  to  will  sin  abso- 
lutely, is  to  work  it  (Ps.  cxv.  3):  "God  hath  done  whatsoever  he 
pleased."  God  cannot  absolutely  will  it,  because  he  cannot  work  it. 
God  wills  good  by  a  positive  decree,  because  he  hath  decreed  to  effect 
it.d  He  wills  evil  by  a  private  decree,  because  he  hath  decreed  not 
to  give  that  grace  which  would  certainly  prevent  it.  God  doth  not 
will  sin  simply,  for  that  were  to  approve  it,  but  he  wills  it,  in  order  to 
that  good  his  wisdom  will  bring  forth  from  it.<^  He  wills  not  sin  for 
itself,  but  for  the  event.  To  will  sin  as  sin,  or  as  purely  evil,  is  not 
in  the  capacity  of  a  creature,  neither  of  man  nor  devil.  The  will  of 
a  rational  creature  cannot  will  anything  but  under  the  appearance 
of  good,  of  some  good  in  the  sin  itself,  or  some  good  in  the  issue  of  it. 

^  Rispolis.  *  Bradward.  lib.  i.  cap.  34.    "  God  wills  it  secundum  quid.'' 


ON  THE   HOLINESS  OF   GOD.  149 

Mucli  more  is  this  far  from  God,  who,  being  infinitely  good,  cannot 
will  evil  as  evil ;  and  being  infinitely  knowing,  cannot  will  that  for 
good  which  is  evil/  Infinite  wisdom  can  be  under  no  error  or  mis- 
take :  to  will  sin  as  sin,  would  be  an  unanswerable  blemish  on  God ; 
but  to  will  to  suffer  it  in  order  to  good,  is  the  glory  of  his  wisdom  ; 
it  could  never  have  peeped  up  its  head,  unless  there  had  been  some 
decree  of  God  concerning  it.  And  there  had  been  no  decree  of  God 
concerning  it,  had  he  not  intended  to  bring  good  and  glory  out  of  it. 
If  God  did  directly  will  the  discovery  of  his  grace  and  mercy  to  the 
world,  he  did  in  some  sort  will  sin,  as  that  without  which  there  could 
not  have  been  any  appearance  of  mercy  in  the  world  ;  for  an  inno- 
cent creature  is  not  the  object  of  mercy,  but  a  miserable  creature : 
and  no  rational  creature  but  must  be  sinful  before  it  be  miserable. 

3.  God  wills  the  permission  of  sin.  Pie  doth  not  positively  will 
sin,  but  he  positively  wills  to  permit  it.  And  though  he  doth  not 
approve  of  sin,  yet  he  approves  of  that  act  of  his  will,  whereby  he 
permits  it.  For  since  that  sin  could  not  enter  into  the  world  without 
some  concern  of  God's  will  about  it,  that  act  of  his  will  that  gave 
way  to  it,  could  not  be  displeasing  to  him :  God  could  never  be  dis- 
pleased with  his  own  act :  "  He  is  not  as  man,  that  he  should  repent" 
(1  Sam.  XV.  29).  What  God  cannot  repent  of,  he  cannot  but  approve 
of:  it  is  contrary  to  the  blessedness  of  God  to  disapprove  of,  and 
be  displeased  with  any  act  of  his  own  will.  If  he  hated  any  act 
of  his  own  will,  he  would  hate  himself,  he  would  be  under  a  torture : 
every  one  that  hates  his  own  acts,  is  under  some  disturbance  and 
torment  for  them.  That  which  is  permitted  by  him,  is  in  itself,  and 
in  regard  of  the  evil  of  it,  hateful  to  him :  but  as  the  prospect  of  that 
good  which  he  aims  at  in  the  permission  of  it  is  pleasing  to  him,  so 
that  act  of  his  will,  whereby  he  permits  it,  is  ushered  in  by  an  ap- 
proving act  of  his  understanding.  Either  God  approved  of  the  per- 
mission, or  not ;  if  he  did  not  approve  his  own  act  of  permission,  he 
could  not  have  decreed  an  act  of  permission.  It  is  inconceivable 
that  God  should  decree  such  an  act  which  he  detested,  and  positively 
will  that  which  he  hated.  Though  God  hated  sin,  as  being  against 
his  holiness,  yet  he  did  not  hate  the  permission  of  sin,  as  being  sub- 
servient by  the  immensity  of  his  wisdom  to  his  own  glory.  He  could 
never  be  displeased  with  that  which  was  the  result  of  his  eternal 
counsel,  as  this  decree  of  permitting  sin  was,  as  well  as  any  other 
decree,  resolved  upon  in  his  own  breast.  For  as  God  acts  nothing  in 
time,  but  what  he  decreed  from  eternity,  so  he  permits  nothing  in 
time  but  what  he  decreed  from  eternity  to  permit.  To  speak  prop- 
erly, therefore,  God  doth  not  will  sin,  but  he  wills  the  permission  of 
it,  and  this  will  to  permit  is  active  and  positive  in  God. 

4.  This  act  of  permission  is  not  a  mere  and  naked  permission,  but 
such  an  one  as  is  attended  with  a  certainty  of  the  event.  The  decrees 
of  God  to  make  use  of  the  sin  of  man  for  the  glory  of  his  grace  in 
the  mission  and  passion  of  his  Son,  hung  upon  this  entrance  of  sin. 
Would  it  consist  with  the  wisdom  of  God  to  decree  such  great  and 
stupendous  things,  the  event  whereof  sliould  depend  upon  an  un- 
certain foundation  which  he  might  be  mistaken  in  ?    God  would  have 

f  Aquin.  cont.  Geut.  lib.  i.  cap.  95. 


150  CHARNOCK   ON   THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

sat  in  counsel  from  eternity  to  no  purpose,  if  lie  had  only  permitted 
those  things  to  be  done,  without  any  knowledge  of  the  event  of  this 
permission.  God  would  not  have  made  such  provision  for  redemj)- 
tion  to  no  purpose,  or  an  uncertain  purpose,  which  would  have  been, 
if  man  had  not  fallen ;  or  if  it  had  been  an  uncertainty  with  God 
whether  he  would  fall  or  no.  Though  the  will  of  God  about  sin  was 
permissive,  yet  the  will  of  God  about  that  glory  he  would  promote 
by  the  defect  of  the  creature,  was  positive ;  and,  therefore,  he  would 
not  suffer  so  many  positive  acts  of  his  will  to  hang  upon  an  uncer- 
tain event ;  and,  therefore,  he  did  wisely  and  righteously  order  all 
things  to  the  accomplishment  of  his  great  and  gracious  purposes. 

5.  This  act  of  permission  doth  not  taint  the  holiness  of  God. 
That  there  is  such  an  act  as  permission,  is  clear  in  Scripture  (Acts 
xiv.  16):  "  Who  in  times  past  suffered  all  nations  to  walk  in  their 
own  ways."  But  that  it  doth  not  blemish  the  holiness  of  God,  will 
appear, 

1st.  From  the  nature  of  this  permission. 

1.  It  is  not  a  moral  permission,  a  giving  liberty  of  toleration  by 
any  law  to  commit  sin  with  impunity  ;  when,  what  one  law  did  for- 
bid, another  law  doth  leave  indifferent  to  be  done  or  not,  as  a  man 
sees  good  in  himself  As  when  there  is  a  law  made  among  men, 
that  no  man  shall  go  out  of  such  a  city  or  country  without  license  ; 
to  go  out  without  license  is  a  crime  by  the  law  ;  but  when  that  law  is 
repealed  by  another,  that  gives  liberty  for  men  to  go  and  come  at 
their  pleasure,  it  doth  not  make  their  going  or  coming  necessary,  but 
leaves  those  which  were  before  bound,  to  do  as  they  see  good  in 
themselves.  Such  a  permission  makes  a  fact  lawful,  though  not  nec- 
essary ;  a  man  is  not  obliged  to  do  it,  but  he  is  left  to  his  own  discre- 
tion to  do  as  he  pleases,  without  being  chargeable  with  a  crime  for 
doing  it.  Such  a  permission  there  was  granted  by  God  to  Adam  of 
eating  of  the  fruits  of  the  garden,  to  choose  any  of  them  for  food, 
except  the  tree  of  "  knowledge  of  good  and  evil."  It  was  a  precept 
to  him,  not  to  "  eat  of  the  fruit  of  the  tree  of  knowledge  of  good 
and  evil ;"  but  the  other  was  a  permission,  whereby  it  was  lawful  for 
him  to  feed  upon  any  other  that  was  most  agreeable  to  his  appetite  : 
but  there  is  not  such  a  permission  in  the  case  of  sin  ;  this  had  been 
an  indulgence  of  it,  which  had  freed  man  from  any  crime,  and,  con- 
sequently, from  punishment ;  because,  by  such  a  permission  by  law, 
he  would  have  had  authority  to  sin  if  he  pleased.  God  did  not  re- 
move the  law,  which  he  had  before  placed  as  a  bar  against  evil,  nor 
ceased  that  moral  impediment  of  his  threatening :  such  a  permission 
as  this,  to  make  sin  lawful  or  indifferent,  had  been  a  blot  upon  God's 
holiness. 

2.  But  this  permission  of  God,  in  the  case  of  sin,  is  no  more  than 
the  not  hindering  a  sinful  action,  which  he  could  have  prevented. 
It  is  not  so  much  an  action  of  God,  as  a  suspension  of  his  influence, 
which  might  have  hindered  an  evil  act,  and  a  forbearing  to  restrain 
the  faculties  of  man  from  sin ;  it  is,  properly,  the  not  exerting  that 
efficacy  which  might  change  the  counsels  that  are  taken,  and  prevent 
the  action  intended ;  as  when  one  man  sees  another  read}^  to  fall, 
and  can  preserve  him  from  falling  by  reaching  out  his  hand,  he  per- 


ON  THE  HOLINESS   OF  GOD.  151 

mits  him  to  fall,  that  is,  he  hinders  him  not  from  falling.  So  God 
describes  his  act  about  Abimelech  (Gen.  xx.  6);  "  I  withheld  thee 
from  sinning  against  me,  therefore  suffered  I  thee  not  to  touch  her." 
If  Abimelech  had  sinned,  he  had  sinned  by  God's  permission ;  that 
is,  by  God's  not  hindering,  or  not  restraining  him  by  making  any  im- 
pressions upon  him.  So  that  permission  is  only  a  withholding  that 
help  and  grace,  which,  if  bestowed,  would  have  been  an  effectual 
remedy  to  prevent  a  crime ;  and  it  is  rather  a  suspension,  or  cessa- 
tion, than  properly  a  permission,  and  sin  may  be  said  to  be  commit- 
ted, not  without  God's  permission,  rather  than  by  his  permission. 
Thus,  in  the  fall  of  man,  God  did  not  hold  the  reins  strict  upon 
Satan,  to  restrain  him  from  laying  the  bait,  nor  restrain  Adam  from 
swallowing  the  bait :  he  kept  to  himself  that  efficacious  grace  which 
he  might  have  darted  out  upon  man  to  prevent  his  fall.  God  left 
Satan  to  his  malice  of  tempting,  and  Adam  to  his  liberty  of  resisting, 
and  his  own  strength,  to  use  that  sufEicient  grace  he  had  furnished 
him  with,  whereby  he  might  have  resisted  and  overcome  the  temp- 
tation. As  he  did  not  drive  man  to  it,  so  he  did  not  secretly  restrain 
him  from  it.  So,  in  the  Jews  crucifying  our  Saviour,  God  did  not 
imprint  upon  their  minds,  by  his  Spirit,  a  consideration  of  the  great- 
ness of  the  crime,  and  the  horror  of  his  justice  due  to  it;  and,  being 
without  those  impediments,  they  run  furiously,  of  their  own  accord, 
to  the  commission  of  that  evil ;  as,  when  a  man  lets  a  wolf  or  dog 
out  upon  his  prey,  he  takes  off  the  chain  which  held  them,  and  they 
presently  act  according  to  their  natures. g  In  the  fall  of  angels  and 
men,  God's  act  was  leaving  them  to  their  own  strength ;  in  sins  after 
the  fall,  it  is  God's  giving  them  up  to  their  own  corruption  ;  the  first 
is  a  pure  suspension  of  grace ;  the  other  hath  the  nature  of  a  punish- 
ment (Ps.  Ixxxi.  12):  "  So  I  gave  them  up  to  their  own  hearts'  lusts." 
The  first  object  of  this  permissive  will  of  God  was  to  leave  angels 
and  men  to  their  liberty,  and  the  use  of  their  free  will,  which  was 
natural  to  them,h  not  adding  that  supernatural  grace  which  was 
necessary,  not  that  they  should  not  at  all  sin,  but  that  they  should 
infallibly  not  sin  :  they  had  a  strength  sufficient  to  avoid  sin,  but  not 
sufficient  infallibly  to  avoid  sin ;  a  grace  sufficient  to  preserve  them, 
but  not  sufficient  to  confirm  them. 

3.  Now  this  permission  is  not  the  cause  of  sin,  nor  doth  blemish 
the  holiness  of  God.  It  doth  not  intrench  upon  the  freedom  of  men, 
but  supposeth  it,  establisheth  it,  and  leaves  man  to  it.  God  acted 
nothing,  but  only  ceased  to  act ;  and  therefore  could  not  be  the  efii- 
cient  cause  of  man's  sin.  As  God  is  not  the  author  of  good,  but  by 
willing  and  effecting  it,  so  he  is  not  the  author  of  evil,  but  by  willing 
and  effecting  it, :  but  he  doth  not  positively  will  evil,  nor  effect  it  by 
any  efficacy  of  his  own.  Permission  is  no  action,  nor  the  cause  of 
that  action  which  is  permitted ;  but  the  will  of  that  person  who  is 
permitted  to  do  such  an  action  is  the  cause.'  God  can  no  more  be 
said  to  be  the  cause  of  sin,  by  suffering  a  creature  to  act  as  it  will, 
than  he  can  be  said  to  be  the  cause  of  the  not  being  of  any  creature, 
by  denying  it  being,  and  letting  it  remain  nothing;  it  is  not  from 
God  that  it  is  nothing,  it  is  nothing  in  itself     Though  God  be  said 

K  Lawson,  p.  64.^  •»  Suarez,  Vol.  IV.  p.  414.  '  Suarez,  de  Legib.  p.  43, 


152  CHAENOCK  ON  THE  ATTEIBUTES. 

to  be  tlie  cause  of  creation,  jet  he  is  never  by  any  said  to  be  the 
cause  of  that  nothing  which  was  before  creation.  This  permission  of 
God  is  not  the  cause  of  sin,  but  the  cause  of  not  hindering  sin.  Man 
and  angels  had  a  physical  power  of  sinning  from  God,  as  they  were 
created  with  freewill,  and  supported  in  their  natural  strength ;  but 
the  moral  power  to  sin  was  not  from  God ;  he  counselled  them  not 
to  it,  laid  no  obligation  upon  them  to  use  their  natural  power  for 
such  an  end ;  he  only  left  them  to  their  freedom,  and  not  hindered 
them  in  their  acting  what  he  was  resolved  to  permit. 

2d.  The  holiness  of  God  is  not  tainted  by  this,  because  he  was 
under  no  obligation  to  hinder  their  commission  of  sin.  Ceasing  to 
act,  whereby  to  prevent  a  crime  or  mischief,  brings  not  a  person 
permitting  it  under  guilt,  unless  where  he  is  under  an  obligation  to 
prevent  it ;  but  God,  in  regard  of  his  absolute  dominion,  cannot  be 
charged  with  any  such  obligation.  One  man,  that  doth  not  hinder 
the  murder  of  another,  when  it  is  in  his  power,  is  guilty  of  the  mur- 
der in  part ;  but,  it  is  to  be  considered,  that  he  is  under  a  tie  by 
nature,  as  being  of  the  same  kind,  and  being  the  other's  brother,  by 
a  communion  of  blood,  also  under  an  obligation  of  the  law  of  cha- 
rity, enacted  by  the  common  Sovereign  of  the  Avorld :  but  what  tie 
was  there  upon  God,  since  the  infinite  transcendancy  of  his  nature, 
and  his  sovereign  dominion,  frees  him  from  any  such  obligation 
(Job  ix.  12)?  "  If  he  takes  away,  who  shall  say,  What  dost  thou  ?" 
God  might  have  prevented  the  fall  of  men  and  angels ;  he  might 
have  confirmed  them  all  in  a  state  of  perpetual  innocency ;  but  where 
is  the  obligation  ?  He  had  made  the  creature  a  debtor  to  himself, 
but  he  owed  nothing  to  the  creature.  Before  God  can  be  charged 
with  any  guilt  in  this  case,  it  must  be  proved,  not  only  that  he  could, 
but  that  he  was  bound  to  hinder  it.  No  person  can  be  justly  charged 
with  another's  fault,  merely  for  not  preventing  it,  unless  he  be  bound 
to  prevent  it ;  else,  not  only  the  first  sin  of  angels  and  man  would 
be  imputed  to  God,  as  the  Author,  but  all  the  sins  of  men.  He 
could  not  be  obliged  by  any  law,  because  he  had  no  superior  to  im- 
pose any  law  upon  him ;  and  it  will  be  hard  to  prove  that  he  was 
obliged,  from  his  own  nature,  to  j^revent  the  entrance  of  sin,  which 
he  would  use  as  an  occasion  to  declare  his  own  holiness,  so  trans- 
cendent a  perfection  of  his  nature,  more  than  ever  it  could  have  been 
manifested  by  a  total  exclusion  of  it,  viz.  in  the  death  of  Christ.  He 
is  no  more  bound,  in  his  own  nature,  to  preserve,  by  supernatural 
grace,  his  creature  from  falling,  after  he  had  framed  him  with  a  suffi- 
cient strength  to  stand,  than  he  was  obliged,  in  his  own  nature,  to 
bring  his  creature  into  being  when  it  was  nothing.  He  is  not  bound 
to  create  a  rational  creature,  much  less  bound  to  create  him  with 
supernatural  gifts ;  though,  since  God  would  make  a  rational  crea 
ture,  he  could  not  but  make  him  with  a  natural  uprightness  and 
rectitude.  God  did  as  much  for  angels  and  men  as  became  a  wise 
governor :  he  had  published  his  law,  backed  it  with  severe  penalties, 
and  the  creature  wanted  not  a  natural  strength  to  observe  and  obey 
it.  Had  not  man  power  to  obey  all  the  precepts  of  the  law,  as  well 
as  one  ?  How  was  God  bound  to  give  him  more  grace,  since  what 
he  had  already  was  enough  to  shield  him,  and  keep  up  his  resistance 


ON  THE  HOLINESS  OF  GOD.  153 

against  all  tlie  power  of  liell  ?  It  had  been  enough  to  have  pointed 
his  will  against  the  temptation,  and  he  had  kept  off  the  force  of  it. 
Was  there  any  promise  past  to  Adam  of  any  further  grace  which  he 
could  plead  as  a  tie  upon  God?  No  such  voluntary  limit  upon 
God's  supreme  dominion  appears  upon  record.  Was  anything  due 
to  man  which  he  had  not  ?  anything  promised  him  which  was  not 
performed?  What  action  of  debt,  then,  can  the  creature  bring 
against  God  ?  Indeed,  when  man  began  to  neglect  the  light  of  his 
OAvn  reason,  and  became  inconsiderate  of  the  precept,  God  might 
have  enlightened  his  understanding  by  a  special  flash,  a  supernatural 
beam,  and  imprinted  upon  him  a  particular  consideration  of  the 
necessity  of  his  obedience,  the  misery  he  was  approaching  to  by  his 
sin,  the  folly  of  any  apprehension  of  an  equality  in  knowledge ;  he 
might  have  convinced  him  of  the  falsity  of  the  serpent's  arguments, 
and  uncased  to  him  the  venom  that  lay  under  those  baits.  But  how 
doth  it  appear  that  God  was  bound  to  those  additional  acts  when  he 
had  already  lighted  up  in  him  a  "  spirit,  which  was  the  candle  of  the 
Lord"  (Prov.  xx.  27),  whereby  he  was  able  to  discern  all,  if  he  had 
attended  to  it.  It  was  enough  that  God  did  not  necessitate  man  to 
sin,  did  not  counsel  him  to  it ;  that  he  had  given  him  sufficient  warn- 
ing in  the  threatening,  and  sufficient  strength  in  his  faculties,  to  for- 
tify him  against  temptation.  He  gave  him  what  was  due  to  him  as 
a  creature  of  his  own  framing;  he  withdrew  no  help  from  him,  that 
was  due  to  him  as  a  creature,  and  what  was  not  due  he  was  not  bound 
to  impart.  Man  did  not  beg  preserving  grace  of  God,  and  God  was 
not  bound  to  offer  it,  when  he  was  not  petitioned  for  it  especially: 
yet  if  he  had  begged  it,  God  having  before  furnished  him  sufficiently, 
might,  by  the  right  of  his  sovereign  dominion,  have  denied  it  with- 
out any  impeachment  of  his  holiness  and  righteousness.  Though  he 
would  not  in  such  a  case  have  dealt  so  bountifully  with  his  creature 
as  he  might  have  done,  yet  he  could  not  have  been  impleaded,  as 
dealing  unrighteously  with  his  creature.  The  single  word  that  God 
had  already  uttered,  when  he  gave  him  his  precept,  was  enough  to 
oppose  against  all  the  devil's  wiles,  which  tended  to  invalidate  that 
Avord:  the  understanding  of  man  could  not  imagine  that  the  word 
of  God  was  vainly  spoken ;  and  the  very  suggestion  of  the  devil,  as 
if  the  Creator  should  envy  his  creature,  would  have  appeared  ridic- 
ulous, if  he  had  attended  to  the  voice  of  his  own  reason.  God  had 
done  enough  for  him,  and  was  obliged  to  do  no  more,  and  dealt  not 
unrighteously  in  leaving  him  to  act  according  to  the  principles  of  his 
nature.  To  conclude,  if  God's  permission  of  sin  were  enough  to 
charge  it  upon  God,  or  if  God  had  been  obliged  to  give  Adam  super- 
natural grace,  Adam,  that  had  so  capacious  a  brain,  could  not  be 
Avithoutthat  plea  in  his  mouth,  "Lord  thoumightest  have  prevented 
it ;  the  commission  of  it  by  me  could  not  have  been  without  thy  ]:)er- 
mission  of  it:"  or,  "  Thou  hast  been  wanting  to  me,  as  the  author  of 
my  nature."  No  such  plea  is  brought  by  Adam  into  the  court, 
when  God  tried  and  cast  him ;  no  such  pleas  can  have  any  strength 
in  them.  Adam  had  reason  enough  to  know,  that  there  was  suffi- 
cient reason  to  overrule  such  a  plea. 

Since  the  permission  of  sin  casts  no  dirt  upon  the  holiness  of  God, 


154  CHARNOCK  ON"  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

as  I  think  liatli  been  cleared,  we  may  under  this  head  consider  two 
things  more. 

1,  That  God's  permission  of  sin  is  not  so  much  as  his  restraint  or 
limitation  of  it.  Since  the  entrance  of  the  first  sin  into  the  world  by 
Adam,  God  is  more  a  hinderer  than  a  permitter  of  it.  If  he  hath 
permitted  that  which  he  could  have  prevented,  he  prevents  a  world 
more,  that  he  might,  if  he  pleased,  permit :  the  hedges  about  sin  are 
larger  than  the  outlets ;  they  are  but  a  few  streams  that  glide  about 
the  world,  in  comparison  of  that  mighty  torrent  he  dams  up  both  in 
men  and  devils.  He  that  understands  what  a  lake  of  Sodom  is  in 
every  man's  nature,  since  the  universal  infection  of  human  nature, 
as  the  apostle  describes  it  (Rom.  iii.  9,  10,  &;c.),  must  acknowledge, 
that  if  God  should  cast  the  reins  upon  the  necks  of  sinful  men,  they 
would  run  into  thousands  of  abominable  crimes,  more  than  they  do: 
the  impression  of  all  natural  laws  would  be  rased  out,  the  world 
would  be  a  public  stew,  and  a  more  bloody  slaughter  house  ;  human 
society  would  sink  into  a  chaos ;  no  starlight  of  commendable  mo- 
rality would  be  seen  in  it ;  the  world  would  be  no  longer  an  earth, 
but  an  hell,  and  have  lain  deeper  in  wickedness  than  it  doth.  If 
God  did  not  limit  sin,  as  he  doth  the  sea,  and  put  bars  to  the  waves 
of  the  heart,  as  well  as  those  of  the  waters,  and  say  of  them,  "Hither- 
to you  shall  go,  and  no  further ;"  man  hath  such  a  furious  ocean  in 
him,  as  would  overflow  the  banks  ;  and  where  it  makes  a  breach  in 
one  place,  it  would  in  a  thousand,  if  God  should  suffer  it  to  act  ac- 
cordmg  to  its  impetuous  current.  As  the  devil  hath  lust  enough  to 
destroy  all  mankind,  if  God  did  not  bridle  him ;  deal  with  every 
man  as  he  did  with  Job,  ruin  their  comforts,  and  deform  their  bodies 
with  scabs ;  infect  religion  with  a  thousand  more  errors ;  fling  dis- 
orders into  commonwealths,  and  make  them  as  a  fiery  furnace,  full 
of  nothing  but  flame  ;  if  he  were  not  chained  by  that  powerful  arm, 
that  might  let  him  loose  to  fulfil  his  malicious  fury ;  what  raj)ines, 
murders,  thefts,  would  be  committed,  if  he  did  not  stint  him !  Abi- 
melech  would  not  only  lust  after  Sarah,  but  deflour  her ;  Laban  not 
only  pursue  Jacob,  but  rifle  him;  Saul  not  only  hate  David,  but 
murder  him ;  David  not  only  threaten  Nabal,  but  root  him  up,  and 
his  family,  did  not  God  girdle  in  the  wrath  of  man  :^  a  greater  re- 
mainder of  wrath  is  pent  in,  than  flames  out,  which  yet  swells  for  an 
outlet.  God  may  be  concluded  more  holy  in  preventing*  men's  sins, 
than  the  author  of  sin  in  permitting  some ;  since,  were  it  not  for  his 
restraints  by  the  pull-back  of  conscience,  and  infused  motions  and 
outward  impediments,  the  world  would  swarm  more  with  this  cursed 
brood. 

2.  His  permission  of  sin  is  in  order  to  his  own  glory,  and  a  greater 
good.  It  is  no  reflection  upon  the  Divine  goodness  to  leave  man  to 
his  own  conduct,  whereby  such  a  deformity  as  sin  sets  foot  in  the 
world ;  since  he  makes  his  wisdom  illustrious  in  bringing  good  out 
of  evil,  and  a  good  greater  than  that  evil  he  suffered  to  spring  up.^ 
God  did  not  permit  sin,  as  sin,  or  permit  it  barely  for  itself  As  sin 
is  not  lovely  in  its  own  nature,  so  neither  is  the  permission  of  sin 
intrinsically  good  or  amiable  for  itself,  but  for  those  ends  aimed  at  in 

^  Ps.  Ixxvi.  10,  as  the  word  "restrain"  sigaifies.         i  Alajus  bonwn,  saith  Bradward. 


ON  THE  HOLINESS  OF  GOD.  155 

the  permission  of  it.  God  permitted  sin,  but  approved  not  of  the 
object  of  that  permission,  sin ;  because  that,  considered  in  its  own 
nature,  is  solely  evil :  nor  can  we  think  that  God  could  approve  of 
the  act  of  permission,  considered  only  in  itself  as  an  act ;  but  as  it 
respected  that  event  which  his  wisdom  would  order  by  it.  We  can- 
not suppose  that  God  should  permit  sin,  but  for  some  great  and  glo- 
rious end :  for  it  is  the  manifestation  of  his  own  glorious  perfections 
he  intends  in  all  the  acts  of  his  will  (Prov.  xvi.  4),  "  The  Lord  hath 
made  all  things  for  himself " — ^j'S  hath  wrought  all  things;  which 
is  not  only  his  act  of  creation,  but  ordination  :  "for  himself,"  that  is, 
for  the  discovery  of  the  excellency  of  his  nature,  and  the  communi- 
cation of  himself  to  his  creature.  Sin  indeed,  in  its  own  nature,  hath 
no  tendency  to  a  good  end ;  the  womb  of  it  teems  with  nothing  but 
monsters ;  it  is  a  spurn  at  God's  sovereignty,  and  a  slight  of  his  good- 
ness :  it  both  deforms  and  torments  the  person  that  acts  it  ;  it  is 
black  and  abominable,  and  hath  not  a  mite  of  goodness  in  the  nature 
of  it.  If  it  ends  in  any  good,  it  is  only  from  that  Infinite  transcen- 
dency of  skill,  that  can  bring  good  out  of  evil,  as  well  as  light  out 
of  darkness.  Therefore  God  did  not  permit  it  as  sin,  but  as  it  was 
an  occasion  for  the  manifestation  of  his  own  glory.  Though  the 
goodness  of  God  would  have  appeared  in  the  preservation  of  the 
world,  as  well  as  it  did  in  the  creation  of  it,  yet  his  mercy  could  not 
have  appeared  without  the  entrance  of  sin,  because  the  object  of 
mercy  is  a  miserable  creature  ;  but  man  could  not  be  miserable  as 
long  as  he  remained  innocent.  The  reign  of  sin  opened  a  door  for 
the  reign  and  triumph  of  grace  (Rom.  v.  21),  "  As  sin  hath  reigned 
unto  death,  so  might  grace  reign  through  righteousness  to  eternal 
life ;"  without  it,  the  bowels  of  mercy  had  never  sounded,  and  the 
ravishing  music  of  Divine  grace  could  never  have  been  heard  by  the 
creature.  Mercy,  which  renders  God  so  amiable,  could  never  else 
have  beamed  out  to  the  world.  Angels  and  men  upon  this  occasion 
beheld  the  stirrings  of  Divine  grace,  and  the  tenderness  of  Divine  na- 
ture, and  the  glory  of  the  Divine  persons  in  their  several  functions 
about  the  redemption  of  man,  which  had  else  been  a  spring  shut  up, 
and  a  fountain  sealed ;  the  song  of  glory  to  God,  and  good  will  to 
men  in  a  way  of  redemption  had  never  been  sung  by  them.  It  ap- 
pears in  his  dealing  with  Adam,  that  he  permitted  his  fall,  not  only 
to  show  his  justice  in  punishing,  but  principally  his  mercy  in  rescu- 
ing ;  since  he  proclaims  to  him  first  the  promise  of  a  Redeemer  to 
"  bruise  the  serpent's  head,"  before  he  settled  the  punishment  he 
should  smart  under  in  the  world  (Gen.  iii.  15 — 17).  And  what  fairer 
prospect  could  the  creature  have  of  the  holiness  of  God,  and  his  ha- 
tred of  sin,  than  in  the  edge  of  that  sword  of  justice,  which  punished 
it  in  the  sinner ;  but  glittered  more  in  the  punishment  of  a  Surety  so 
near  allied  to  him  ?  Had  not  man  been  criminal,  he  could  not  have 
been  punishable,  nor  any  been  punishable  for  him :  and  the  pulse  of 
Divine  holiness  could  not  have  beaten  so  quick,  and  been  so  visible, 
without  an  exercise  of  his  vindicative  justice.  He  left  man's  mutable 
nature,  to  fall  under  righteousness,  that  thereby  he  might  commend 
the  righteousness  of  his  own  nature  (Rom.  iii.  7).  Adam's  sin  in  its 
nature  tended  to  the  ruin  of  the  world,  and  God  takes  an  occasion 


156  CHARNOCK  ON  THE  ATTEIBUTES. 

from  it  for  tlie  glory  of  his  grace  in  the  redemption  of  the  world  ;  he 
brings  forth  thereby  a  new  scene  of  wonders  from  heaven,  and  a  sur- 
prising knowledge  on  earth ;  as  the  sun  breaks  out  more  strongly 
after  a  night  of  darkness  and  tempest.  As  God  in  creation  framed 
a  chaos  by  his  power,  to  manifest  his  Avisdom  in  bringing  order  out 
of  disorder,  light  out  of  darkness,  beauty  out  of  confusion  and  de- 
formity, when  he  was  able  by  a  word  to  have  made  all  creatures 
stand  up  in  their  beauty,  without  the  precedency  of  a  chaos  ;  so  God 
permitted  a  moral  chaos  to  manifest  a  greater  wisdom  in  the  repair- 
ing a  broken  image,  and  restoring  a  deplorable  creature,  and  bring- 
ing out  those  perfections  of  his  nature,  which  had  else  been  wrapt  up 
in  a  perpetual  silence  in  his  own  bosom.  It  was  therefore  very  con- 
gruous to  the  holiness  of  God  to  permit  that  which  he  could  make 
subservient  for  his  own  glory,  and  particularly  for  the  manifestation 
of  this  attribute  of  holiness,  which  seems  to  be  in  opposition  to  such 
a  permission.'" 

Prop.  V.  The  holiness  of  God  is  not  blemished  by  his  concurrence 
with  the  creature  in  the  material  part  of  a  sinful  act.  Some  to  free 
God  from  having  any  hand  in  sin,  deny  his  concurrence  to  the  ac- 
tions of  the  creature ;  because,  if  he  concurs  to  a  sinful  action,  ho 
concurs  to  the  sin  also :  not  understanding  how  there  can  be  a  dis- 
tinction between  the  act,  and  the  sinfulness  or  viciousness  of  it ;  and 
how  God  can  concur  to  a  natural  action,  without  being  stained  by 
that  moral  evil  which  cleaves  to  it.  For  the  understanding  of  this, 
observe, 

1.  There  is  a  concurrence  of  God  to  all  the  acts  of  the  creature 
(Acts  xvii.  28)  ;  "in  him  we  live,  and  move,  and  have  our  being.'' 
We  depend  upon  God  in  our  acting  as  well  as  in  our  being :  there  is 
as  much  an  efficacy  of  God  in  our  motion  as  in  our  production ;  as 
none  have  life  without  his  power  in  producing  it,  so  none  have  any 
operation  without  his  providence  concurring  with  it.  In  him,  or  by 
him,  that  is,  by  his  virtue  preserving  and  governing  our  motions,  as 
well  as  by  his  power  bringing  us  into  being.  Hence  man  is  com- 
pared to  an  axe  (Isa.  x.  15),  an  instrument  that  hath  no  action,  with- 
out the  co-operation  of  a  superior  agent  handling  it :  and  the  actions 
of  the  second  causes  are  ascribed  to  God ;  the  grass,  that  is,  the  pro- 
duct of  the  sun,  rain,  and  earth,  he  is  said  to  make  to  grow  upon  the 
mountains  (Ps.  cxlvii.  8) ;  and  the  skin  and  flesh,  which  is  by  natural 
generation,  he  is  said  to  clothe  us  with  (Job  x.  5),  in  regard  of  his 
co-working  with  second  causes,  according  to  their  natures.  As 
nothing  can  exist,  so  nothing  can  operate  without  him  ;  let  his  con- 
currence be  removed,  and  the  being  and  action  of  the  creature  cease ; 
remove  the  sun  from  the  horizon,  or  a  candle  from  a  room,  and  the 
light  which  flowed  from  either  of  them  ceaseth.  Without  God's 
preserving  and  concurring  power,  the  course  of  nature  would  sink, 
and  the  creation  be  in  vain.  All  created  things  depend  upon  God 
as  agents,  as  well  as  beings,  and  are  subordinate  to  him  in  a  way  of 
action,  as  well  as  in  a  way  of  existing. "^  If  God  suspend  his  influ- 
ence from  their  action,  they  would  cease  to  act,  as  the  fire  did  from 

">  But  of  the  wisdom  of  God  in  the  permitting  sin  in  order  to  redemption,  I  have  han- 
dled in  the  attribute  of  "  Wisdom."  °  Suarez,  Metaph.  Part  I.  p.  552. 


ON  THE   HOLINESS   OF   GOD.  157 

burning  tlie  tliree  children,  as  well  as  if  God  suspend  his  influence 
from  their  being,  they  would  cease  to  be.  God  supports  the  nature 
whereby  actions  are  wrought,  the  mind  where  actions  are  consulted, 
and  the  will  where  actions  are  determined,  and  the  motive-power 
whereby  actions  are  produced.  The  mind  could  not  contrive,  nor 
the  hand  act,  a  wickedness,  if  God  did  not  support  the  power  of  the 
one  in  designing,  and  the  strength  of  the  other  in  executing  a  wicked 
intention.  Every  faculty  in  its  being,  and  every  faculty  in  its  mo- 
tion, hath  a  dependence  upon  the  influence  of  God,  To  make  the 
creature  independent  upon  God  in  anything  which  speaks  perfection, 
as  action  considered  as  action  is,  is  to  make  the  creature  a  sovereign 
being.  Indeed,  we  cannot  imagine  the  concurrence  of  God  to  the 
good  actions  of  men  since  the  fall,  without  granting  a  concurrence 
of  God  to  evil  actions  ;  because  there  is  no  action  so  purely  good  but 
hath  a  mixture  of  evil  in  it,  though  it  takes  its  denomination  of  good 
from  the  better  part  (Eccles.  vii,  20),  "  There  is  no  man  that  doth 
good,  and  sins  not," 

2.  Though  the  natural  virtue  of  doing  a  sinful  action  be  from  God, 
and  supported  by  him,  yet  this  doth  not  blemish  the  holiness  of 
God  ;  while  God  concurs  with  them  in  the  act,  he  instils  no  evil  into 
men. 

(1.)  No  act,  in  regard  of  the  substance  of  it,  is  evil.  Most  of  the 
actions  of  our  faculties,  as  they  are  actions,  might  have  been  in  the 
state  of  innocency.  Eating  is  an  act  Adam  would  have  used  if  he 
had  stood  firm,  but  not  eating  to  excess.  Worship  was  an  act  that 
should  have  been  performed  to  God  in  innocence,  but  not  hypocriti- 
cally. Every  action  is  good  by  a  ph3^sical  goodness,  as  it  is  an  act  of 
the  mind  or  hand,  which  have  a  natural  goodness  by  creation ;  but 
every  action  is  not  morally  good :  the  physical  goodness  of  the  ac- 
tion depends  on  God,  the  moral  evil  on  the  creature.  There  is  no 
action,  as  a  corporeal  action,  is  prohibited  by  the  law  of  God  ;  but 
as  it  springs  from  an  evil  disposition,  and  is  tainted  by  a  venomous 
temper  of  mind.o  There  is  no  action  so  bad,  as  attended  with  such 
objects  and  circumstances ;  but  if  the  objects  and  circumstances 
were  changed,  might  be  a  brave  and  commendable  action :  so  that 
the  moral  goodness  or  badness  of  an  act  is  not  to  be  esteemed  from 
the  substance  of  the  act,  which  hath  always  a  physical  goodness ; 
but  from  the  objects,  circumstances,  and  constitution  of  the  mind  in 
the  doing  of  it.  Worship  is  an  act  good  in  itself ;  but  the  worship 
of  an  image  is  bad  in  regard  of  the  object.  Were  that  act  of  wor- 
ship directed  to  God  that  is  paid  to  a  statue,  and  offered  up  to  him 
with  a  sincere  frame  of  mind,  it  would  be  morally  good.  The  act, 
in  regard  of  its  substance,  is  the  same  in  both,  and  considered  as 
separated  from  the  object  to  which  the  worship  is  directed,  hath  the 
same  real  goodness  in  regard  of  the  substance  ;  but  when  you  con- 
sider this  action  in  relation  to  the  different  objects,  the  one  hath  a 
moral  goodness,  and  the  other  a  moral  evil.  So  in  speaking  :  speak- 
ing being  a  motion  of  the  tongue  in  the  forming  of  words,  is  an  ex- 
cellency belonging  to  a  reasonable  creature  ;  an  endowment  bestow- 
ed, continued,  and  supported  by  God.     Now,  if  the  same  tongue 

"  Amyrald.  de  Libero  arbit.  pp.  98,  99. 


158  CHARNOCK  ON  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

forms  words  Tvhereby  it  curseth.  God  this  minute,  and  forms  words 
whereby  it  blesses  and  praises  God  the  next  minute,  the  faculty  of 
Sjieaking  is  the  same,  the  motion  of  the  tongue  is  the  same  in  pro- 
nouncing the  name  of  God  either  in  a  way  of  cursing  or  blessing 
(James  iii.  9,  10) ;  it  is  the  "  same  mouth  that  blesseth  and  curseth  ;" 
and  the  motion  of  it  is  naturally  good  in  regard  of  the  substance  of 
the  act  in  both  ;  it  is  the  use  of  an  excellent  power  God  hath  given, 
and  which  God  preserves,  in  the  use  of  it.  But  the  estimation  of 
the  moral  goodness  or  evil  is  not  from  the  act  itself,  but  from  the 
disposition  of  the  mind.  Once  more :  killing,  as  an  act  is  good ; 
nor  is  it  unlawful  as  an  act ;  for  if  so,  God  would  never  have  com- 
manded his  people  Israel  to  wage  any  war,  and  justice  could  not  be 
done  upon  malefactors  by  the  magistrate.  A  man  were  bound  to 
sacrifice  his  life  to  the  fury  of  an  invader,  rather  than  secure  it  by 
dispatching  that  of  an  enemy ;  but  killing  an  innocent,  or  killing 
without  authority,  or  out  of  revenge,  is  bad.  It  is  not  the  material 
part  of  the  act,  but  the  object,  manner,  and  circumstance,  that  makes 
it  good  or  evil.  It  is  no  blemish  to  God's  holiness  to  concur  to  the 
substance  of  an  action,  without  having  any  hand  in  the  immorality 
of  it ;  because,  whatsoever  is  real  in  the  substance  of  the  action 
might  be  done  without  evil.  It  is  not  evil  as  it  is  an  act,  as  it  is  a 
motion  of  the  tongue  or  hand,  for  then  every  motion  of  the  tongue 
or  hand  would  be  evil. 

(2.)  Hence  it  follows,  that  an  act,  as  an  act,  is  one  thing,  and  the 
viciousness  another.  The  action  is  the  efficacy  of  the  faculty,  ex- 
tending itself  to  some  outward  object;  but  the  sinfulness  of  an  act 
consists  in  a  privation  of  that  comeliness  and  righteousness  which 
ought  to  be  in  an  action  ;  in  a  want  of  conformity  of  the  act  with 
the  law  of  God,  either  Avritten  in  nature,  or  revealed  in  the  Word.P 
Now,  the  sinfulness  of  an  action  is  not  the  act  itself,  but  is  considered 
in  it  as  it  is  related  to  the  law,  and  is  a  deviation  from  it ;  and  so  it 
is  something  cleaving  to  the  action,  and  therefore  to  be  distinguished 
from  the  act  itself,  which  is  the  subject  of  the  sinfulness.  When  we 
say  such  an  action  is  sinful,  the  action  is  the  subject,  and  the  sinful- 
ness of  the  action  is  that  which  adheres  to  it.  The  action  is  not  the 
sinfulness,  nor  the  sinfulness  the  action ;  they  are  distinguished  as 
the  member,  and  a  disease  in  the  member,  the  arm  and  the  palsy  in 
it :  the  arm  is  not  the  palsy,  nor  is  the  palsy  the  arm  ;  but  the  palsy 
is  a  disease  that  cleaves  to  the  arm  :  so  sinfulness  is  a  deformity  that 
cleaves  to  an  action.  The  evil  of  an  action  is  not  the  effect  of  an 
action,  nor  attends  it  as  it  is  an  action,  but  as  it  is  an  action  so  circum- 
stantiated, and  conversant  about  this  or  that  object ;  for  the  same 
action  done  by  two  several  persons,  may  be  good  in  one,  and  bad  in 
the  other  ;  as  when  two  judges  are  in  joint  commission  for  the  trial 
of  a  malefactor,  both  upon  the  appearance  of  his  guilt  condemn 
him.  This  action  in  both,  considered  as  an  action,  is  good  ;  for  it  is 
an  adjudging  a  man  to  death,  whose  crime  deserves  such  a  punish- 
ment. But  this  same  act,  which  is  but  one  joint  act  of  both,  may 
be  morally  good  in  one  judge,  and  morally  evil  in  the  other:  morally 
good  in  him  that  condemns  him  out  of  an  unbiassed  consideration 

P  Amyrald,  pp.  321,  332. 


ON  THE   HOLINESS   OF   GOD.  169 

of  the  demerit  of  his  fact,  obedience  to  the  law,  and  conscious  of  the 
duty  of  his  place ;  and  morally  evil  in  the  other,  who  hath  no 
respect  to  those  considerations,  but  joins  in  the  act  of  condemnation, 
principally  moved  by  some  private  animosity  against  the  prisoner, 
and  desire  of  revenge  for  some  injury  he  hath  really  received,  or 
imagines  that  he  hath  received  from  him.  The  act  in  itself  is  the 
same  materially  in  both  ;  but  in  one  it  is  an  act  of  justice,  and  in  the 
other  an  act  of  murder,  as  it  respects  the  principles  and  motives  of  it 
in  the  two  judges ;  take  away  the  respect  of  private  revenge,  and 
the  action  in  the  ill  judge  had  been  as  laudable  as  the  action  of  the 
other.  The  substance  of  an  act,  and  the  sinfulness  of  an  act,  are 
separable  and  distinguishable ;  and  God  may  concur  with  the  sub- 
stance of  an  act,  without  concurring  with  the  sinfulness  of  the  act : 
as  the  good  judge,  that  condemned  the  prisoner  out  of  conscience, 
concurred  with  the  evil  judge,  who  condemned  the  prisoner  out  of  pri- 
vate revenge  ;  not  in  the  principle  and  motive  of  condemnation,  but 
in  the  material  part  of  condemnation.  So  God  assists  in  that  action 
of  a  man  wherein  sin  is  placed,  but  not  in  that  which  is  the  formal 
reason  of  sin,  which  is  a  privation  of  some  perfection  the  action 
ought  morally  to  have. 

(3.)  It  will  appear  further  in  this,  that  hence  it  follows  that  the 
action,  and  the  viciousness  of  the  action,  may  have  two  distinct 
causes.  That  may  be  a  cause  of  the  one  that  is  not  the  cause  of  the 
other,  and  hath  n*;  hand  in  the  producing  of  it.  God  concurs  to  the 
act  of  the  mind  as  it  counsels,  and  to  the  external  action  upon  that 
counsel,  as  he  preserves  the  faculty,  and  gives  strength  to  the  mind 
to  consult,  and  the  other  parts  to  execute  ;  yet  he  is  not  in  the  least 
tainted  with  the  viciousness  of  the  action.  Though  the  action  be 
from  God  as  a  concurrent  cause,  yet  the  ill  quality  of  the  action  is 
solely  from  the  creature  with  whom  God  concurs.  The  sun  and  the 
earth  concur  to  the  production  of  all  the  plants  that  are  formed  in 
the  womb  of  the  one,  and  midwifed  by  the  other.  The  sun  dis- 
tributes heat,  and  the  earth  communicates  sap ;  it  is  the  same  heat 
dispersed  by  the  one,  and  the  same  juice  bestowed  by  the  other  :  it 
hath  not  a  sweet  juice  for  one,  and  a  sour  juice  for  another.  This  gen- 
eral influx  of  the  sun  and  earth  is  not  the  immediate  cause  that  one 
plant  is  poisonous,  and  another  wholesome  ;  but  the  sap  of  the  earth 
is  turned  by  the  nature  and  quality  of  each  plant :  if  there  were  not 
such  an  influx  of  the  sun  and  earth,  no  plant  could  exert  that 
poison  which  is  in  its  nature  ;  but  yet  the  sun  and  earth  are  not  the 
cause  of  that  poison  which  is  in  the  nature  of  the  plant.  If  God 
did  not  concur  to  the  motions  of  men,  there  could  be  no  sinful  ac- 
tion, because  there  could  be  no  action  at  all ;  yet  this  concurrence  is 
not  the  cause  of  that  venom  that  is  in  the  action,  which  ariseth  from 
the  corrupt  nature  of  the  creature,  no  more  than  the  sun  and  earth 
are  the  cause  of  the  poison  of  the  plant,  which  is  purely  the  effect 
of  its  own  nature  upon  that  general  influx  of  the  sun  and  earth. 
The  influence  of  God  picrceth  through  all  subjects  ;  but  the  action 
of  man  done  by  that  influence  is  vitiated  according  to  the  nature  of 
its  own  corruption.  As  the  sun  equally  shines  through  all  the 
quarrels  in  the  window ;  if  the  glass  be  bright  and  clear,  there  is  a 


160  CHARNOCK  ON"  THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

pure  splendor  ;  if  it  be  red  or  green,  the  splendor  is  from  tlie  sun  ; 
but  the  discoloring  of  that  light  upon  the  wall,  is  from  the  quality 
of  the  glass.  But  to  be  yet  plainer  :  the  soul  is  the  image  of  God, 
and  by  the  acts  of  the  soul,  we  may  come  to  the  knowledge  of  the 
acts  of  God  ;  the  soul  gives  motion  to  the  body  and  every  member 
of  it,  and  no  member  could  move  without  a  concurrent  virtue  of  the 
soul ;  if  a  member  be  paralytic  or  gouty,  whatsoever  motion  that 
gouty  member  hath,  is  derived  to  it  from  the  soul ;  but  the  goutiness 
of  the  member  was  not  the  act  of  the  soul,  but  the  fruit  of  ill  hu- 
mors in  the  body ;  the  lameness  of  the  member,  and  the  motion  of 
the  member,  have  two  distinct  causes  ;  the  motion  is  from  one  cause, 
and  ill  motion  from  another,  q  As  the  member  could  not  move 
irregularly  without  some  ill  humor  or  cause  of  that  distemper,  so  it 
could  not  move  at  all  without  the  activity  of  the  soul :  so,  though 
God  concur  to  the  act  of  understanding,  willing,  and  execution,  why 
can  he  not  be  as  free  from  the  irregularity  in  all  those,  as  the  soul  is 
free  from  the  irregularity  of  the  motion  of  the  body,  while  it  is  the 
cause  of  the  motion  itself?  There  are  two  illustrations  generally 
used  in  this  case,  that  are  not  unfit ;  the  motion  of  the  pen  in  writ- 
ing is  from  the  hand  that  holds  it,  but  the  blurs  by  the  pen  are  from 
some  fault  in  the  pen  itself:  and  the  music  of  the  instrument  is  from 
the  hand  that  touches  it,  but  the  jarring  from  the  faultiness  of  the 
strings ;  both  are  the  causes  of  the  motion  of  the  pen  and  strings, 
but  not  the  blurs  or  jarrings. 

(4).  It  is  very  congruous  to  the  wisdom  of  God,  to  move  his  crea- 
tures according  to  their  particular  natures ;  but  this  motion  makes 
him  not  the  cause  of  sin.  Had  our  innocent  nature  continued,  God 
had  moved  us  according  to  that  innocent  nature ;  but  when  the 
state  was  changed  for  a  corrupt  one,  God  must  either  forbear  all 
concourse,  and  so  annihilate  the  world,  or  move  us  according  to 
that  nature  he  finds  in  us.  If  he  had  overthrown  the  world  upon 
the  entrance  of  sin,  and  created  another  upon  the  same  terms,  sin 
might  have  as  soon  defaced  his  second  work,  as  it  did  the  first ;  and 
then  it  would  follow,  that  God  would  have  been  alway  building  and 
demolishing.  It  was  not  fit  for  God  to  cease  from  acting  as  a  wise 
governor  of  his  creature,  because  man  did  cease  from  his  loyalty  as 
a  subject.  Is  it  not  more  agreeable  to  God's  wisdom  as  a  governor, 
to  concur  with  his  creature  according  to  his  nature,  than  to  deny 
his  concurrence  upon  every  evil  determination  of  the  creature  ? 
God  concurred  with  Adam's  mutable  nature  in  his  first  act  of  sin ; 
he  concurred  to  the  act,  and  left  him  to  his  mutability.  If  Adam 
had  put  out  his  hand  to  ea^  f  any  other  unforbidden  fruit,  God  would 
have  supported  his  natural  faculty  then,  and  concurred  with  him  in 
his  motion.  When  Adam  would  put  out  his  hand  to  take  the 
forbidden  fruit,  God  concurred  to  that  natural  action,  but  left  him 
to  the  choice  of  the  object,  and  to  the  use  of  his  mutable  nature : 
and  when  man  became  apostate,  God  concurs  with  him  according 
to  that  condition  wherein  he  found  him,  and  cannot  move  him 
otherwise,  unless  he  should  alter  that  nature  man  had  contracted. 
God  moving  the  creature  as  he  found  him,  is  no  cause  of  the  ill 
1  Zanch.  Tom.  II.  lib.  iii.  cap.  4,  quest,  iv.  p.  226. 


ON  THE   HOLINESS   OF   GOD.  161 

motion  of  the  creature :  as  wlien  a  wheel  is  broken  the  space  of  a 
foot,  it  cannot  but  move  ill  in  that  part  till  it  be  mended.  He  that 
moves  it,  uses  the  same  motion  (as  it  is  his  act)  which  he  would 
have  done  had  the  wheel  been  sound ;  the  motion  is  good  in  the 
mover,  but  bad  in  the  subject :  it  is  not  the  fault  of  him  that  moves 
it,  but  the  fault  of  that  wheel  that  is  moved,  whose  breaches  came 
by  some  other  cause.  A  man  doth  not  use  to  lay  aside  his  watch 
for  some  irregularity,  as  long  as  it  is  capable  of  motion,  but  winds 
it  up  :  why  should  God  cease  from  concurring  with  his  creature  in 
its  vital  operations  and  other  actions  of  his  will,  because  there  was 
a  flaw  contracted  in  that  nature,  that  came  right  and  true  out  of  his 
hand  ?  And  as  he  that  winds  up  his  disordered  watch,  is  in  the 
same  manner  the  cause  of  its  motion  then,  as  he  was  when  it  was 
regular,  yet,  by  that  act  of  his,  he  is  not  the  cause  of  the  false 
motion  of  it.  but  that  is  from  the  deficiency  of  some  j^art  of  the  watch 
itself:  so,  though  God  concurs  to  that  action  of  the  creature,  whereby 
the  wickedness  of  the  heart  is  drawn  out,  yet  is  not  God  therefore 
as  unholy  as  the  heart. 

(5.)  God  hath  one  end  in  his  concurrence,  and  man  another  in 
his  action :  so  that  there  is  a  righteous,  and  often  a  gracious  end  in 
God,  when  there  is  a  base  and  unworthy  end  in  man.  God  concurs 
to  the  substance  of  the  act ;  man  produceth  the  circumstance  of  the 
act,  whereby  it  is  evil.  God  orders  both  the  action  wherein  he  con- 
curs, and  the  sinfulness  over  which  he  presides,  as  a  governor,  to 
his  own  ends.  In  Joseph's  case,  man  was  sinful,  and  God  merciful ; 
his  brethren  acted  "envy,"  and  God  designed  "mercy"  (Gen.  xlv. 
4,  5).  They  would  be  rid  of  him  as  an  eye-sore,  and  God  concurred 
witli  their  action  to  make  him  their  preserver  (Gen.  1,  20),  "  Ye 
thought  evil  against  me,  but  God  meant  it  unto  good."  God  con- 
curred to  Judas  his  action  of  betraying  our  Saviour ;  he  supported 
his  nature  while  he  contracted  with  the  priests,  and  supported  his 
members  while  he  was  their  guide  to  apprehend  him ;  God's  end 
was  the  manifestation  of  his  choicest  love  to  man,  and  Judas'  end 
was  the  gratification  of  his  own  covetousness.  The  Assyrian  did  a 
divine  work  against  Jerusalem,  but  not  with  a  Divine  end  (Isa.  x. 
5 — 7).  He  had  a  mind  to  enlarge  his  empire,  enrich  his  coffers 
with  the  spoil,  and  gain  the  title  of  a  conqueror ;  he  is  desirous  to 
invade  his  neighbors,  and  God  employs  him  to  punish  his  rebels ; 
but  he  means  not  so,  nor  doth  his  heart  think  so;  he  intended  not 
as  God  intended.  The  axe  doth  not  think  what  the  carpenter  in- 
tends to  do  with  it.  But  God  used  the  rapine  of  ambitious  nature 
as  an  instrument  of  his  justice ;  as  the  exposing  malefactors  to  wild 
beasts  was  an  ancient  punishment,  whereby  the  magistrates  intended 
the  execution  of  justice,  and  to  that  purpose  used  the  natural 
fierceness  of  the  beasts  to  an  end  different  from  what  those  ravaging 
creatures  aimed  at.  God  concurred  with  Satan  in  spoiling  Job  of 
his  goods,  and  scarifying  his  body ;  God  gave  Satan  licence  to  do 
it,  and  Job  acknowledges  it  to  be  God's  act  (Job  i.  12 — 21) ;  but 
their  ends  were  different ;  God  concurred  with  Satan  for  the  clearing 
the  integrity  of  his  servant,  when  Satan  aimed  at  nothing  but  the 
provoking  him  to  curse  his  Creator.     The  physician  apj)lies  leeches 

VOL.    It — 11 


162  CHARNOCK  ON   THE  ATTRII  JTES. 

to  suck  the  superfluous  blood,  but  the  leeciies  suck  to  glut  them- 
selves, without  any  regard  to  the  intention  of  the  physician,  and  the 
welfare  of  the  patient.  In  the  same  act  where  men  intend  to  hurt, 
God  intends  to  correct ;  so  that  his  concurrence  is  in  a  holy  manner, 
while  men  commit  unrighteous  actions.  A  judge  commands  the 
executioner  to  execute  the  sentence  of  death,  which  he  hath  justly 
pronounced  against  a  malefactor,  and  admonisheth  him  to  do  it  out 
of  love  to  justice  ;  the  executioner  hath  the  authority  of  the  judge 
for  his  commission,  and  the  protection  of  the  judge  for  his  security ; 
the  judge  stands  by  to  countenance  and  secure  him  in  the  doing  of 
it ;  but  if  the  executioner  hath  not  the  same  intention  as  the  judge, 
viz.  a  love  to  justice  in  the  performance  of  his  office,  but  a  private 
hatred  to  the  offender,  the  judge,  though  he  commanded  the  fact  of 
the  executioner,  yet  did  not  command  this  error  of  his  in  it ;  and 
though  he  protects  him  in  the  fact,  yet  he  owns  not  this  corrupt  dis- 
position in  him  in  the  doing  what  was  enjoined  him,  as  any  act  of 
his  own. 

To  conclude  this.  Since  the  creature  cannot  act  without  God, 
cannot  lift  up  a  hand,  or  move  his  tongue,  without  God's  preserving 
and  upholding  the  faculty,  and  preserving  the  power  of  action,  and 
preserving  every  member  of  the  body  in  its  actual  motion,  and  in 
every  circumstance  of  its  motion,  we  must  necessarily  suppose  God 
to  have  such  a  way  of  concurrence  as  doth  not  intrench  upon  his 
holiness.  We  must  not  equal  the  creature  to  God,  by  denying  his 
dependence  on  him ;  nor  must  we  imagine  such  a  concurrence  to 
the  sinfulness  of  an  act,  as  stains  the  Divine  purity,  which  is,  I 
think,  sufficiently  salved  by  distinguishing  the  matter  of  the  act 
from  the  evil  adhering  to  it ;  for  since  all  evil  is  founded  in  some 
good,  the  evil  is  distinguishable  from  the  good,  and  the  deformity 
of  the  action  from  the  action  itself;  which,  as'  it  is  a  created  act, 
hath  a  dependence  on  the  will  and  influence  of  God ;  and  as  it  is  a 
sinful  act,  is  the  product  of  the  will  of  the  creature. 

Prop.  VI.  The  holiness  of  God  is  not  blemished  by  proposing 
objects  to  a  man,  which  he  makes  use  of  to  sin.  There  is  no  object 
proposed  to  man,  but  is  directed  by  the  providence  of  God,  which 
influenceth  all  the  motions  in  the  world ;  and  there  is  no  object  pro- 
posed to  man,  but  his  active  nature  may,  according  to  the  goodness 
or  badness  of  his  disposition,  make  a  good  or  an  ill  use  of  That 
two  men,  one  of  a  charitable,  the  other  of  a  hard-hearted  disposition, 
meet  with  an  indigent  and  necessitous  object,  is  from  the  providence 
of  God ;  yet  this  indigent  person  is  relieved  by  the  one,  and  neglected 
by  the  other.  There  could  be  no  action  in  the  world,  but  about  some 
object ;  there  could  be  no  object  offered  to  us  but  by  Divine  Provi- 
dence ;  the  active  nature  of  man  would  be  in  vain,  if  there  were  not 
objects  about  which  it  might  be  exercised.  Nothing  could  present 
itself  to  man  as  an  object,  either  to  excite  his  grace,  or  awaken  his 
corruption,  but  by  the  conduct  of  the  Governor  of  the  world.  That 
David  should  walk  upon  the  battlements  of  his  palace,  and  Bath- 
sheba  be  in  the  bath  at  the  same  time,  was  from  the  Divine  Provi- 
dence which  orders  all  the  affairs  of  the  world  (2  Sam,  xi,  7) ;  and  so 
some  understand  (Jer,  vi,  21):  "Thus  saith  the  Lord,  I  will  lay 


ON   THE   HOLINESS   OF   GOD.  163 

stumbling-blocks  before  this  people,  and  tbe  fathers  and  sons  together 
shall  fall  upon  them."  Since  they  have  offered  sacrifices  without 
those  due  qualifications  in  their  hearts,  which  were  necessary  to  ren- 
der them  acceptable  to  me,  I  will  lay  in  their  way  such  objects,  which 
their  corruption  will  use  ill  to  their  farther  sin  and  ruin ;  so  (Ps.  cv. 
25),  "He  turned  their  heart  to  hate  his  people;"  that  is,  by  the  multi- 
plying his  people,  he  gave  occasion  to  the  Egyptians  of  hating  them, 
instead  of  caressing  them,  as  they  had  formerly  done.  But  God's 
holiness  is  not  blemished  by  this ;  for, 

1.  This  proposing  or  presenting  of  objects  invades  not  the  liberty 
of  any  man.  The  tree  of  the  knowledge  of  good  and  evil,  set  in  the 
midst  of  the  garden  of  Eden,  had  no  violent  influence  on  man  to 
force  him  to  eat  of  it ;  his  liberty  to  eat  of  it,  or  not,  was  reserved 
entire  to  himself;  no  such  charge  can  be  brought  against  any  object 
whatsoever.  If  a  man  meet  accidentally  at  a  table  with  meat  that  is 
grateful  to  his  palate,  but  hurtful  to  the  present  temper  of  his  body, 
doth  the  presenting  this  sort  of  food  to  him  strip  him  of  his  liberty 
to  decline  it,  as  well  as  to  feed  of  it?  Can  the  food  have  any  internal 
influence  upon  his  will,  and  lay  the  freedom  of  it  asleep  whether  he 
will  or  no  ?  Is  there  any  charm  in  that,  more  than  in  other  sorts  of 
diet  ?  No  ;  but  it  is  the  habit  of  love  which  he  hath  to  that  particu- 
lar dish,  the  curiosity  of  his  fancy,  and  the  strength  of  his  own  appe- 
tite, Avhereby  he  is  brought  into  a  kind  of  slavery  to  that  particular 
meat,  and  not  anything  in  the  food  itself.  When  the  word  is  pro- 
posed to  two  persons,  it  is  embraced  by  the  one,  rejected  by  the 
other;  is  it  from  the  word  itself,  which  is  the  object,  that  these  two 
persons  perform  different  acts  ?  The  object  is  the  same  to  both,  but 
the  manner  of  acting  about  the  object  is  not  the  same ;  is  there  any 
invasion  of  their  liberty  b}''  it  ?  Is  the  one  forced  by  the  word  to 
receive  it,  and  the  other  forced  by  the  word  to  reject  it?  Two  such 
contrary  effects  cannot  proceed  from  one  and  the  same  cause ;  out- 
ward things  have  only  an  objective  influence,  not  an  inward ;  if  the 
mere  proposal  of  things  did  suspend  or  strike  down  the  liberty  of 
man,  no  angels  in  heaven,  no  man  upon  earth,  no,  not  our  Saviour 
himself,  could  do  anything  freely,  but  by  force ;  objects  that  are  ill 
used  are  of  God's  creation,  and  though  they  have  allurements  in 
them,  yet  they  have  no  compulsive  power  over  the  will.''  The  fruit 
of  the  tree  of  knowledge  of  good  and  evil  was  pleasing  to  the  sight ; 
it  had  a  quality  to  allure ;  there  had  not  else  needed  a  prohibition  to 
bar  the  eating  of  it ;  but  it  could  not  have  so  much  power  to  allure, 
as  the  Divine  threatening  to  deter. 

2.  The  objects  are  good  in  themselves,  but  the  ill  use  of  them  is 
from  man's  corruption.  Bathsheba  was,  by  God's  providence,  pre- 
sented to  David's  sight,  but  it  was  David's  disposition  moved  him  to 
so  evil  an  act ;  what  if  God  knew  that  he  would  use  that  object  ill  ? 
yet  he  knew  he  had  given  him  a  power  to  refrain  from  any  ill  use 
of  it;  the  objects  are  innocent,  but  our  corruption  poisons  them. 
The  same  object  hath  been  used  by  one  to  holy  purposes  and  holy 
improvements,  that  hath  been  used  by  another  to  sinful  ends ;  when 
a  charitable  object  is  presented  to  a  good  man,  and  a  cruel  man,  one 

"■  Aniyral.  de  Libero  arbit.  p.  224. 


164  CHAnx>rOCK   ON   THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

relieves  him,  the  other  reviles  him ;  the  object  was  rather  an  occasion 
to  draw  out  the  charity  of  one,  as  well  as  the  other ;  but  the  refusing 
to  reach  out  a  helping  hand,  was  not  from  the  person  in  calamity, 
but  the  disposition  of  the  refuser  to  whom  he  was  presented ;  it  is 
not  from  the  nature  of  the  object  that  men  do  good  or  evil,  but  from 
the  disposition  of  the  person ;  what  is  good  in  itself,  is  made  bad  by 
our  corruption.  As  the  same  meat  which  nourishes  and  strengthens 
a  sound  constitution,  cherisheth  the  disease  of  another  that  eats  at 
the  same  table,  not  from  any  unwholesome  quality  in  the  food,  but 
the  vicious  quality  of  the  humors  lodging  in  the  stomach,  which  turn 
the  diet  into  fuel  for  themselves,  which  in  its  own  nature  was  apt  to 
engender  a  wholesome  juice.  Some  are  perfected  by  the  same  things 
whereby  others  are  ruined.  Kiches  are  used  by  some,  not  only  for 
their  own,  but  the  advantage  of  others  in  the  world ;  by  others  only 
for  themselves,  and  scarcely  so  much  as  their  necessities  require.  Is 
this  the  fault  of  the  wealth,  or  the  dispositions  of  the  persons,  who 
are  covetous  instead  of  being  generous  ?  It  is  a  calumny,  therefore, 
upon  God  to  charge  him  with  the  sin  of  man  upon  this  account. 
The  rain  that  drops  from  the  clouds  upon  the  plants  is  sweet  in 
itself,  but  when  it  moistens  the  root  of  any  venomous  plant,  it  is 
turned  into  the  juice  of  the  plant,  and  becomes  venomous  with  it. 
The  miracles  that  our  Saviour  wrought,  were  applauded  by  some, 
and  envied  by  the  Pharisees ;  the  sin  arose  not  from  the  nature  of 
the  miracles,  but  the  malice  of  their  spirits.  The  miracles  were  fitter 
in  their  own  nature  to  have  induced  them  to  an  adoration  of  our 
Saviour,  than  to  excite  so  vile  a  passion  against  one  that  had  so 
many  marks  from  heaven  to  dignify  him,  and  proclaim  him  worthy 
of  their  respect.  The  person  of  Christ  was  an  object  proposed  to  the 
Jews;  some  worship  him,  others  condemn  and  crucify  him,  and 
according  to  their  several  vices  and  base  ends  they  use  this  object. 
Judas  to  content  his  covetousness,  the  Pharisees  to  glut  their  revenge, 
Pilate  for  his  ambition,  to  preserve  himself  in  his  government,  and 
avoid  the  articles  the  people  might  charge  him  with  of  countenancing 
an  enemy  to  Caesar.  God  at  that  time  put  into  their  minds  a  rational 
and  true  proposition  which  they  apply  to  ill  purposes.^  Caiaphas 
said,  that  "it  was  expedient  for  one  man  to  die  for  the  people,"  which 
"he  spake  not  of  himself"  (John  xi.  50,  51).  God  put  it  into  his 
mind ;  but  he  might  have  applied  it  better  than  he  did,  and  consid- 
ered, though  the  maxim  was  commendable,  whether  it  might  justly 
be  applied  to  Christ,  or  whether  there  was  such  a  necessity  that  he 
must  die,  or  the  nation  be  destroyed  by  the  Eomans.  The  maxim 
was  sound  and  holy,  decreed  by  God ;  but  what  an  ill  use  did  the 
high-priest  make  of  it  to  put  Christ  to  death  as  a  seditious  person,  to 
save  the  nation  from  the  Eoman  fury ! 

3.  Since  the  natural  corruption  of  men  will  use  such  objects  ill, 
may  not  God,  without  tainting  himself,  present  such  objects  to  them 
in  subserviency  to  his  gracious  decrees?  Whatsoever  God  should 
present  to  men  in  that  state,  they  would  make  an  ill  use  of;  hath 
not  God,  then,  the  sovereign  prerogative  to  present  what  he  pleases, 
and  suppress  others  ?     To  offer  that  to  them  which  may  serve  his 

•  Amyrakl,  Ironic,  p.  337. 


ON  THE   HOLINESS  OF   GOD.  165 

holy  purpose,  and  hide  other  things  from  them  which  are  not  so  con- 
ducing to  his  gracious  ends,  which  would  be  as  much  the  occasions 
of  exciting  their  sin,  as  the  others  which  he  doth  bring  forth  to  theii- 
view?  The  Jews,  at  the  time  of  Christ,  were  of  a  turbulent  and 
seditious  humor;  they  expected  a  Messiah,  a  temporal  king,  and 
would  readily  have  embraced  any  occasion  to  have  been  up  in  arms 
to  have  delivered  themselves  from  the  Roman  yoke ;  to  this  purpose 
the  people  attempted  once  to  make  him  king:  and  probably  the 
expectation  they  had  that  he  had  such  a  design  to  head  them,  might 
be  one  reason  of  their  "hosannas;"  because  without  some  such  con- 
ceit it  was  not  probable  they  should  so  soon  change  their  note,  and 
vote  him  to  the  cross  in  so  short  a  time,  after  they  had  applauded 
him  as  if  he  had  been  upon  a  throne ;  but  their  being  defeated  of 
strong  expectations,  usually  ended  in  a  more  ardent  fury.  This  tur- 
bulent and  seditious  humor  God  directs  in  another  channel,  suppres- 
seth  all  occurrences  that  might  excite  them  to  a  rebellion  against  the 
Romans,  which,  if  he  had  given  way  to,  the  crucifying  Christ,  which 
was  God"s  design  to  bring  about  at  that  time,  had  not  probably  been 
effected,  and  the  salvation  of  mankind  been  hindered  or  stood  at  a 
stay  for  a  time.  God,  therefore,  orders  such  objects  and  occasions, 
that  might  direct  this  seditious  humor  to  another  channel,  which 
would  else  have  run  out  in  other  actions,  which  had  not  been  conduc- 
ing to  the  great  design  he  had  then  in  the  world.  Is  it  not  the  right 
of  God,  and  without  any  blemish  to  his  holiness,  to  use  those  corrup- 
tions which  he  finds  sown  in  the  nature  of  his  creature  by  the  hand 
of  Satan,  and  to  propose  such  objects  as  may  excite  the  exercise  of 
them  for  his  own  service?  Sure  God  hath  as  much  right  to  serve 
himself  of  the  creature  of  his  own  framing,  and  what  natures  soever 
they  are  possessed  with,  and  to  present  objects  to  that  purpose,  as  a 
falconer  hath  to  offer  this  or  that  bird  to  his  hawk  to  exercise  his 
courage,  and  excite  his  ravenousness,  without  being  termed  the  author 
of  that  ravenousness  in  the  creature.  God  planted  not  those  corrup- 
tions in  the  Jews,  but  finds  them  in  those  persons  over  whom  he 
hath  an  absolute  sovereignty  in  the  right  of  a  Creator,  and  that  of  a 
Judge  for  their  sins :  and  by  the  right  of  that  sovereignty  may  offer 
such  objects  and  occasions,  which,  tliough  innocent  in  themselves, 
he  knows  they  will  make  use  of  to  ill  purposes,  but  which  by  the 
same  decree  that  he  resolves  to  present  such  occasions  to  them,  he 
also  resolves  to  make  use  of  them  for  his  own  glory.  It  is  not  con- 
ceivable by  us  what  way  that  death  of  Christ,  which  was  necessary 
for  the  satisfaction  of  Divine  justice,  could  be  brought  about  without 
ordering  the  evil  of  some  men's  hearts  by  special  occasions  to  effect 
his  purpose ;  we  cannot  suppose  that  Christ  can  be  guilty  of  any 
crime  that  deserved  death  by  the  Jewish  law ;  had  he  been  so  a 
criminal,  he  could  not  have  been  a  Redeemer:  a  perfect  innocence 
was  necessary  to  the  design  of  his  coming.*  Had  God  himself  put 
him  to  that  death,  without  using  instruments  of  wickedness  in  it,  by 
some  remarkable  hand  from  heaven,  the  innocence  of  his  nature  had 
been  forever  eclipsed,  and  the  voluntariness  of  his  sacrifice  had  been 
obscured :  the  strangeness  of  such  a  judgment  would  have  made  his 

*  This  I  have  spokeu  of  before,  but  it  is  necessary  now. 


166  CHAKNOCK  ON  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

innocence  incredible ;  lie  could  not  reasonably  have  been  proposed 
as  an  object  of  faith.  What,  to  believe  in  one  that  was  struck  dead 
by  a  hand  from  heaven  ?  The  propagation  of  the  doctrine  of  redemp- 
tion had  wanted  a  foundation ;  and  though  God  might  have  raised 
him  again,  the  certainty  of  his  death  had  been  as  questionable  as  his 
innocence  in  dying,  had  he  not  been  raised.  But  God  orders  every- 
thing so  as  to  answer  his  own  most  wise  and  holy  ends,  and  maintain 
his  truth,  and  the  fulfilling  the  predictions  of  the  minutest  concerns 
about  them,  and  all  this  by  presenting  occasions  innocent  in  them- 
selves, which  the  corruptions  of  the  Jews  took  hold  of,  and  whereby 
God,  unknown  to  them,  brought  about  his  own  decrees :  and  may 
not  this  be  conceived  without  any  taint  upon  God's  holiness?  for 
when  there  are  seeds  of  all  sin  in  man's  nature,  why  may  not  God 
hinder  the  sprouting  up  of  this  or  that  kind  of  seed,  and  leave  liberty 
to  the  growth  of  the  other,  and  shut  up  other  ways  of  sinning,  and 
restrain  men  from  them,  and  let  them  loose  to  that  temptation  which 
he  intends  to  serve  himself  of,  hiding  from  them  those  objects  which 
were  not  so  serviceable  to  his  purpose,  wherein  they  would  have 
sinned,  and  offer  others,  which  he  knew  their  corruption  would  use 
ill,  and  were  serviceable  to  his  ends ;  since  the  depravation  of  their 
natures  would  necessarily  hurry  them  to  evil  without  restraining 
grace,  as  a  scale  will  necessarily  rise  up  when  the  weight  in  it,  which 
kept  it  down,  is  taken  away  ? 

Proip.  VII.  The  holiness  of  God  is  not  blemished  by  withdrawing 
his  grace  from  a  sinful  creature,  whereby  he  falls  into  more  sin. 
That  God  withdraws  his  grace  from  men,  and  gives  them  up  some- 
times to  the  fury  of  their  lusts,  is  as  clear  in  Scripture  as  anything 
(Deut.  xxix.  4) :  "  Yet  the  Lord  hath  not  given  you  a  heart  to  per- 
ceive, and  eyes  to  see,  and  ears  to  hear,"  &c.  Judas  was  delivered 
to  Satan  after  the  sop,  and  put  into  his  power,  for  despising  former 
admonitions.  He  often  leaves  the  reins  to  the  devil,  that  he  may 
use  what  efl&cacy  he  can  in  those  that  have  offended  the  Majesty  of 
God ;  he  withholds  further  influences  of  grace,  or  withdraws  what 
before  he  had  granted  them.  Thus  he  withheld  that  grace  irom  the 
sons  of  Eli,  that  might  have  made  their  father's  pious  admonitions 
effectual  to  them  (I  Sam,  ii.  25) :  "  They  hearkened  not  to  the  voice 
of  their  father,  because  the  Lord  would  slay  them."  He  gave  grace 
to  Eli  to  reprove  them,  and  withheld  that  grace  from  them,  which 
might  have  enabled  them  against  their  natural  corruption  and  ob- 
stinacy to  receive  that  reproof  But  the  holiness  of  God  is  not  blem- 
ished by  this, 

1.  Because  the  act  of  God  in  this  is  only  negative,"  Thus  God  is 
said  to  "  harden"  men :  not  by  positive  hardening,  or  working  any- 
thing in  the  creature,  but  by  not  working,  not  softening,  leaving  a 
man  to  the  hardness  of  his  own  heart,  whereby  it  is  unavoidable  by 
the  depravation  of  man's  nature,  and  the  fury  of  his  passions,  but 
that  he  should  be  further  hardened,  and  "increase  unto  more  un- 
godliness," as  the  expression  is  (2  Tim,  ii.  19).  As  a  man  is  said  to 
give  another  his  life,  when  he  doth  not  take  it  away  when  it  lay  at 
his  mercy ;  so  God  is  said  to  "harden"  a  man,  when  he  doth  not 

"  Testard,  deNatur,  et  Grat.  Thcs.  150,  151.    Amy  ou  Divers  Texts,  p.  311. 


ON  THE   HOLINESS  OF   GOD.  167 

mollify  liim  when  it  was  in  his  power,  and  inwardly  quicken  liim 
with  that  grace  whereby  he  might  infallibly  avoid  any  further  pro- 
voking of  him.  God  is  said  to  harden  men  when  he  removes  not 
from  them  the  incentives  to  sin,  curbs  not  those  principles  which 
are  ready  to  comply  with  those  incentives,  withdraws  the  common 
assistances  of  his  grace,  concurs  not  with  counsels  and  admonitions 
to  make  them  eflPectual ;  flasheth  not  in  the  convincing  light  which 
he  darted  upon  them  before.  If  hardness  follows  upon  God's  with- 
holding his  softening  grace,  it  is  not  by  any  positive  act  of  God,  but 
from  the  natural  hardness  of  man.  If  you  put  fire  near  to  wax  or 
rosin,  both  will  melt ;  but  when  that  fire  is  removed,  they  return  to 
their  natural  quality  of  hardness  and  brittleness ;  the  positive  act  of 
the  fire  is  to  melt  and  soften,  and  the  softness  of  the  rosin  is  to  be 
ascribed  to  that ;  but  the  hardness  is  from  the  rosin  itself,  wherein 
the  fire  hath  no  influence,  but  only  a  negative  act  by  a  removal  of 
it :  so,  when  God  hardens  a  man,  he  only  leaves  him  to  that  stony 
heart  which  he  derived  from  Adam,  and  brought  with  him  into  the 
world.  All  men's  understandings  being  blinded,  and  their  wills 
perverted  in  Adam,  God's  withdrawing  his  grace  is  but  a  leaving 
them  to  their  natural  pravity,  which  is  the  cause  of  their  farther  sin- 
ning, and  not  God's  removal  of  that  special  light  he  before  afibrded 
them,  or  restraint  he  held  over  them.  As  when  God  withdraws  his 
preserving  power  from  the  creature,  he  is  not  the  efficient,  but  de- 
ficient cause  of  the  creature's  destruction  ;  so,  in  this  case,  God  only 
ceaseth  to  bind  and  dam  up  that  sin  which  else  would  break  out. 

2.  The  whole  positive  cause  of  his  hardness  is  from  man's  corrup- 
tion. God  infuseth  not  any  sin  into  his  creatures,  but  forbears  to 
infuse  his  grace,  and  restrain  their  lusts,  which,  upon  the  removal  of 
his  grace,  work  impetuously :  God  only  gives  them  up  to  that  which 
he  knows  will  work  strongly  in  their  hearts.  And,  therefore,  the 
apostle  wipes  off  from  God  any  positive  act  in  that  uncleanness  the 
heathens  were  given  up  to  (Rom.  i.  24,  "  Wherefore  God  gave  them 
up  to  uncleanness,  through  the  lusts  of  their  own  hearts."  And,  ver. 
26,  God  gave  them  up  to  "  vile  affections ;"  but  they  were  their  own 
affections,  none  of  God's  inspiring,)  by  adding,  "  through  tlie  lusts 
of  their  own  hearts."  God's  giving  them  up  was  the  logical  cause, 
or  a  cause  by  way  of  argument ;  their  own  lusts  were  the  true  and 
natural  cause ;  their  own  they  were,  before  they  were  given  up  to 
them,  and  belonging  to  none,  as  the  author,  but  themsslves,  after 
they  were  given  up  to  them.  The  lust  in  the  heart,  and  the  temp- 
tation without,  easily  close  and  mix  interests  with  one  another :  as 
the  fire  in  a  coal  pit  will  with  the  fuel,  if  the  streams  derived  into  it 
for  the  quenching  it  be  dammed  up :  the  natural  passions  will  run 
to  a  temptation,  as  the  waters  of  a  river  tumble  towards  the  sea. 
When  a  man  that  hath  bridled  in  a  high-mettled  horse  from  running 
out,  gives  him  the  reins ;  or  a  huntsman  takes  off  the  string  that 
held  the  dog,  and  lets  him  run  after  the  hare, — are  they  the  imme- 
diate cause  of  the  motion  of  the  one,  or  the  other  ? — no,  but  the 
mettle  and  strength  of  the  horse,  and  the  natural  inclination  of  the 
hound,  both  which  are  left  to  their  own  motions  to  pursue  their  own 
natural  instincts.     Man  doth  as  naturallv  tend  to  sin  as  a  stone  to 


168  CHARNOCK   ON   THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

the  centre,  or  as  a  weighty  thing  inclines  to  a  motion  to  the  earth  : 
it  is  from  the  propension  of  man's  nature  that  he  "  drinks  up  iniquity 
like  water :"  and  God  doth  no  more  when  he  leaves  a  man  to  sin,  by 
taking  away  the  hedge  which  stopped  him,  but  leave  him  to  his  na- 
tural inclination.  As  a  man  that  breaks  up  a  dam  he  hath  placed, 
leaves  the  stream  to  run  in  their  natural  channel ;  or  one  that  takes 
away  a  prop  from  a  stone  to  let  it  fall,  leaves  it  only  to  that  nature 
which  inclines  it  to  a  descent ;  both  have  their  motion  from  their 
own  nature,  and  man  is  sin  from  his  own  corruption.  The  with- 
drawing the  sunbeams  is  not  the  cause  of  darkness,  but  the  shadi- 
ness  of  the  earth ;  nor  is  the  departure  c^f  the  sun  the  cause  of 
winter,  but  the  coldness  of  the  air  and  earth,  which  was  tempered 
and  beaten  back  into  the  bowels  of  the  earth  by  the  vigor  of 
the  sun,  upon  whose  departure  they  return  to  their  natural  state: 
the  sun  only  leaves  the  earth  and  air  as  it  found  them  at  the 
beginning  of  the  spring  or  the  beginning  of  the  day.'^  If  God 
do  not  give  a  man  grace  to  melt  him,  yet  he  cannot  be  said  to 
communicate  to  him  that  nature  which  hardens  him,  which  man 
hath  from  himself.  As  God  was  not  the  cause  of  the  first  sin  of 
Adam,  Avliich  was  the  root  of  all  other,  so  he  is  not  the  cause 
of  the  following  sins,  which,  as  branches,  spring  from  that  root ; 
man's  free-will  was  the  cause  of  the  first  sin,  and  the  corruption 
of  his  nature  by  it  the  cause  of  all  succeeding  sins.  God  doth 
not  immediately  harden  any  man,  but  doth  propose  those  things, 
i'rom  whence  the  natural  vice  of  man  takes  an  occasion  to 
strengthen  and  nourish  itself  Hence,  God  is  said  to  "harden 
Pharaoh's  heart"  (Exod,  vii.  13),  by  concurring  with  the  magicians 
in  turning  their  rods  into  serpents,  which  stiffened  his  heart 
against  Moses,  conceiving  him  by  reason  of  that,  to  have  no  more 
power  than  other  men,  and  was  an  occasion  of  his  father  harden- 
ing: and  Pharaoh  is  said  to  "harden  himself"  (Exod.  viii.  32); 
that  is,  in  regard  of  his  own  natural  passion. 

3.  God  is  holy  and  righteous,  because  he  doth  not  withdraw  from 
man,  till  man  deserts  him.  To  say,  that  God  withdrew  that  grace 
from  Adam,  which  he  had  afforded  him  in  creation,  or  anything  that 
was  due  to  him,  till  he  had  abused  the  gifts  of  God,  and  turned  them 
to  an  end  contrary  to  that  of  creation,  would  be  a  reflection  upon 
the  Divine  holiness.  God  was  first  deserted  by  man  before  man 
was  deserted  by  God ;  and  man  doth  first  contemn  and  abuse  the 
common  grace  of  God,  and  those  relics  of  natural  light,  that  "  en- 
lighten every  man  that  comes  into  the  world"  (John  i.  9) ;  before 
God  leaves  him  to  the  hurry  of  his  own  passions.  Ephraim  was 
first  joined  to  idols,  before  God  pronounced  the  fatal  sentence,  "  Let 
him  alone"  (Hos.  iv.  17) :  and  the  heathens  first  changed  the  glorj- 
of  the  incorruptible  God,  before  God  withdrew  his  common  grace 
from  the  corrupted  creature  (Rom.  i.  23,  24) ;  and  they  first  "served 
the  creature  more  than  the  Creator,"  before  the  Creator  gave  them 
up  to  the  slavish  chains  of  their  vile  affections  (ver.  25,  26).  Israel 
first  cast  off  God  before  God  cast  off  them  ;  but  then  ' '  he  gave  them 
up  to  their  own  hearts'  lusts,  and  they  walked  in  their  own  couDsels" 

*  Amyi-idJ,  de  ProJcst.  p.  107. 


ON  THE  HOLINESS  OF  GOD.  169 

(Ps.  Ixxxi.  11,  12).  Since  sin  entered  into  the  world  by  the  fall  of 
Adam,  and  the  blood  of  all  his  posterity  was  tainted,  man  cannot  do 
anything  that  is  formally  good ;  not  for  want  of  faculties,  but  for 
the  want  of  a  righteous  habit  in  those  faculties,  especially  in  the 
will ;  yet  God  discovers  himself  to  man  in  the  works  of  his  hands ; 
he  hath  left  in  him  footsteps  of  natural  reason  ;  he  doth  attend  him 
with  common  motions  of  his  Spirit ;  corrects  him  for  his  faults  with 
gentle  chastisements.  He  is  near  unto  all  in  some  kind  of  instruc- 
tions :  he  puts  many  times  providential  bars  in  their  way  of  sinning ; 
but  when  they  will  rush  into  it  as  the  horse  into  the  battle,  when 
they  will  rebel  against  the  light,  God  doth  often  leave  them  to  their 
own  course,  sentence  him  that  is  "  filthy  to  be  filthy  still"  (Rev.  xxii. 
11),  which  is  a  righteous  act  of  God,  as  he  is  rector  and  governor  of 
the  world.  Man's  not  receiving,  or  not  improving  what  God  gives, 
is  the  cause  of  God's  not  giving  further,  or  taking  away  his  own, 
which  before  he  had  bestowed ;  this  is  so  far  from  being  repugnant 
to  the  holiness  and  righteousness  of  God,  that  it  is  rather  a  commen- 
dable act  of  his  holiness  and  righteousness,  as  the  rector  of  the  world, 
not  to  let  those  gifts  continue  in  the  hand  of  a  man  who  abuses  them 
contrary  to  his  glory.  ^Yho  will  blame  a  father,  that,  after  all  the 
good  counsels  he  hath  given  to  his  son  to  reclaim  him,  all  the  correc- 
tions he  hath  inflicted  on  him  for  his  irregular  practice,  leaves  him 
to  his  own  courses,  and  withdraws  those  assistances  which  he  scoifed 
at,  and  turned  the  deaf  ear  unto  ?  Or,  who  will  blame  the  physician 
for  deserting  the  patient,  who  rejects  his  counsel,  will  not  Ibllow  his 
prescriptions,  but  dasheth  his  physic  against  the  wall  ?  No  man 
will  blame  him,  no  man  will  say  that  he  is  the  cause  of  the  patient's 
death,  but  the  true  cause  is  the  fury  of  the  distemper,  and  the  obsti- 
nacy of  the  diseased  person,  to  which  the  physician  left  him.  And 
who  can  justly  blame  God  in  this  case,  who  yet  never  denied  sup- 
plies of  grace  to  any  that  sincerely  sought  it  at  his  hands  ;  and  what 
man  is  there  that  lies  under  a  hardness,  but  first  was  guilty  of  very 
provoking  sins  ?  What  unholiness  is  it  to  deprive  men  of  those  as- 
sistances, because  of  their  sin,  and  afterwards  to  direct  those  counsels 
and  practices  of  theirs,  which  he  hath  justly  given  them  up  unto,  to 
serve  the  ends  of  his  own  glory  in  his  own  methods? 

4.  Which  will  appear  further  by  considering,  that  God  is  not 
obliged  to  continue  his  grace  to  them.  It  was  at  his  liberty  whether 
he  could  give  any  renewing  grace  to  Adam  after  his  fall,  or  to  any 
of  his  posterity  :  he  was  at  his  own  liberty  to  withhold  it  or  com- 
municate it :  but,  if  he  were  under  any  obligation  then,  surely  he 
must  be  under  less  now,  since  the  multiplication  of  sin  by  his  crea- 
tures :  but,  if  the  obligation  were  none  just  after  the  fall,  there  is  no 
pretence  now  to  fasten  any  such  obligation  on  God.  That  God  had 
no  obligation  at  first,  hath  been  spoken  to  before  ;  he  is  less  obliged 
to  continue  his  grace  after  a  repeated  refusal,  and  a  peremptory  abuse, 
than  he  was  bound  to  proffer  it  after  the  first  apostasy.  God  cannot 
be  charged  with  unholiness  in  withdrawing  his  grace  after  we  have 
received  it,  unless  we  can  make  it  appear  that  his  grace  was  a  thing 
due  to  us,  as  we  are  his  creatures,  and  as  he  is  governor  of  the  world. 
What  prince  looks  upon  himself  as  obliged  to  reside  in  any  purticu- 


170  CHARNOCK  ON  THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

lar  place  of  liis  kingdom  ?  But  suppose  he  be  bound  to  inhabit  in 
one  particular  city,  yet  after  the  city  rebels  against  him,  is  he  bound 
to  continue  his  court  there,  spend  his  revenue  among  rebels,  endanger 
his  own  honor  and  security,  enlarge  their  charter,  or  maintain  their 
ancient  privileges  ?  Is  it  not  most  just  and  righteous  for  him  to 
withdraw  himself,  and  leave  them  to  their  own  tumultuousness  and 
sedition,  whereby  they  should  eat  the  fruit  of  their  own  doings  ?  If 
there  be  an  obligation  on  God  as  a  governor,  it  would  rather  lie  on 
the  side  of  justice  to  leave  man  to  the  power  of  the  devil  whom  he 
courted,  and  the  prevalency  of  those  lusts  he  hath  so  often  caressed ; 
and  wrap  up  in  a  cloud  all  his  common  illuminations,  and  leave  him 
destitute  of  all  common  workings  of  his  Spirit, 

Prop.  VIII.  God's  holiness  is  not  blemished  by  his  commanding 
those  things  sometimes  which  seem  to  be  against  nature,  or  thwart 
some  other  of  his  precepts ;  as  when  God  commanded  Abraham  with 
his  own  hand  to  sacrifice  his  son  (Gen.  xxii.  2),  there  was  nothing 
of  unrighteousness  in  it.  God  hath  a  sovereign  dominion  over  the 
lives  and  beings  of  his  creatures,  whereby  as  he  creates  one  day,  he 
might  annihilate  the  next ;  and  by  the  same  right  that  he  might  de- 
mand the  life  of  Isaac,  as  "being  his  creature,  he  might  demand  the 
obedience  of  Abraham,  in  a  ready  return  of  that  to  him,  which  he 
had  so  long  enjoyed  by  his  grant.  It  is  true,  killing  is  unjust  when 
it  is  done  without  cause,  and  by  a  private  authority  ;  but  the  author- 
ity of  God  surmounts  all  private  and  public  authority  whatsoever. 
Our  lives  are  due  to  him  when  he  calls  for  them  ;  and  they  are  more 
than  once  forfeit  to  him  by  reason  of  transgression.  But,  howsoever 
the  case  is,  God  commanded  him  to  do  it  for  the  trial  of  his  grace, 
but  suffered  him  not  to  do  it  in  favor  to  his  ready  obedience  ;  but 
had  Isaac  been  actually  slain  and  offered,  how  had  it  been  unright- 
eous in  God,  who  enacts  laws  for  the  regulation  of  his  creature,  but 
never  intended  them  to  the  prejudice  of  the  rights  of  his  sovereignty  ? 
Another  case  is  that  of  the  Israelities  borrowing  jewels  of  the  Egyp- 
tians, by  the  order  of  God  (Exod.  xi.  2,  3 ;  xii.  36).  Is  not  God 
Lord  of  men's  goods,  as  well  as  their  lives  ?  What  have  any,  they 
have  not  received  ?  and  that  not  as  proprietors  independent  on  God, 
but  his  stewards  ;  and  may  not  he  demand  a  portion  of  his  steward 
to  bestow  upon  his  favorite  ?  He  that  had  power  to  dispose  of  the 
Egyptians'  goods,  had  power  to  order  the  Israelites  to  ask  them. 
Besides,  God  acted  the  part  of  a  just  judge  in  ordering  them  their 
wages  for  their  service  in  this  method,  and  making  their  task-masters 
give  them  some  recompense  for  their  unjust  oppression  so  many 
years ;  it  was  a  command  from  God,  therefore,  rather  for  the  preser- 
vation of  justice  (the  basis  of  all  those  laws  which  link  human 
society),  than  any  infringement  of  it.  It  was  a  material  recompense 
in  pai-t,  though  not  a  formal  one  in  the  intention  of  the  Egyptians ; 
it  was  but  in  part  a  recompense  ;  it  must  needs  come  short  of  the 
damage  the  poor  captives  had  sustained  by  the  tyranny  of  their 
masters,  who  had  enslaved  them  contrary  to  the  rules  of  hospitality ; 
and  could  not  make  amends  for  the  lives  of  the  poor  infants  of  Israel, 
whom  they  had  drowned  in  the  river.  He  that  might  for  the  unjust 
oppression  of  his  people  have  taken  away  all  their  lives,  destroyed 


ON  THE  HOLINESS  OF  GOD.  171 

the  whole  nation,  and  put  the  Israelites  into  the  possession  of  their 
lands,  could,  without  any  unrighteousness,  dispose  of  part  of  their 
goods ;  and  it  was  rather  an  act  of  clemency  to  leave  them  some 
part,  who  had  doubly  forfeited  all.  Again,  the  Egyptians  were  as 
ready  to  lend  by  God's  influence,  as  the  Israelites  were  to  ask  by 
Grod's  order:  and  though  it  was  a  loan,  God,  as  Sovereign  of  the 
world,  and  Lord  of  the  earth,  and  the  fulness  thereof,  alienated  the 
property  by  assuming  them  to  the  use  of  the  tabernacle,  to  which 
service,  most,  if  not  all  of  them,  were  afterwards  dedicated.  God, 
who  is  lawgiver,  hath  power  to  dispense  with  his  own  laAV,  and  make 
use  of  his  own  goods,  and  dispose  of  them  as  he  pleases ;  it  is  no  un- 
holiness  in  God  to  dispose  of  that  which  he  hath  a  right  unto.  In- 
deed, God  cannot  command  that  which  is  in  its  own  nature  intrinsi- 
sically  evil ;  as  to  command  a  rational  creature  not  to  love  him,  not 
to  worship  him,  to  call  God  to  witness  to  a  lie  ;  these  are  intrinsi- 
cally evil ;  but  for  the  disposing  of  the  lives  and  goods  of  his  crea- 
tures, which  they  have  from  him  in  right,  and  not  in  absolute  pro- 
priety, is  not  evil  in  him,  because  there  is  no  repugnancy  in  his  own 
nature  to  such  acts,  nor  is  it  anything  inconsistent  with  the  natural 
duty  of  a  creature,  and  in  such  cases  he  may  use  what  instruments 
he  please.  The  point  was,  that  holiness  is  a  glorious  perfection  of 
the  nature  of  God.  We  have  showed  the  nature  of  this  holiness  in 
God ;  what  it  is ;  and  we  have  demonstrated  it,  and  proved  that 
God  is  holy,  and  must  needs  be  so ;  and  also  the  purity  of  his  nature 
in  all  his  acts  about  sin  :  let  us  now  improve  it  by  way  of  use. 

IV.  Is  holiness  a  transcendent  perfection  belonging  to  the  nature 
of  God?     The  first  use  shall  be  of  instruction  and  information. 

Inform.  1.  How  great  and  how  frequent  is  the  contempt  of  this 
eminent  perfection  in  the  Deity  !  Since  the  fall,  this  attribute,  which 
renders  God  most  amiable  in  himself,  renders  him  most  hateful  to 
his  apostate  creature.  It  is  impossible  that  he  that  loves  iniquity, 
can  affect  that  which  is  irreconcileably  contrary  to  the  iniquity  he 
loves.  Nothing  so  contrary  to  the  sinfulness  of  man  as  the  holiness 
of  God,  and  nothing  is  thought  of  by  the  sinner  with  so  much  detes- 
tation. How  do  men  account  that  which  is  the  most  glorious  perfec- 
tion of  the  Divinity,  unworthy  to  be  regarded  as  an  accomplishment 
of  their  own  souls  !  and  when  they  are  pressed  to  an  imitation  of  it, 
and  a  detestation  of  what  is  contrary  to  it,  have  the  same  sentiment 
in  their  heart  which  the  devil  had  in  his  language  to  Christ,  Why 
art  thou  come  to  torment  us  before  our  time  ?  What  an  enmity  the 
world  naturally  hath  to  this  perfection,  I  think  is  visible  in  the  prac- 
tice of  the  heathen,  who  among  all  their  heroes  which  they  deified, 
elevated  none  to  that  diguity  among  them  for  this  or  that  moral  vir- 
tue that  came  nearest  to  it,  but  for  their  valor  or  some  usefulness  in 
the  concerns  of  this  life,  ^sculapius  was  deified  for  his  slvill  in  the 
cure  of  diseases  ;  Bacchus,  for  the  use  of  the  grape  ;  Vulcan,  for  his 
operations  by  fire  ;  Hercules,  for  his  destroying  of  tyrants  and  mon- 
sters ;  but  none  for  their  mere  virtue  ;  as  if  anything  of  purity  were 
unworthy  their  consideration  in  the  frame  of  a  Deity,  when  it  is  the 
glory  of  all  other  perfections  ;  so  essential  it  is,  that  when  men  reject 
the  imitation  of  this,  God  regards  it  as  a  total  rejection  of  himself, 


172  CHAENOCK  ON  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

tliougli  they  own  all  the  other  attributes  of  his  nature  (Ps.  Ixxxi.  11) : 
"  Israel  would  none  of  me :"  why  ?  because  "  they  walked  not  in  his 
ways"  (ver.  13) ;  those  ways  wherein  the  purity  of  the  Divine  nature 
was  most  conspicuous ;  they  would  own  him  in  his  power,  when  they 
stood  in  need  of  a  deliverance ;  they  would  own  him  in  his  mercy, 
when  they  were  plunged  in  distress ;  but  they  would  not  imitate 
him  in  his  holiness.  This  being  the  lustre  of  the  Divine  nature,  the 
contempt  of  it  is  an  obscuring  all  his  other  perfections,  and  a  dash- 
ing a  blot  upon  his  whole  escutcheon.  To  own  all  the  rest,  and  deny 
him  this,  is  to  frame  him  as  an  unbeautiful  monster, — a  deformed 
power.  Indeed,  all  sin  is  against  this  attribute  ;  all  sin  aims  in  gen- 
eral at  the  being  of  God,  but  in  particular  at  the  holiness  of  his  Be- 
ing. All  sin  is  a  violence  to  this  perfection  ;  there  is  not  an  iniquity 
in  the  world,  but  directs  its  venomous  sting  against  the  Divine  pu- 
rity ;  some  sins  are  directed  against  his  omniscience,  as  secret  wick- 
edness ;  some  against  his  providence,  as  distrust ;  some  against  his 
mercy,  as  unbelief;  some  against  his  wisdom,  as  neglecting  the 
means  instituted  by  him,  censuring  his  ways  and  actings ;  some 
against  his  power,  as  trusting  in  means  more  than  in  God,  and  the 
immoderate  fear  of  men  more  than  of  God  ;  some  against  his  truth, 
as  distrusting  his  promise,  or  not  fearing  his  threatening ;  but  all 
agree  together  in  their  enmity  against  this,  which  is  the  peculiar 
glory  of  the  Deity :  every  one  of  them  is  a  receding  from  the  Divine 
image ;  and  the  blackness  of  every  one  is  the  deeper,  by  how  much 
the  distance  of  it  from  the  holiness  of  God  is  the  greater.  This  con- 
trariety to  the  holiness  of  God,  is  the  cause  of  all  the  absolute  athe- 
ism (if  there  be  any  such)  in  the  world ;  what  was  the  reason  "  the 
fool  hath  said  in  his  heart.  There  is  no  God,"  but  because  the  fool  is 
"  corrupt,  and  hath  done  abominable  work"  (Ps,  xiv.  1)  ?  If  they 
believe  the  being  of  a  God,  their  own  reason  will  enforce  them  to 
imagine  him  holy ;  therefore,  rather  than  fancy  a  holy  God,  they 
would  fain  fancy  none  at  all. — In  particular, 

1.  The  holiness  of  God  is  injured,  in  unworthy  representations  of 
God,  and  imaginations  of  him  in  our  own  minds.  The  heathen  fell 
under  this  guilt,  and  ascribed  to  their  idols  those  vices  which  their 
own  sensuality  inclined  them  to,  unworthy  of  a  man,  much  more  un- 
worthy of  a  God,  that  they  might  find  a  protection  of  their  crimes  in 
the  practice  of  their  idols.  But  is  this  only  the  notion  of  the  hea- 
thens ?  may  there  not  be  many  among  us  whose  love  to  their  lusts, 
and  desires  of  sinning  without  control,  move  them  to  slander  God  in 
their  thoughts,  rather  than  reform  their  lives,  and  are  ready  to  frame, 
by  the  power  of  their  imaginative  faculty,  a  God,  not  only  winking, 
but  smiling,  at  their  impurities?  I  am  sure  God  charges  the  im- 
pieties of  men  upon  this  score,  in  that  Psalm  (1.  21)  which  seems  to 
be  a  representation  of  the  day  of  judgment,  as  some  gather  from  ver. 
6,  when  God  sums  up  all  together :  "  These  things  hast  thou  done, 
and  I  kejDt  silence ;  thou  thoughtest  that  I  was  altogether  such  an 
one  as  thyself;"  not  a  detester,  but  approver  of  thy  crimes:  and  the 
Psalmist  seems  to  express  God's  loathing  of  sin  in  such  a  manner,  as 
intimates  it  to  be  contrary  to  the  ideas  and  resemblances  men  make 
of  him  in  their  minds  (Ps.  v.  4) ;  "  For  thou  art  not  a  God  that  hast 


ON   THE   HOLINESS   OF   GOD.  173 

pleasure  in  wickedness ;"  as  wc  say,  in  vindication  of  a  man,  lie  is 
not  such  a  man  as  you  imagine  liim  to  be  ;  thou  art  not  such  a  God 
as  the  world  commonly  imagines  thee  to  be,  a  God  taking  pleasure 
in  iniquity.  It  is  too  common  for  men  to  fancy  God  not  as  he  is, 
but  as  they  would  have  him ;  strip  him  of  his  excellency  for  their 
own  security.  As  God  made  man  after  his  image,  man  would  dress 
God  after  his  own  modes,  as  may  best  suit  the  content  of  his  lusts, 
and  encourage  him  in  a  course  of  sinning  ;  for,  when  they  can  frame 
such  a  notion  of  God,  as  if  he  were  a  countenancer  of  sin,  they  will 
derive  from  thence  a  reputation  to  their  crimes,  commit  wickedness 
with  an  unbounded  licentiousness,  and  crown  their  vices  with  the 
name  of  virtues,  because  thay  are  so  like  to  the  sentiments  of  that 
God  they  fancy :  from  hence  (as  the  Psalmist,  in  the  Psalm  before 
mentioned)  ariseth  that  mass  of  vice  in  the  world  ;  such  conceptions 
are  the  mother  and  nurse  of  all  impiety.  I  question  not  but  the  first 
spring  is  some  wrong  notion  of  God,  in  regard  of  his  holiness :  we 
are  as  apt  to  imagine  God  as  we  Avould  have  him,  as  the  black  Ethi- 
opians were  to  draw  the  image  of  their  gods  after  their  own  dark  hue, 
and  paint  him  with  their  own  color :  as  a  philosopher  in  Theodoret 
speaks ;  If  oxen  and  lions  had  hands,  and  could  paint  as  men  do, 
they  would  frame  the  images  of  their  gods  according  to  their  own 
likeness  and  complexion.  Such  notions  of  God  render  him  a  swinish 
being,  and  worse  than  the  vilest  idols  adored  by  the  Egyjjtians,  wdien 
men  fancy  a  God  indulgent  to  their  appetites  and  most  sordid  lusts. 
2.  In  defacing  the  image  of  God  in  our  own  souls.  God,  in  the 
first  draught  of  man,  conformed  him  to  his  own  image,  or  made  him 
an  image  of  himself;  because  we  find  that  in  regeneration  this  image 
is  renewed  (Eph.  iv.  24) ;  "  The  new  man,  which,  after  God,  is  crea- 
ted in  righteousness  and  true  holiness.  He  did  not  take  angels  for 
his  pattern,  in  the  first  polishing  the  soul,  but  himself  In  defacing 
this  image  we  cast  dirt  upon  the  holiness  of  God,  which  was  his  pat- 
tern in  the  framing  of  us,  and  rather  choose  to  be  conformed  to  Sa- 
tan, who  is  God's  grand  enemy,  to  have  God's  image  wiped  out  of 
us,  and  the  devil's  pictured  in  us :  therefore,  natural  men,  in  an  un- 
regenerate  state,  may  justly  be  called  devils,  since  our  Saviour  called 
the  worst  man,  Judas,  so  (John  vi.  1),  and  Peter,  one  of  the  best 
(Matt.  xvi.  23) :  and  if  this  title  be  given,  by  an  infallible  Judge,  to 
one  of  the  worst,  and  one  of  the  best,  it  may,  without  wrong  to  any, 
be  ascribed  to  all  men  that  wallow  in  their  sin,  which  is  directly  con- 
trary to  that  illustrious  image  God  did  imprint  upon  them.  How 
often  is  it  seen  that  men  control  the  light  of  their  own  nature,  and 
stain  the  clearest  beams  of  that  candle  of  the  Lord  in  their  own 
spirits,  that  fly  in  the  face  of  their  own  consciences,  and  say  to  them, 
as  Ahab  to  'Micaiah,  Thou  didst  "never  prophesy  good  to  me;" 
thou  didst  never  encourage  me  in  those  things  that  are  pleasing  to 
the  flesh ;  and  use  it  at  the  same  rate  as  the  wicked  king  did  the 
prophet,  "imprison  it  in  unrighteousness"  (Rom.  i.  18),  because  it 
starts  up  in  them  sometimes  sentiments  of  the  holiness  of  God, 
which  it  represents  in  the  soul  of  man !  How  jolly  are  many  men 
when  the  exhalations  of  their  sensitive  part  rise  up  to  cloud  the  ex- 
actest  principle  of  moral  nature  in  their  minds,  and  render  the  mon- 


174  CHARNOCK  ON   THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

strous  principles  of  the  law  of  corruption  more  lively !  Whence 
ariseth  the  wickedness  which  hath  been  committed  with  an  open 
face  in  the  world,  and  the  applause  that  hath  been  often  given  to 
the  worst  of  villanies  ?  Have  we  not  known,  among  ourselves,  men 
to  glory  in  their  shame,  and  esteem  that  a  most  gentle  accomplish- 
ment of  man,  which  is  the  greatest  blot  upon  his  nature,  and  which, 
if  it  were  upon  God,  would  render  him  no  God,  but  an  impure  devil ; 
so  that  to  be  a  gentleman  among  us  hath  been  the  same  as  to  be  an 
incarnate  devil ;  and  to  be  a  man,  was  to  be  no  better,  but  worse, 
than  a  brute  ?  Vile  wretches !  is  not  this  a  contempt  of  Divine  holi- 
ness, to  kill  that  Divine  seed  which  lies  languishing  in  the  midst  of 
corrupted  nature  ;  to  cut  up  any  sprouts  of  it  as  weeds  unworthy  to 
grow  in  their  gardens,  and  cultivate  what  is  the  seed  of  hell ;  prefer 
the  rotten  fruits  of  Sodom,  marked  with  a  Divine  curse,  before  those 
relics  of  the  fruits  of  Eden,  of  God's  own  planting  ? 

3.  The  hoHness  of  God  is  injured  in  charging  our  sin  upon  God. 
Nothing  is  more  natural  to  men,  than  to  seek  excuses  for  their  sin, 
and  transfer  it  from  themselves  to  the  next  at  hand,  and  rather  than 
fail,  shift  it  upon  God  himself;  and  if  they  can  bring  God  into  a 
society  with  them  in  sin,  they  will  hug  themselves  in  a  security  that 
God  cannot  punish  that  guilt  wherein  he  is  a  partner.  Adam's  chil- 
dren are  not  of  a  different  disposition  from  Adam  himself,  who,  after 
he  was  arraigned  and  brought  to  his  trial,  boggles  not  at  flinging  his 
dirt  in  the  face  of  God,  his  Creator,  and  accuseth  him  as  if  he  had 
given  him  the  woman,  not  to  be  his  help,  but  his  ruin  (Gen.  iii.  12) ; 
"  And  the  man  said,  The  woman  whom  thou  gavest  to  be  with  me, 
she  gave  me  of  the  tree,  and  I  did  eat."  He  never  supplicates  for 
pardon,  nor  seeks  a  remedy,  but  reflects  his  crime  upon  God :  Had 
I  been  alone,  as  I  was  first  created,  I  had  not  eaten ;  but  the  woman, 
whom  I  received  as  a  special  gift  from  thee,  hath  proved  my  tempter 
and  my  bane.  When  man  could  not  be  like  God  in  knowledge,  he 
endeavored  to  make  God  like  him  in  his  crime ;  and  when  his  am- 
bition failed  of  equalizing  himself  with  God,  he  did,  with  an  inso- 
lence too  common  to  corrupted  nature,  attempt,  by  the  imputation 
of  his  sin,  to  equal  the  Divinity  with  himself.  Some  think  Cain  had 
the  same  sentiment  in  his  answer  to  God's  demand  where  his  brother 
was  (Gen.  ii.  9);  "Am  I  my  brother's  keeper?"  Art  not  thou  the 
Keeper  and  Governor  of  the  world  ?  why  didst  not  thou  take  care 
of  him,  and  hinder  my  killing  him,  and  drawing  this  guilt  upon  my- 
self, and  terror  upon  my  conscience  ?  David  was  not  behind,  when, 
after  the  murder  of  Uriah,  he  sweeps  the  dirt  from  his  owm  door  to 
God's  (2  Sam.  xi.  25);  "The  sword  devoureth  one  as  Avell  as  an- 
other;" fathering  that  solely  upon  Divine  Providence  which  was  his 
own  wicked  contrivance :  though  afterwards  he  is  more  ingenuous 
in  clearing  God,  and  charging  himself  (Ps.  li.  4):  "Against  thee, 
thee  only  have  I  sinned ;"  and  he  clears  God  in  his  judgment  too. 
It  is  too  common  for  the  "  foolishness  of  man  to  pervert  his  way;" 
and  then  "  his  heart  frets  against  the  Lord"  (Pro v.  xix.  3).  He 
studies  mischief,  runs  in  a  way  of  sin,  and  when  he  hath  conjured  up 
troubles  to  himself,  by  his  own  folly,  he  excuseth  himself,  and,  with 
indignation,  charges  God  as  the  author  both  of  his  sin  and  misery, 


ON  THE   HOLINESS  OF  GOD.  175 

and  sets  his  mouth  against  the  heavens.  It  is  a  more  horrihle  thing 
to  accuse  God  as  a  principal  or  accessary  in  our  guilt,  than  to  con- 
ceive him  to  be  a  favorer  of  our  iniquity;  yet  both  are  bad  enough. 

4.  The  holiness  of  God  is  injured  when  men  will  study  arguments 
from  the  holy  word  of  God  to  color  and  shelter  their  crimes.  When 
men  will  seek  for  a  shelter  for  their  lies,  in  that  of  the  mid  wives  to 
preserve  the  children,  or  in  that  of  Rahab  to  save  the  spies,  as  if, 
because  God  rewarded  their  fidelity,  he  countenanced  their  sin. 
How  often  is  Scripture  wrested  to  be  a  plea  for  unbecoming  prac- 
tices, that  God,  in  his  word,  may  be  imagined  a  patron  for  their  in- 
iquity ?  It  is  not  unknown  that  some  have  maintained  their  quaff- 
ing and  carousing  (from  Eccles.  viii.  11),  "  That  a  man  hath  no 
better  thing  under  the  sun  than  to  eat,  drink,  and  be  merry :"  and 
their  gluttony  (from  Matt.  v.  11),  "That  which  goes  into  the  belly 
defiles  not  a  man."  The  Jesuits'  morals  are  a  transcript  of  this. 
How  often  hath  the  Passion  of  our  Saviour,  the  highest  expression 
of  God's  holiness,  been  employed  to  stain  it,  and  encourage  the  most 
debauched  practices !  Grace  hath  been  turned  into  wantonness,  and 
the  abundance  of  grace  been  used  as  a  blast  to  increase  the  flames 
of  sin,  as  if  God  had  no  other  aim  in  that  work  of  redemption,  but 
to  discover  himself  more  indulgent  to  our  sensual  appetites,  and  by 
his  severity  with  his  Son,  become  more  gracious  to  our  lusts ;  this  is 
to  feed  the  roots  of  hell  with  the  dews  of  heaven,  to  make  grace  a 
pander  for  the  abuse  of  it,  and  to  employ  the  expressions  of  his  holi- 
ness in  his  word  to  be  a  sword  against  the  essential  holiness  of  his 
nature :  as  if  a  man  should  draw  an  apology  for  his  treason  out  of 
that  law  that  was  made  to  forbid,  not  to  protect,  his  rebellion.  Not 
the  meanest  instrument  in  the  temple  was  to  be  alienated  from  the 
use  it  was  by  Divine  order  appointed  to,  nor  was  it  to  be  employed 
in  any  common  use ;  and  shall  the  word  of  God,  which  is  the  image 
of  Jiis  holiness,  be  transferred  by  base  interpretations  to  be  an  advo- 
cate for  iniquity?  Such  an  ill  use  of  his  word  reflects  upon  that 
hand  which  imprinted  those  characters  of  purity  and  righteousness 
upon  it :  as  the  misinterpretation  of  the  wholesome  laws  of  a  prince, 
made  to  discourage  debauchery,  reflects  upon  his  righteousness  and 
sincerity  in  enacting  them. 

5.  The  holiness  of  God  is  injured,  when  men  will  put  up  petitions 
to  God  to  favor  them  in  a  wicked  design.  Such  there  are,  and  taxed 
by  the  apostle  (James  iv.  8),  "  Ye  ask  amiss,  that  you  may  consume 
it  upon  your  lusts,"  who  desired  mercies  from  God,  with  an  intent 
to  make  them  instruments  of  sin,  and  weapons  of  unrighteousness ; 
as  it  is  reported  of  a  thief,  that  he  always  prayed  for  the  success  of 
his  robbery.  It  hath  not  been  rare  in  the  world  to  appoint  fasts  and 
prayers  for  success  in  wars  manifestly  unjust,  and  commenced  upon 
breaches  of  faith.  Many  covetous  men  petition  God  to  prosper  them 
in  their  unjust  gain;  as  if  the  blessed  God  sat  in  his  pure  majesty 
upon  a  throne  of  grace,  to  espouse  unjust  practices,  and  make  iniquity 
prosperous.  There  are  such  as  "  offer  sacrifice  with  an  evil  mind" 
(Prov,  xxi.  27),  to  barter  with  God  for  a  divine  blessing  to  spirit  a 
wicked  contrivance.  How  great  a  contempt  of  the  holiness  of  God 
is  this !     How  inexcusable  would  it  be  for  a  favorite  to  address  him- 


176  CHARNOCK   ON  THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

self  to  a  just  prince  with  this  language :  Sir,  I  desire  a  boon  of  such 
lands  that  lie  near  me,  for  an  addition  to  my  estate,  that  I  may  have 
supports  for  my  debauchery,  and  be  able  to  play  the  villain  more 
powerfully  among  my  neighbors !  Hereby  he  implies  that  his  prince 
is  a  friend  to  such  crimes  and  wickedness  he  intends  his  petition  for. 
Is  not  this  the  language  of  many  men's  hearts  in  the  immediate  pre- 
sence of  God?  The  order  of  prayer  runs  thus,  "Hallowed  be  thy 
name ;"  first  to  have  a  deep  sense  of  the  holiness  of  the  Divine  na- 
ture, and  an  ardent  desire  for  the  glory  of  it.  This  order  is  inverted 
by  asking  those  things  which  are  not  agreeable  to  the  will  of  God, 
not  meet  for  us  to  ask,  and  not  meet  for  God  to  give ;  or  asking 
things  agreeable  to  the  will  of  God,  but  with  a  wicked  intention. 
This  is,  in  effect,  to  desire  God  to  strip  himself  of  his  holiness,  and 
commit  sacrilege  upon  his  own  nature  to  gratify  our  lusts, 

6.  The  purity  of  God  is  contemned,  in  hating  and  scofiing  at  the 
holiness  which  is  in  a  creature.  Whoever  looks  upon  the  holiness 
of  a  creature  as  an  unlovely  thing,  can  have  no  good  opinion  of  the 
amiableness  of  Divine  purity.  Whosoever  hates  those  qualities  and 
graces  that  resemble  God  in  any  person,  must  needs  contemn  the 
original  pattern,  which  is  more  eminent  in  God,  If  there  be  no 
comeliness  in  a  creature's  holiness,  to  render  it  grateful  to  us,  we 
should  say  of  God  himself,  were  he  visible  among  us,  with  those  in 
the  prophet  (Isa,  liii,),  "  There  is  no  beauty  in  him,  that  we  should 
desire  him."  Holiness  is  beautiful  in  itself.  If  God  be  the  most 
lovely  Being,  that  which  is  a  likeness  to  him,  so  far  as  it  doth  resem- 
ble him,  must  needs  be  amiable,  because  it  partakes  of  God ;  and, 
therefore,  those  that  see  no  beauty  in  an  inferior  holiness,  but  con- 
temn it  because  it  is  a  purity  above  them,  contemn  God  much  more. 
He  that  hates  that  Avhich  is  imperfect  merely  for  that  excellency 
which  is  in  it,  doth  much  more  hate  that  which  is  perfect,  without 
any  mixture  or  stain.  Holiness  being  the  glory  of  God,  the  pecu^ar 
title  of  the  Deity,  and  from  him  derived  unto  the  nature  of  a  crea- 
ture, he  that  mocks  this  in  a  person,  derides  God  himself;  and,  when 
he  cannot  abuse  the  purity  in  the  Deity,  he  will  do  it  in  his  image ; 
as  rebels  that  cannot  wrong  the  king  in  his  person,  will  do  it  in  his 
picture,  and  his  subjects  that  are  loyal  to  him.  He  that  hates  the 
picture  of  a  man,  hates  the  person  represented  by  it  much  more ;  he 
that  hates  the  beams,  hates  the  sun ;  the  holiness  of  a  creature  is  but 
a  beam  from  that  infinite  Sun,  a  stream  from  that  eternal  Fountain. 
Where  there  is  a  derision  of  the  purity  of  any  creature,  there  is  a  greater 
reflection  upon  God  in  that  derision,  as  he  is  the  Author  of  it.  If  a 
mixed  and  stained  holiness  be  more  the  subject  of  any  man's  scoffs 
than  a  great  deal  of  sin,  that  person  hath  a  disposition  more  roundly 
to  scoff  at  God  himself,  should  he  appear  in  that  unblemished  and  un- 
spotted purity  which  infinitely  shines  in  his  nature.  O  !  it  is  a  dan- 
gerous thing  to  scoff  and  deride  holiness  in  any  person,  though  never 
so  mean ;  such  do  deride  and  scoff  at  the  most  holy  God. 

7.  The  holiness  of  God  is  injured  by  our  unprepared  addresses  to 
him,  when,  like  swine,  we  come  into  the  presence  of  God  with  all 
our  mire  reeking  and  steaming  upon  us.  A  holy  God  requires  a 
holy  worship ;  and  if  our  best  duties,  having  filth  in  every  part,  as 


ON  THE   HOLINESS   OF   GOD.  177 

performed  by  us,  are  unmeet  for  God,  liow  mucli  more  unsuitable 
are  dead  and  dirty  duties  to  a  living  and  immense  holiness !  Slight 
approaches  and  drossy  frames  speak  us  to  have  imaginations  of  God 
as  of  a  slight  and  sottish  being.  This  is  worse  than  the  heathens 
practised,  who  would  purge  tlieir  flesh  before  they  sacrificed,  and 
make  some  preparations  in  a  seeming  purity,  before  they  would  enter 
into  their  temples.  God  is  so  holy,  that  were  our  services  as  refined 
as  those  of  angels,  we  could  not  present  him  with  a  service  meet  for 
his  holy  nature  (Josh.  xxiv.  19).  We  contemn,  then,  this  perfection, 
v,^hen  we  come  before  him  without  due  preparation ;  as  if  God  him- 
self were  of  an  impure  nature,  and  did  not  deserve  our  purest 
thoughts  in  our  applications  to  him ;  as  if  any  blemished  and  polluted 
sacrifice  were  good  enough  for  him,  and  his  nature  deserved  no 
better.  When  we  excite  not  those  elevated  frames  of  spirit  which 
are  due  to  such  a  being,  when  we  think  to  put  him  off  with  a  lame 
and  imperfect  service,  we  worship  him  not  according  to  the  excel- 
lency of  his  nature,  but  put  a  slight  upon  his  majestic  sanctity. 
When  we  nourish  in  our  duties  those  foolish  imaginations  which 
creep  upon  us ;  when  we  bring  into,  and  continue  our  worldly,  car- 
nal, debauched  fancies  in  his  presence,  worse  than  the  nasty  servants, 
or  bemired  dogs,  a  man  would  blush  to  be  attended  with  in  his  visits 
to  a  neat  person.  To  be  conversing  with  sordid  sensualities,  when 
we  are  at  the  feet  of  an  infinite  God,  sitting  upon  the  throne  of  his 
holiness,  is  as  much  a  contempt  of  him,  as  it  would  be  of  a  prince, 
to  bring  a  vessel  full  of  nasty  dung  with  us,  when  we  come  to  present 
a  petition  to  him  in  his  royal  robes ;  or  as  it  would  have  been  to 
God,  if  the  high  priest  should  have  swept  all  the  blood  and  excre- 
ments of  the  sacrifices  from  the  foot  of  the  altar  into  the  Holy  of 
holies,  and  heaped  it  up  before  the  mercy -seat,  where  the  presence 
of  God  dwelt  between  the  cherubims,  and  afterwards  shovelled  it  up 
into  the  ark,  to  be  lodged  with  Aaron's  rod  and  the  pot  of  manna. 

8.  God's  holiness  is  slighted  in  depending  upon  our  imperfect 
services  to  bear  us  out  before  the  tribunal  of  God.  This  is.  too  or- 
dinary. The  Jews  were  often  infected  with  it  (Rom.  iil  10),  who,, 
not  well  understanding  the  enormity  of  their  taansgressions,  the- 
interweaving  of  sin  with  their  services,  and  the  unspottedness-of  the; 
Divine  purity,  mingled  an  opinion  of  merit  with  their  sacrifices,, 
and  thought,  by  the  cutting  the  throat  of  a  beast,  and  offering  it 
upon  God's  altar,  they  had  made  a  sufl&cient  compensation  to  that 
holiness  they  had  offended.  Not  to  speak  of  'many  among  the 
Romanists  who  have  the  same  notion,  thinking  to  make  satisfaction 
to  God  by  erecting  an  hospital,  or  endowing  a  church,  as  if  this  in- 
jared  perfection  could  be  contented  with  the  dregs  of  their  purses, 
and  the  offering  of  an  unjust  mammon,  more  likely  to  mind  God  of 
the  injury  they  have  done  him,  than  contribute  to  the  appeasing  of 
him.  But  is  it  not  too  ordinary  with  miserable  men,  whose  con- 
sciences accuse  them  of  their  crimes,  to  rely  upon  the  mumbling  of 
a  few  formal  prayers,  and  in  the  strength  of  them,  to  think  to  stand 
before  the  tremendous  tribunal  of  God,  and  meet  with  a  discharge 
upon  this  account  from  any  accusation  this  Divine  perfection  can 
present  against  them  ?     Nay,  do  not  the  best  Christians  sometimes 

VOL.  II. — 12 


178  CHARNOCK  ON   THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

find  a  principle  in  tliem,  that  makes  them  stumble  in  tlieir  goings 
forth  to  Christ,  and  glorifying  the  holiness  of  God  in  that  method 
which  he  hath  appointed?  Sometimes  casting  an  eye  at  their 
grace,  and  sticking  awhile  to  this  or  that  duty,  and  gazing  at  the 
glory  of  the  temple-building,  while  they  should  more  admire  the 
glorious  Presence  that  fdls  it.  What  is  all  this  but  a  villify-ing  of 
tlie  holiness  of  the  Divine  nature,  as  though  it  would  be  well  enough 
contented  with  our  impurities  and  imperfections,  because  they  look 
like  a  righteousness  in  our  estimation  ?  As  though  dross  and  dung, 
which  are  the  titles  the  apostles  gives  to  all  the  righteousness  of  a 
fallen  creature  (Phil.  iii.  8),  were  valuable  in  the  sight  of  God,  and 
sufficient  to  render  us  comely  before  him.  It  is  a  blasphemy  against 
this  attribute,  to  pretend  that  anything  so  imperfect,  so  daubed,  as 
the  best  of  our  services  are,  can  answer  to  that  which  is  infinitely 
perfect,  and  be  a  ground  of  demanding  eternal  life :  it  is  at  best,  to 
set  up  a  gilded  Dagon,  as  a  fit  companion  for  the  ark  of  his  Holi- 
ness ;  our  own  righteousness  as  a  suitable  mate  for  the  righteousness 
of  God :  as  if  he  had  repented  of  the  claim  he  made  by  the  law  to  an 
exact  conformity,  and  thrown  off  the  holiness  of  his  nature  for  the 
fondling  of  a  corrupted  creature.  Eude  and  foolish  notions  of  the 
Divine  purity  are  clearly  evidenced  by  any  confidence  in  any  right- 
eousness of  our  own,  though  never  so  splendid.  It  is  a  rendering 
the  righteousness  of  God  as  dull  and  obscure  as  that  of  men;  a 
mere  outside,  as  their  own ;  as  blind  as  the  heathens  pictured  their 
Fortune,  that  knew  as  little  how  to  discern  the  nature  and  value  of 
■the  offerings  made  to  her,  as  to  distribute  her  gifts,  as  if  it  were  all 
one  to  them,  to  have  a  dog  or  a  lamb  presented  in  sacrifice.  As  if 
God  did  not  well  understand  his  own  nature,  when  he  enacted  so 
holy  a  law,  and  strengthened  it  with  so  severe  a  threatening ;  which 
must  follow  upon  our  conceit,  that  he  will  accept  a  righteousness 
lower  than  that  which  bears  some  suitableness  to  the  holiness  of  his 
own  nature,  and  that  of  his  law  ;  and  that  he  could  easily  be  put  off 
with  a  pretended  and  counterfeit  service.  What  are  the  services  of 
the  generality  of  men,  but  suppositions,  that  they  can  bribe  God  to 
an  indulgence  of  them  in  their  sins,  and  by  an  oral  sacrifice,  cause 
him  to  divest  himself  of  his  hatred  of  their  former  iniquities,  and 
countenance  their  following  practises.  As  the  harlot,  that  would 
return  fresh  to  her  uncleanness,  upon  the  confidence  that  her  peace 
offering  had  contented  the  righteousness  of  God  (Prov.  vii.  14) :  as 
though  a  small  service  could  make  him  wink  at  our  sins,  and  lay 
aside  the  glory  of  his  nature ;  when,  alas !  the  best  duties  in  the 
most  gracious  persons  in  this  life,  are  but  as  the  steams  of  a  spiced 
dung-hill,  a  composition  of  myrrh  and  froth,  since  there  are  swarms 
of  corruptions  in  their  nature,  and  secret  sins  that  they  need  a 
cleansing  from. 

9.  It  is  a  contemning  the  holiness  of  God,  when  we  charge  the 
law  of  God  with  rigidness.  We  cast  dirt  upon  the  holiness  of  God 
when  we  blame  the  law  of  God,  because  it  shackles  us,  and  pro- 
hibit our  desired  pleasures ;  and  hate  the  law  of  God,  as  they  did 
the  prophets,  because  they  did  not  prophesy  smooth  things;  but 
called  to  them,  to  "  get"  them  "  out  of  the  way,  and  turn  aside  out 


ON  THE   HOLINESS   OF   GOD.  179 

of  tlie  path,  and  cause  the  Holy  One  of  Israel  to  cease  from  before 
them"  .(Isa.  xxx.  10,  11).  Put  us  no  more  in  mind  of  the  holiness 
of  God,  and  the  holiness  of  his  law ;  it  is  a  troublesome  thing  for 
us  to  hear  of  it :  let  him  be  gone  from  us,  since  he  will  not 
countenance  our  vices,  and  indulge  our  crimes ;  we  would  rather 
hear  there  is  a  God,  than  you  would  tell  us  of  a  holy  one.  "We  are 
contrary  to  the  law,  when  we  wish  it  were  not  so  exact ;  and,  there- 
fore, contrary  to  the  holiness  of  God,  which  set  the  stamp  of  exact- 
ness and  righteousness  upon  it.  We  think  him  injurious  to  our 
liberty,  when,  by  his  precept  he  thwarts  our  pleasure;  we  wish 
it  of  another  frame,  more  mild,  more  suitable  to  our  minds:  it 
is  the  same,  as  if  we  should  openly  blame  God  for  consulting  with 
his  own  righteousness,  and  not  with  our  humors,  before  he  set- 
tled his  law ;  that  he  should  not  have  drawn  from  the  depths  of  his 
righteous  nature,  but  squared  it  to  accommodate  our  corruption. 
This  being  the  language  of  such  complaints,  is  a  reproving  God,  be- 
cause he  would  not  be  unholy,  that  we  might  be  unrighteous  with 
impunity.  Had  the  Divine  law  been  suited  to  our  corrupt  state, 
God  must  have  been  unholy  to  have  complied  with  his  rebellious 
creature.  To  charge  the  law  with  rigidness,  either  in  language  or 
practice,  is  the  highest  contempt  of  God's  holiness ;  for  it  is  an  im- 
plicit wish,  that  God  were  as  defiled,  polluted,  disorderly,  as  our 
corrupted  selves. 

10.  The  holiness  of  God  is  injured  opinionatively,  (1).  In  the 
opinion  of  venial  sins.  The  Komanists  divide  sins  into  venial  and 
mortal :  mortal,  are  those  which  deserve  eternal  death ;  venial,  the 
lighter  sort  of  sins,  which  rather  deserve  to  be  pardoned  than  pun- 
ished ;  or  if  punished,  not  with  an  eternal,  but  temporal  punish- 
ment. This  opinion  hath  no  foundation  in,  but  is  contrary  to.  Scrip- 
ture. How  can  any  sin  be  in  its  own  nature  venial,  when  the  due 
"  wages  of  every  sin  is  death"  (Rom.  vi.  23)  ?  and  he  who  "  con- 
tinues not  in  every  thing  that  the  law  commands,"  falls  under  a 
"curse"  (Gal,  iii.  10).  It  is  a  mean  thought  of  the  holiness  and  ma- 
jesty of  God  to  imagine,  that  any  sin  which  is  against  an  infinite 
majesty,  and  as  infinite  a  purity  both  in  the  nature  of  God  and  the 
law  of  God,  should  not  be  considered  as  infinitely  heinous.  All 
sins  are  transgressions  of  the  eternal  law,  and  in  every  one  the  in- 
finite holiness  of  God  is  some  way  slighted.  (2).  In  the  opinion  of 
works  of  supererogation.  That  is,  such  works  as  are  not  commanded 
by  God,  which  yet  have  such  a  dignity  and  worth  in  their  own 
nature,  that  the  performers  of  them  do  not  only  merit  at  God's  hands 
for  themselves,  but  fill  up  a  treasure  of  merits  for  others,  that  come 
short  of  fulfilling  the  precepts  God  hath  enjoined.  It  is  such  a  mean 
thought  of  God's  holiness,  that  the  Jews,  in  all  the  charges  brought 
against  them  in  Scripture,  were  never  guilty  of  And  if  you  con- 
sider what  pitiful  things  they  are,  which  are  within  the  compass  of 
such  works,  you  have  sufficient  reason  to  bewail  the  ignorance  of 
man,  and  the  low  esteem  he  hath  of  so  glorious  a  perfection.  The 
whipping  themselves  often  in  a  week,  extraordinary  watchings,  fast- 
ings, macerating  their  bodies,  wearing  a  capuchin's  habit,  &c.  are 
pitiful  things  to  give  content  to  an  Infinite  Purity.     As  if  the  pre- 


180  CHARNOCK   ON  THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

cept  of  God  required  only  the  inferior  degrees  of  virtue,  and  tlie 
counsels  the  more  high  and  excellent ;  as  if  the  law  of  God,  which 
the  Psalmist  counts  "  perfect"  (Ps.  xix.7),  did  not  command  all  good, 
and  forbid  all  evil ;  as  if  the  holiness  of  God  had  forgotten  itself  in 
the  framing  the  law,  and  made  it  a  scanty  and  defective  rule ;  and 
the  righteousness  of  a  creature  were  not  only  able  to  make  an  eternal 
righteousness,  but  surmount  it.  As  man  would  be  at  first  as  know- 
ing as  God,  so  some  of  his  posterity  would  be  more  holy  than  God ; 
set  up  a  wisdom  against  the  Avisdom  of  God,  and  a  purity  above  the 
Divine  purity.  Adam  was  not  so  presumptuous ;  he  intended  no 
more  than  an  equalling  God  in  knowledge ;  but  those  would  exceed 
him  in  righteousness,  and  not  only  presume  to  render  a  satisfaction 
for  themselves  to  the  holiness  they  have  injured,  but  to  make  a 
purse  for  the  supply  of  others  that  are  indigent,  that  they  may  stand 
before  the  tribunal  of  God  with  a  confidence  in  the  imaginary  right- 
eousness of  a  creature.  How  horrible  is  it  for  those  that  come 
short  of  the  law  of  God  themselves,  to  think  that  they  can  have 
enough  for  a  loan  to  their  neighbors  !     An  unworthy  opinion. 

Inform.  2.  It  may  inform  us,  how  great  is  our  fall  from  God,  and 
how  distant  we  are  from  him.  View  the  holiness  of  God,  and  take 
a  prospect  of  the  nature  of  man,  and  be  astonished  to  see  a  person 
created  in  the  Divine  image,  degenerated  into  the  image  of  the  devil. 
We  are  as  far  fallen  from  the  holiness  of  God,  which  consists  in  a 
hatred  of  sin,  as  the  lowest  point  of  the  earth  is  from  the  highest 
point  of  the  heavens.  The  devil  is  not  more  fallen  from  the  rectitude 
of  his  nature  and  likeness  to  God,  than  we  are  ;  and  that  we  are  not 
in  the  same  condition  with  those  apostate  spirits,  is  not  from  any- 
thing in  our  nature,  but  from  the  mediation  of  Christ,  upon  whicli 
account  God  hath  indulged  in  us  a  continuance  of  some  remainders 
of  that  which  Satan  is  wholly  deprived  of.  We  are  departed  from 
our  original  pattern;  we  were  created  to  live  the  "life  of  God,"  that 
that  is,  a  life  of  "holiness;"  but  now  we  are  "alienated  from  the 
life  of  God"  (Eph.  iv.  18),  and  of  a  beautiful  piece  we  are  become 
deformed,  daubed  over  with  the  most  defiling  mud :  we  "  work  un- 
cleanness  with  greediness,"  according  to  our  ability,  as  creatures;  as 
God  doth  work  "holiness"  with  affection  and  ardency,  according  to 
his  infiniteness,  as  Creator.  More  distant  we  are  from  God  by  reason 
of  sin,  than  the  vilest  creature,  the  most  deformed  toad,  or  poisonous 
serpent,  is  from  the  highest  and  most  glorious  angel.  By  forsaking 
our  innocence,  we  departed  from  God  as  our  original  copy.  The 
apostle  might  well  say  (Rom.  iii.  23),  that  by  sin  "  we  are  come  short 
of  the  glory  of  God."  Interpreters  trouble  themselves  much  about 
that  place,  "  Man  is  come  short  of  the  glory  of  God,"  that  is,  of  the 
holiness  of  God,  which  is  the  glory  of  the  Divine  nature,  and  was 
pictured  in  the  rational,  innocent  creature.  By  the  "  glory  of  God," 
is  meant  the  holiness  of  God ;  (as  1  Cor.  iii.  18),  "  Beholding,  as  in  a 
glass,  the  glory  of  the  Lord,  we  are  changed  into  the  same  image 
from  glory  to  glory ;"  that  is  the  glory  of  God  in  the  text,  into  the 
image  of  which  we  are  changed ;  but  the  Scripture  speaks  of  no  other 
image  of  God,  but  that  of  holiness  ;  "  we  are  come  short  of  the  glory 
of  God ;"  of  the  holiness  of  God,  which  is  the  glory  of  God ;  and 


ON"   THE   HOLINESS   OF   GOD.  181 

the  image  of  it,  which  was  the  glory  of  man.  By  sin,  which  is  par- 
ticular in  opposition  to  the  purity  of  God,  man  was  left  many  leagues 
behind  any  resemblance  to  God ;  he  stripped  off  that  which  was  the 
glory  of  his  nature,  and  was  the  only  means  of  glorifying  God  as 
Ids  Creator.  The  word  ixjtfQovt'nti.^  the  apostle  uses,  is  very  signifi- 
cant,— postponed  by  sin  an  infinite  distance  from  any  imitation  of 
God's  holiness,  or  any  appearance  before  him  in  a  garb  of  nature 
pleasing  to  him.     Let  us  lament  our  fall  and  distance  from  God. 

Inform.  3.  All  unholinesss  is  vile,  and  opposite  to  the  nature  of 
God.  It  is  such  a  loathsome  thing,  that  the  "  purity  of  God's  eye  is 
averse  from  beholding"  (Hab.  i.  3).  It  is  not  said  there,  that  he  will 
not,  but  he  cannot,  look  on  evil ;  there  cannot  be  any  amicableness 
between  God  and  sin,  the  natures  of  both  are  so  directly  and  un- 
changeably contrary  to  one  another.  Holiness  is  the  life  of  God ;  it 
endures  as  long  as  his  life ;  he  must  be  eternally  averse  from  sin,  he 
can  live  no  longer  than  he  lives  in  the  hatred  and  loathing  of  it.  If 
he  should  for  one  instant  cease  to  hate  it,  he  would  cease  to  live.  To 
be  a  holy  God,  is  as  essential  to  him,  as  to  be  a  living  God ;  and  he 
would  not  be  a  living  God,  but  a  dead  God,  if  he  were  in  the  least 
point  of  time  an  unholy  God.  He  cannot  look  on  sin  without  loath- 
ing it ;  he  cannot  look  on  sin  but  his  heart  riseth  against  it ;  it  must 
needs  be  most  odious  to  him,  as  that  which  is  against  the  glory  of 
his  nature,  and  directly  opposite  to  that  which  is  the  lustre  and  var- 
nish of  all  his  other  perfections.  It  is  the  "  abominable  thing  which 
his  soul  hates"  (Jer.  xliv.  4)  ;  the  vilest  terms  imaginable  are  used  to 
signify  it.  Do  you  understand  the  loathsomeness  of  a  miry  swine, 
or  the  nauseousness  of  the  vomit  of  a  dog  ?  these  are  emblems  of 
sin  (2  Peter  ii.  22).  Can  you  endure  the  steams  of  putrefied  carcasses 
from  an  open  sepulchre  (Rom.  iii.  23)?  is  the  smell  of  the  stinking 
sweat  or  excrements  of  a  body  delightful?  the  word  ^vnuijia  in  James 
i.  21,  signifies  as  much.  Or  is  the  sight  of  a  body  overgrown  with 
scabs  and  leprosy  grateful  to  you  ?  So  vile,  so  odious  is  sin,  in  the 
sight  of  God.  It  is  no  light  thing,  then,  to  fly  in  the  face  of  God; 
to  break  his  eternal  law ;  to  dash  both  the  tables  in  pieces :  to  tram- 
ple the  transcript  of  God's  own  nature  under  our  feet ;  to  cherish 
that  which  was  inconsistent  with  his  honor;  to  lift  up  our  heels 
against  the  glory  of  his  nature  ;  to  join  issue  with  the  devil  in  stab- 
bing his  heart,  and  depriving  him  of  his  life.  Sin,  in  every  part  of 
it,  is  an  opposition  to  the  holiness  of  God,  and  consequently  an  envy- 
ing him  a  being  and  life,  as  well  as  a  glory.  If  sin  be  such  a  thing, 
"  ye  that  love  the  Lord,  hate  evil." 

Inform.  4.  Sin  cannot  escape  a  due  punishment.  A  hatred  of  un- 
righteousness, and  consequently  a  will  to  punish  it,  is  as  essential  to 
God  as  a  love  of  righteousness.  Since  he  is  not  as  an  heathen  idol, 
but  hath  eyes  to  see,  and  purity  to  hate  every  iniquity,  he  will  have 
an  infinite  justice  to  punish  whatsoever  is  against  infinite  holiness. 
As  he  loves  everything  that  is  amiable,  so  he  loathes  everything  that 
is  filthy,  and  that  coustantl}^,  without  any  change :  his  whole  nature 
is  set  against  it;  he  abhors  nothing  but  this.  It  is  not  the  devil's 
knowledge  or  activity  that  his  hatred  is  terminated  in,  but  the  malice 
and  unholiness  of  his  nature ;  it  is  this  only  is  the  object  of  his  se- 


182  CHARNOCK  ON  THE  ATTEIBUTES. 

verity ;  it  is  in  the  recompense  of  this  only  that  there  can  be  a  man- 
ifestation of  his  justice.     Sin  must  be  punished ;  for, 

1.  This  detestation  of  sin  must  be  manifested.  How  should  we 
certainly  know  his  loathing  of  it,  if  he  did  not  manifest,  by  some  act, 
how  ungrateful  it  is  to  him  ?  As  his  love  to  righteousness  would 
not  appear,  without  rewarding  it ;  so  his  hatred  of  iniquity  would  be 
as  little  evidenced,  without  punishing  it;  his  justice  is  the  great 
witness  to  his  purity.  The  punishment,  therefore,  inflicted  on  the 
wicked,  shall  be,  in  some  respect,  as  great  as  the  rewards  bestowed 
upon  the  righteous.  Since  the  hatred  of  sin  is  natural  to  God,  it 
is  as  natural  to  him  to  show,  one  time  or  other,  his  hatred  of  it. 
And  since  men  have  a  conceit  that  God  is  like  them  in  impurity,  there 
is  a  necessity  of  some  manifestation  of  himself  to  be  infinitely  distant 
from  those  conceits  they  have  of  him  (Ps.  1.  21);  "I  will  reprove 
thee,  and  set  them  in  order  before  thine  eyes."  He  would  else  en- 
courage the  injuries  done  to  his  holiness,  favor  the  extravagances  of 
the  creature,  and  condemn,  or  at  least  slight,  the  righteousness  both 
of  his  own  nature,  and  his  sovereign  law.  What  way  is  there  for 
God  to  manifest  his  hatred,  but  by  threatening  the  sinner  ?  and  what 
would  this  be  but  a  vain  affrightment,  and  ridiculous  to  the  sinner, 
if  it  were  never  to  be  put  in  execution  ?  There  is  an  indissoluble 
connection  between  his  hatred  of  sin,  and  punishment  of  the  offender 
(Ps.  xi.  5,  6) ;  "  The  wicked,  his  soul  hates.  Upon  the  wicked  he  shall 
rain  snares,  fire,  and  brimstone,"  &c.  He  cannot  approve  of  it  without 
denying  himself;  and  a  total  impunity  would  be  a  degree  of  appro- 
bation. The  displeasure  of  God  is  eternal  and  irreconcileable  against 
sin ;  for  sin  being  absolutely  contrary  to  his  holy  nature,  he  is  eter- 
nally contrary  to  it ;  if  there  be  not,  therefore,  a  way  to  separate  the 
sin  from  the  sinner,  the  sinner  must  lie  under  the  displeasure  of  God ; 
no  displeasure  can  be  manifested  without  some  marks  of  it  upon  the 
person  that  lies  under  that  displeasure.  The  holiness  of  God  will 
right  itself  of  the  wrongs  done  to  it,  and  scatter  the  profaners  of  it 
at  the  gi^eatest  distance  from  him,  which  is  the  greatest  punishment 
that  can  be  inflicted ;  to  be  removed  far  from  the  Fountain  of  Life  is 
the  worst  of  deaths ;  God  can  as  soon  lay  aside  his  purity,  as  always 
forbear  his  displeasure  against  an  impure  person ;  it  is  all  one  not  to 
hate  it,  and  not  to  manifest  his  hatred  of  it. 

2.  As  his  holiness  is  natural  and  necessary,  so  is  the  punishment  of 
unholiness  necessary  to  him.  It  is  necessary  that  he  should  abomi- 
nate sin,  and  therefore  necessary  he  should  discountenance  it.  The 
severities  of  God  against  sin  are  not  vain  scare-crows ;  they  have 
their  foundation  in  the  righteousness  of  his  nature ;  it  is  because  he 
is  a  righteous  and  holy  God,  that  he  "  will  not  forgive  our  transgres- 
sions and  sins"  (Josh.  xxiv.  19),  that  is,  that  he  will  punish  them. 
The  throne  of  his  "holiness  is  a  fiery  flame"  (Dan.  vii.  9);  there  is 
both  a  pure  light  and  a  scorching  heat.  Whatsoever  is  contrary  to 
the  nature  of  God,  will  fall  under  the  justice  of  God ;  he  would  else 
violate  his  own  nature,  deny  his  own  perfection,  seem  to  be  out  of 
love  with  his  own  glory  and  life.  He  doth  not  hate  it  out  of  choice, 
but  from  the  immutable  propension  of  his  nature ;  it  is  not  so  free 
an  act  of  his  will,  as  the  creation  of  man  and  angels,  which  he  might 


ON  THE   HOLINESS   OF   GOD.  183 

have  forborne  as  well  as  effected.  As  the  detestation  of  sin  results 
from  the  universal  rectitude  of  his  nature,  so  the  punishment  of  sin 
follows  upon  that,  as  he  is  the  righteous  Governor  of  the  world:  it 
is  as  much  against  his  nature  not  to  punish  it,  as  it  is  against  his  na- 
ture not  to  loathe  it;  he  would  cease  to  be  holy  if  he  ceased  to  hate 
it,  and  he  would  cease  to  hate  it  if  he  ceased  to  punish  it.  Neither 
the  obedience  of  our  Saviour's  life,  nor  the  strength  of  his  cries, 
could  put  a  bar  to  the  cup  of  his  passion ;  God  so  hated  sin,  that 
when  it  was  but  imputed  to  his  Son,  without  any  commission  of  it, 
he  would  bring  a  hell  upon  his  soul.  Certainly  if  God  could  have 
hated  sin  without  punishing  it,  his  Son  had  never  felt  the  smart  of 
his  wrath ;  his  love  to  his  Son  had  been  strong  enough  to  have  caused 
him  to  forbear,  had  not  the  holiness  of  his  nature  been  stronger  to 
move  him  to  inflict  a  punishment  according  to  the  demerit  of  his 
sin.  God  cannot  but  be  holy,  and  therefore  cannot  but  be  just,  be- 
cause injustice  is  a  part  of  unholiness. 

3.  Tlierefore  there  can  be  no  communion  between  God  and  un- 
holy spirits.  How  is  it  conceivable,  that  God  should  hate  the  sin, 
and  cherish  the  sinner,  with  all  his  filth  in  his  bosom  ?  that  he 
should  eternally  detest  the  crime,  and  eternally  fold  the  sinner  in 
his  arms  ?  Can  less  be  expected  from  the  purity  of  his  nature,  than 
to  separate  an  impure  soul,  as  long  as  it  remains  so  ?  Can  there  be 
any  delightful  communion  between  those  whose  natures  are  contrary  ? 
Darkness  and  light  may  as  soon  kiss  each  other,  and  become  one 
nature  :  God  and  the  devil  may  as  soon  enter  into  an  eternal  league 
and  covenant  together.  For  God  to  have  pleasure  in  wickedness, 
and  to  admit  evil  to  dwell  with  him,  are  equally  impossible  to  his 
nature  (Ps.  v.  4) :  while  he  hates  impurity,  he  cannot  have  com- 
mmiion  with  an  impure  person.  It  may  as  soon  be  expected,  that 
God  should  hate  himselfj  offer  violence  to  his  own  nature,  lay  aside 
his  purity  as  an  abominable  thing,  and  blot  his  own  glory,  as  love 
an  impure  person,  entertain  him  as  his  delight,  and  set  him  in  the 
same  heaven  and  happiness  with  himself,  and  his  holy  angels.  He 
must  needs  loathe  him,  he  must  needs  banish  him  from  his  presence, 
which  is  the  greatest  punishment,  God's  holiness  and  hatred  of  sin 
necessarily  infer  the  punishment  of  it. 

Inform.  5.  There  is,  therefore,  a  necessity  of  the  satisfaction  of  the 
holiness  of  God  by  some  sufficient  mediator.  The  Divine  j^urity 
could  not  meet  with  any  acquiescence  in  all  mankind  after  the  fall : 
sin  was  hated  ;  the  sinner  would  be  ruined,  unless  some  way  were 
found  out  to  repair  the  wrongs  done  to  the  holiness  of  God  ;  either 
the  sinner  must  be  condemned  for  ever,  or  some  satisfaction  must  be 
made,  that  the  holiness  of  the  Divine  nature  might  eternally  appear 
in  its  full  lustre.  That  it  is  essential  to  the  nature  of  God  to  hate  all 
unrighteousness,  as  that  which  is  absolutely  repugnant  to  his  nature, 
none  do  question.  That  the  justice  of  God  is  so  essential  to  him,  as 
that  sin  could  not  be  pardoned  without  satisfaction,  some  do  ques- 
tion ;  though  this  latter  seems  rationally  to  folloAV  upon  the  forraer.y 
That  holiness  is  essential  to  the  nature  of  God,  is  evident ;  because, 
else,  God  may  as  much  be  conceived  without  purity,  as  he  might  be 

y  Tuii-ctin.  do  Satisfac.  p.  8. 


184  CHAENOCK  ON   THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

conceived  without  the  creating  the  sun  or  stars.  No  man  can,  in 
his  right  wits,  frame  a  right  notion  of  a  Deity  without  purity.  It 
would  be  less  blasphemy  against  the  excellency  of  God,  to  conceit 
him  not  knowing,  than  to  imagine  him  not  holy  :  and,  for  the  essen- 
tialness  of  his  justice,  Joshua  joins  both  his  holiness  and  his  jealousy 
as  going  hand  in  hand  together  (Josh.  xxiv.  19) ;  "  He  is  a  holy 
God,  he  is  a  jealous  God,  he  will  not  forgive  your  sin."  But  con- 
sider only  the  purity  of  God,  since  it  is  contrary  to  sin,  and,  conse- 
quently, hating  the  sinner ;  the  guilty  person  cannot  be  reduced  to 
God,  nor  can  the  holiness  of  God  have  any  complacency  in  a  filthy 
person,  but  as  fire  hath  in  stubble,  to  consume  it.  How  the  holy 
God  should  be  brought  to  delight  in  man  without  a  salvo  for  the 
rights  of  his  holiness,  is  not  to  be  conceived  without  an  impeach- 
ment of  the  nature  of  God.  The  law  could  not  be  abolished ;  that 
would  reflect,  indeed,  upon  the  righteousness  of  the  Lawgiver :  to 
abolish  it,  because  of  sin,  would  imply  a  change  of  the  rectitude  of 
his  nature.  Must  he  change  his  holiness  for  the  sake  of  that  which 
was  against  his  holiness,  in  a  compliance  with  a  profane  and  un- 
righteous creature  ?  This  should  engage  him  rather  to  maintain  his 
law,  than  to  null  it ;  and  to  abrogate  his  law  as  soon  as  he  had  en- 
acted it,  since  sin  stepped  into  the  world  presently  after  it,  would  be 
no  credit  to  his  wisdom.  There  must  be  a  reparation  made  of  the 
honor  of  God's  holiness  ;  by  ourselves  it  could  not  be  without  con- 
demnation ;  by  another  it  could  not  be  without  a  sufficiency  in  the 
person  :  no  creature  could  do  it.  All  the  creatures  being  of  a  finite 
nature,  could  not  make  a  compensation  for  the  disparagements  of 
Infinite  Holiness.  He  must  have  despicable  and  vile  thoughts  of  this 
excellent  perfection,  that  imagines  that  a  few  tears,  and  the  glaver- 
ing  fawnings  at  the  death  of  a  creature,  can  be  sufficient  to  repair 
the  wrongs,  and  restore  the  rights  of  this  attribute.  It  must,  therelbre, 
be  such  a  compensation  as  might  be  commensurate  to  the  holiness  of 
the  Divine  nature  and  the  Divine  law,  which  could  not  be  wrought 
by  any,  but  Him  that  was  possessed  of  a  Godhead  to  give  efficacy 
and  exact  congruity  to  it.  The  Person  designed  and  appointed  by 
God  for  so  great  an  affair,  was  "  one  in  the  form  of  God,  one  equal 
with  God,"  (Phil.  ii.  6),  who  could  not  be  termed  by  such  a  title  of 
dignity,  if  he  had  not  been  equal  to  God  in  the  universal  rectitude 
of  the  Divine  nature,  and  therefore  in  his  holiness.  The  punishment 
due  to  sin  is  translated  to  that  person  for  the  righting  Divine  holi- 
ness, and  the  righteousness  of  that  Person  is  communicated  to  the 
sinner  for  the  pardon  of  the  oftending  creature.  If  the  sinner  had 
been  eternally  damned,  God's  hatred  of  sin  had  been  evidenced  by 
the  strokes  of  his  justice;  but  his  mercy  to  a  sinner  had  lain  in  ob- 
scurity. If  the  sinner  had  been  pardoned  and  saved  without  such  a 
reparation,  mercy  had  been  evident;  but  his  holiness  had  hid  its 
head  for  ever  in  his  own  bosom.  There  was  therefore  a  necessity  of 
such  a  way  to  manifest  his  purit}^,  and  yet  to  bring  forth  his  mercy  : 
that  mercy  might  not  alway  sigh  for  the  destruction  of  the  creature, 
and  that  holiness  might  not  mourn  for  the  neglect  of  its  honor. 

Inform.  6.  Hence  it  will  follow,  there  is  no  justification  of  a  sin- 
ner by  any  thing  in  himself.     After  sin  had  set  foot  in  the  world, 


ON  THE  HOLINESS  OF  GOD.  185 

man  could  present  nothing  to  God  acceptable  to  Lim,  or  bearing  any 
proportion  to  the  holiness  of  his  law,  till  God  set  forth  a  Person, 
upon  whose  account  the  acceptation  of  our  persons  and  services  is 
founded  (Eph.  i.  6),  "  Who  hath  made  us  accepted  in  the  Beloved." 
The  Infinite  purity  of  God  is  so  glorious,  that  it  shames  the  holiness 
of  angels,  as  the  light  of  the  sun  dims  the  light  of  the  fire ;  much 
more  will  the  righteousness  of  fallen  man,  who  is  vile,  and  "  drinks 
up  iniquity  like  water,"  vanish  into  nothing  in  his  presence.  With 
what  self-abasement  and  abhorrence  ought  he  to  be  possessed  that 
comes  as  short  of  the  angels  in  purity,  as  a  dunghill  doth  of  a  star ! 
The  highest  obedience  that  ever  was  performed  by  any  mere  man, 
since  lapsed  nature,  cannot  challenge  any  acceptance  with  God,  or 
stand  before  so  exact  an  inquisition.  What  person  hath  such  a  clear 
innocence,  and  unspotted  obedience  in  such  a  perfection,  as  in  any 
degree  to  suit  the  holiness  of  the  Divine  nature  ?  (Ps.  cxliii.  2) :  "  Enter 
not  into  judgment  with  thy  servant,  for  in  thy  sight  shall  no  man 
living  be  j  ustified."  If  God  should  debate  the  case  simply  with  a 
man  in  his  own  person,  without  respecting  the  Mediator,  he  were 
not  able  to  "  answer  one  of  a  thousand."  Though  we  are  his  ser- 
vants, as  David  was,  and  perform  a  sincere  service,  yet  there  are 
many  little  motes  and  dust  of  sin  in  the  best  works,  that  cannot  lie 
undiscovered  from  the  eye  of  his  holiness ;  and  if  we  come  short  in 
the  least  of  what  the  law  requires,  we  are  "  guilty  of  all"  (James  ii. 
10).  So  that  "In  thy  sight  shall  no  man  living  be  justified;"  in 
the  sight  of  thy  infinite  holiness,  which  hates  the  least  spot ;  in  the 
sight  of  thy  infinite  justice,  which  punishes  the  least  transgres- 
sion. God  would  descend  below  his  own  nature,  and  vilify  both 
his  knowledge  and  his  purity,  should  he  accept  that  for  a  righteous- 
ness and  holiness  which  is  not  so  in  itself;  and  nothing  is  so,  which 
hath  the  least  stain  upon  it  contrary  to  the  nature  of  God.  The 
most  holy  saints  in  Scripture,  upon  a  prospect  of  his  purity,  have 
cast  away  all  confidence  in  themselves ;  every  flash  of  the  Divine 
purity  has  struck  them  into  a  deep  sense  of  their  own  impurity  and 
shame  for  it  (Job  xlii.  6),  "  Wherefore  I  abhor  myself  in  dust  and 
ashes."  What  can  the  language  of  any  man  be  that  lies  under  a 
sense  of  infinite  holiness  and  his  own  defilement  in  the  least,  but 
that  of  the  prophet  (Isa.  vi.  v),  "  Woe  is  me,  I  am  undone  ?"  And 
what  is  there  in  the  world  can  administer  any  other  thought  than 
this,  unless  God  be  considered  in  Christ,  "reconciling  the  world  to 
himself?"  As  a  holy  God,  so  righted,  as  that  he  can  dispense  with 
the  condemnation  of  a  sinner,  without  dispensing  with  his  hatred  of 
sin  ;  pardoning  the  sin  in  the  criminal,  because  it  hath  been  punish- 
ed in  the  Surety.  That  righteousness  which  God  hath  "  set  forth" 
for  justification,  is  not  our  own,  but  a  "righteousness  which  is  of 
God"  (Phil.  iii.  9,  10),  of  God's  appointing,  and  of  God's  per- 
forming ;  appointed  by  the  Father,  who  is  God,  and  performed  by  the 
Son,  who  is  one  with  the  Father ;  a  righteousness  surmounting  that 
of  all  the  glorious  angels,  since  it  is  an  immutable  one  which  can 
never  fail,  an  "  everlasting  righteousness"  (Dan.  ix.  24);  a  righteous- 
ness wherein  the  holiness  of  God  can  acquiesce,  as  considered  in  it- 
self, because  it  is  a  righteousness  of  one  equal  Avith  God.     As  we 


186  CHAENOCK   ON   THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

therefore  dishonor  tlie  Divine  Majesty  when  we  insist  upon  our  own 
bemired  righteousness  for  our  justification  (as  if  a  "a  mortal  man 
were  as  just  as  God,"  and  a  "  man  as  pure  as  his  Maker"  (Job  iv. 
17),  so  we  highly  honor  the  purity  of  his  nature,  Avhen  we  charge 
ourselves  with  folly,  acknowledge  ourselves  unclean,  and  accept 
of  that  righteousness  which  gives  a  full  content  to  his  infinite 
jDurity.  There  can  be  no  justification  of  a  sinner  by  anything  in 
himself. 

Inform.  7.  If  holiness  be  a  glorious  perfection  of  the  Divine  na- 
ture, then  the  Deity  of  Christ  might  be  argued  from  hence.  He  is 
indeed  dignified  with  the  title  of  the  "  Holy  One"  (Acts  iii.  14,  16), 
a  title  often  given  to  God  in  the  Old  Testament ;  and  he  is  called 
the  "  Holy  of  holies"  (Dan.  ix.  24) ;  but  because  the  angels  seemed 
to  be  termed  "  Holy  ones"  (Dan.  iv.  13,  17),  and  the  most  sacred 
place  in  the  temple  was  also  called  the  "Holy  of  holies,"  I  shall  not 
insist  upon  that.  But  you  find  our  Saviour  particularly  applauded 
by  the  angels,  as  "  holy,"  when  this  perfection  of  the  Divine  nature, 
together  with  the  incommunicable  name  of  God,  are  linked  together, 
and  ascribed  to  him  (Isa.  vi.  3) :  "  Holy,  holy,  holy  is  the  Lord  of 
Hosts ;  and  the  whole  earth  is  full  of  his  glory  ;"  which  the  apostle 
interprets  of  "Christ"  (John  xii.  39,  41).  Isaiah,  again:  "He  hath 
blinded  their  eyes,  and  hardened  their  hearts,  that  they  should  not 
see  with  their  eyes,  nor  understand  with  their  hearts,  and  be  con- 
verted, and  I  should  heal  them."  These  things  said  Isaiah,  when  he 
saw  his  glory,  and  spake  of  him.  He  that  Isaiah  saw  environed 
with  the  seraph  ims,  in  a  reverential  posture  before  his  face,  and 
praised  as  most  holy  by  them,  was  the  true  and  eternal  God  ;  such 
acclamations  belong  to  none  but  the  great  Jehovah,  God,  blessed 
forever ;  but,  saitli  John,  it  was  the  "  glory  of  Christ"  that  Isaiah 
saw  in  this  vision ;  Christ,  therefore,  is  "  God  blessed  forever,"  of 
whom  it  was  said,  "  Holy,  holy,  holy  Lord  of  Hosts."^  The  evan- 
gelist had  been  speaking  of  Christ,  the  miracles  which  he  wrought, 
the  obstinacy  of  the  Jews  against  believing  on  him ;  his  glory,  there- 
fore, is  to  be  referred  to  the  subject  he  had  been  speaking  of  The 
evangelist  was  not  speaking  of  the  Father,  but  of  the  Son,  and  cites 
those  words  out  of  Isaiah  ;  not  to  teach  anything  of  the  Father,  but 
to  show  that  the  Jews  could  not  believe  in  Christ.  He  speaks  of 
him  that  had  wrought  so  many  miracles  ;  but  Christ  wrought  those 
miracles :  he  speaks  of  him  whom  the  Jews  refused  to  believe  on  ; 
but  Christ  was  the  person  they  would  not  believe  on,  while  they  ac- 
knowledged God.  It  was  the  glory  of  this  person  Isaiah  saw,  and 
this  person  Isaiah  spake  of,  if  the  words  of  the  evangelist  be  of  any 
credit.  The  angels  are  too  holy  to  give  acclamations  belonging  to 
God,  to  any  but  him  that  is  God. 

Inform-.  8.  God  is  fully  fit  for  the  government  of  the  world.  The 
righteousness  of  God's  nature  qualifies  him  to  be  Judge  of  the  world ; 
if  he  were  not  perfectly  righteous  and  holy,  he  were  incapable  to 
govern  and  judge  the  world  (Rom.  iii.  5)  :  "If  there  be  unrighteous- 
ness with  God,  how  shall  he  judge  the  world  ?"  "  God  will  not  do 
wickedly,  neither  will  the  Almighty  pervert  judgment"  (Job  xxxiv. 

^  Placeus,  de  Deitat.  Cbristi,  in  he. 


ON  THE   HOLINESS  OF  GOD.  187 

12).  How  despicable  is  a  judge  that  wants  innocence  !  As  omni- 
science fits  God  to  be  a  judge,  so  holiness  fits  him  to  be  a  righteous 
judge  (Ps.  i.  6) :  "  The  Lord  knows,"  that  is,  loves,  "  the  way  of  the 
righteous ;  but  the  way  of  the  ungodly  shall  perish." 

Inform.  9.  If  holiness  be  an  eminent  perfection  of  the  Divine  na- 
ture, the  Christian  religion  is  of  a  Divine  extraction :  it  discovers 
the  holiness  of  God,  and  forms  the  creature  to  a  conformity  to  him. 
It  gives  us  a  prospect  of  his  nature,  represents  him  in  the  "  beauty  of 
holiness"  (Ps.  ex.  3),  more  than  the  whole  glass  of  the  creation.  It 
is  in  this  evangelical  glass  the  glory  of  the  Lord  is  beheld,  and  ren- 
dered amiable  and  imitable  (2  Cor.  iii.  18).  It  is  a  doctrine  "  accord- 
ing to  godliness"  (1  Tim.  vi.  3),  directing  us  to  live  the  life  of  God ; 
a  life  worthy  of  God,  and  worthy  of  our  first  creation  by  his  hand. 
It  takes  us  off  from  ourselves,  fixeth  us  upon  a  noble  end,  jjoints 
our  actions,  and  the  scope  of  our  lives  to  God.  It  quells  the  mon- 
sters of  sin,  discountenanceth  the  motes  of  wickedness ;  and  it  is  no 
mean  argument  for  the  divinity  of  it,  that  it  sets  us  no  lower  a  pat- 
tern for  our  imitation,  than  the  holiness  of  the  Divine  Majesty. 
God  is  exalted  upon  the  throne  of  his  holiness  in  it,  and  the  creature 
advanced  to  an  image  and  resemblance  of  it  (1  Pet,  i.  16  >  :  "  Be  ye 
holy,  for  I  am  holy." 

tlse  2.  The  second  use  is  for  comfort.  This  attribute  frowns  upon 
lapsed  nature,  but  smiles  in  the  restorations  made  by  the  gospel. 
God's  holiness,  in  conjunction  with  his  justice,  is  terrible  to  a  guilty 
sinner ;  but  now,  in  conjunction  with  his  mercy,  by  the  satisfaction 
of  Christ,  it  is  sweet  to  a  believing  penitent.  In  the  "  first  cove- 
nant," the  purity  of  his  nature  was  joined  with  the  rigors  of  his  jus- 
tice ;  in  the  "  second  covenant,"  the  purity  of  his  nature  is  joined 
with  the  sweetness  and  tenderness  of  his  mercy.  In  the  one,  j  ustice 
flames  against  the  sinner  in  the  right  of  injured  holiness ;  in  the 
other,  mercy  yearns  towards  a  believer,  with  the  consent  of  righted 
holiness.  To  rejoice  in  the  holiness  of  God  is  the  true  and  genuine 
spirit  of  a  renewed  man  :  "My  heart  rejoiceth  in  the  Lord  ;" — what 
follows  ? — "  There  is  none  holy  as  the  Lord"  (1  Sam.  ii.  1,  2).  Some 
perfections  of  the  Divine  nature  are  astonishing,  some  affrighting ; 
but  this  may  fill  us  both  with  astonishment  at  it,  and  a  joy  in  it. 

1.  By  covenant,  we  have  an  interest  in  this  attribute,  as  well  as 
any  other.  In  that  clause  of  "  God's  being  our  God,"  entire  God 
with  all  his  glorj^,  all  his  perfections  are  passed  over  as  a  portion, 
and  a  gracious  soul  is  brought  into  union  with  God,  as  his  God ;  not 
with  a  part  of  God,  but  with  God  in  the  simplicity,  extent,  integrity 
of  his  nature  ;  and  therefore  in  this  attribute.  And,  upon  some  ac- 
count, it  may  seem  more  in  this  attribute  than  in  any  other  ;  for  if 
he  be  our  God,  he  is  our  God  in  his  life  and  glory,  and  therefore  in 
his  purity  especially,  without  which  he  could  not  live  ;  he  could  not 
be  happy  and  blessed.  Little  comfort  will  it  be  to  have  a  dead  God, 
or  a  vile  God,  made  over  to  us ;  and  as,  by  this  covenant,  he  is  our 
Father,  so  he  gives  us  his  nature,  and  communicates  his  holiness  in 
all  his  dispensations  ;  and  in  those  that  are  severest,  as  well  as  tliose 
that  are  sweetest  (Ileb.  xii.  10) :  "  But  he  corrects  us  for  our  profit, 
that  we  might  be  partakers  of  his  holiness."     Not  simply  "partak- 


188  CHARlSrOCK  ON  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

ers  of  holiness,"  but  of  "his  holiness;"  to  have  a  portraiture  of  it  in 
our  nature,  a  medal  of  it  in  our  hearts,  a  spark  of  the  same  nature 
with  that  immense  splendor  and  flame  in  himself  The  holiness  of 
a  covenant  soul  is  a  resemblance  of  the  holiness  of  God,  and  formed 
by  it ;  as  the  picture  of  the  sun  in  a  cloud  is  a  fruit  of  his  beams, 
and  an  image  of  its  author.  The  fulness  of  the  perfection  of  holi- 
ness remains  in  the  nature  of  God,  as  the  fulness  of  the  light  doth 
in  the  sun  ;  yet  there  are  transmissions  of  light  from  the  sun  to  the 
moon,  and  it  is  a  light  of  the  same  nature  both  in  the  one  and  in  the 
other.  The  holiness  of  a  creature  is  nothing  else  but  a  reflection  of 
the  Divine  holiness  upon  it ;  and  to  make  the  creature  capable  of  it, 
God  takes  various  methods,  according  to  his  covenant  grace. 

2.  This  attribute  renders  God  a  fit  object  for  trust  and  dependence. 
The  notion  of  an  unholy  and  unrighteous  God,  is  an  uncomfortable 
idea  of  him,  and  beats  off  our  hands  from  laying  any  hold  of  him. 
It  is  upon  this  attribute  the  reputation  and  honor  of  God  in  the 
world  is  built ;  what  encouragement  can  we  have  to  believe  him,  or 
what  incentives  could  we  have  to  serve  him,  without  the  lustre  of 
this  in  his  nature  ?  The  very  thought  of  an  unrighteous  God  is 
enough  to  drive  men  at  the  greatest  distance  from  him  ;  as  the  hon- 
esty of  a  man  gives  a  reputation  to  his  word,  so  doth  the  holiness  of 
God  give  credit  to  his  promise.  It  is  by  this  he  would  have  us  stifle 
our  fears  and  fortify  our  trust  (Isa.  xli.  14) :  "  Fear  not,  thou  worm 
Jacob,  and  ye  men  of  Israel ;  I  will  help  thee,  saith  the  Lord,  and 
thy  Redeemer,  the  Holy  One  of  Israel :"  he  will  be  in  his  actions 
what  he  is  in  his  nature.  Nothing  shall  make  him  defile  his  own 
excellency  ;  unrighteousness  is  the  ground  of  mutability  ;  but  the 
promise  of  God  doth  never  fail,  because  the  rectitude  of  his  nature 
doth  never  languish :  were  his  attributes  without  the  conduct  of 
this,  they  would,  be  altogether  formidable.  As  this  is  the  glory  of 
all  his  other  perfections,  so  this  only  renders  him  comfortable  to  a  be- 
lieving soul.  Might  we  not  fear  his  power  to  crush  us,  his  mercy  to 
overlook  us,  his  wisdom  to  design  against  us,  if  this  did  not  influ- 
ence them  ?  "What  an  oppression  is  power  without  righteousness  in 
the  hand  of  a  creature ;  destructive,  instead  of  protecting !  The 
devil  is  a  mighty  spirit,  but  not  fit  to  be  trusted,  because  he  is  an  im- 
pure spirit.  When  God  would  give  us  the  highest  security  of  the 
sincerity  of  his  intentions,  he  swears  by  this  attribute  (Ps.  viii.  35) : 
his  holiness,  as  well  as  his  truth,  is  laid  to  pawn  for  the  security  of 
his  promise.  As  we  make  God  the  judge  between  us  and  others, 
when  we  swear  by  him,  so  he  makes  his  holiness  the  judge  between 
himself  and  his  people,  when  he  swears  by  it. 

(1.)  It  is  this  renders  him  fit  to  be  confided  in  for  the  answer  of 
our  prayers.  This  is  the  ground  of  his  readiness  to  give.  "  If  you, 
being  evil,  know  how  to  give  good  gifts,  how  much  more  shall  your 
Father  which  is  in  heaven  give  good  gifts  to  them  that  ask  him" 
(Matt.  vii.  11) !  Though  the  lioliness  of  God  be  not  mentioned,  yet  it 
is  to  be  understood;  the  emphasis  lies  on  these  words,  "if  you,  being 
evil :"  God  is  then  considered  in  a  disposition  contrary  to  this,  which 
can  be  nothing  but  his  righteousness.  If  you  that  are  unholy,  and 
have  so  much  corruption  in  you,  to  render  you  cruel,  can  bestow 


ON  THE   HOLINESS   OF   GOD.  189 

upon  your  children  the  good  things  they  want,  how  much  more  sliall 
God,  who  is  holy,  and  hath  nothing  in  him  to  check  his  mercifulness 
to  his  creatures,  grant  the  petitions  of  his  supplicants  !  It  was  this 
attribute  edged  the  fiduciary  importunity  of  the  souls  under  the 
altar,  for  the  revenging  their  blood  unjustly  shed  upon  the  earth  : 
"How  long,  O  Lord,  holy  and  true,  dost  thou  not  avenge  our  blood 
on  them  that  dwell  on  the  earth"  (Kev.  vi.  10)  ?  Let  not  thy  holi- 
ness stand  with  folded  arms,  as  careless  of  the  eminent  sufferings  of 
those  that  fear  thee ;  we  implore  thee  by  the  holiness  of  thy  nature, 
and  tlie  truth  of  thy  word. 

(2.)  This  renders  him  fit  to  be  confided  in  for  the  comfort  of  our 
souls  in  a  broken  condition.  The  reviving  the  hearts  of  the  spirit- 
ually afflicted,  is  a  part  of  the  holiness  of  his  nature;  "  Thus  saith 
the  high  and  lofty  One  that  inhabits  eternity,  whose  name  is  Holy ; 
I  dwell  in  the  high  and  holy  place,  with  him  also  that  is  of  a  con- 
trite and  humble  spirit,  to  revive  the  spirit  of  the  humble"  (Isa.  Ivii. 
15).  He  acknowledgeth  himself  the  lofty  One  ;  they  might  there- 
fore fear  he  would  not  revive  them ;  but  he  is  also  the  holy  One, 
and  therefore  he  will  refresh  them  ;  he  is  not  more  lofty  than  he  is 
holy  ;  besides,  the  argument  of  the  immutability  of  his  promise,  and 
the  might  of  his  power,  here  is  the  holiness  of  his  nature  moving 
him  to  pity  his  drooping  creature  :  his  promise  is  ushered  in  witli 
the  name  of  power,  "  high  and  lofty  One,"  to  bar  their  distrust  of 
his  strength,  and  with  a  declaration  of  his  holiness,  to  check  any 
despair  of  his  will :  there  is  no  ground  to  think  I  should  be  false  to 
my  word,  or  misemploy  my  power,  since  that  cannot  be,  because  of 
the  holiness  of  my  name  and  nature. 

(3.)  This  renders  him  fit  to  be  confided  in  for  the  maintenance  of 
grace,  and  protection  of  us  against  our  spiritual  enemies.  What  our 
Saviour  thought  an  argument  in  prayer,  we  may  well  take  as  a 
ground  of  our  confidence.  In  the  strength  of  this  he  puts  up  his 
suit,  when  in  his  mediatory  capacity  he  intercedes  for  the  preserva- 
tion of  his  people  (John  xvii.  11) ;  "  Holy  Father,  keep  through 
thy  own  name  those  that  thou  hast  given  me,  that  they  may  be  one 
as  we  are."  "  Holy  Father,"  not  merciful  Father,  or  powerful,  or 
wise  Father,  but  "holy  ;"  and  (ver.  25),  "righteous  Father."  Christ 
pleads  that  attribute  for  the  performance  of  God's  word,  which  was 
laid  to  pawn  when  he  passed  his  word :  for  it  was  by  his  holiness 
that  he  swore,  that  "  his  seed  should  endure  forever,  and  his  throne 
as  the  sun  before  him"  (Ps.  Ixxxix.  36)  ;  which  is  meant  of  the  per- 
petuity of  the  covenant  which  he  made  with  Christ,  and  is  also 
meant  of  the  preservation  of  the  mystical  seed  of  David,  and  the 
perpetuating  his  loving-kindness  to  them  (ver.  32,  33).  Grace  is  an 
image  of  God's  holiness,  and,  therefore,  the  holiness  of  God  is  most 
proper  to  be  used  as  an  argument  to  interest  and  engage  him  in  the 
preservation  of  it.  In  the  midst  of  church-provocations,  he  will 
not  utterly  extinguish,  because  he  is  the  "  Holy  One"  in  the  midst 
of  her  (IIos.  xi.  9) :  nor  in  the  midst  of  judgments  will  he  condemn 
his  people  to  death,  because  he  is  "  their  Holy  One"  (Hab.  i.  12) ;  but 
their  enemies  shall  be  ordained  for  judgment,  and  established  for 
correction.     One  prophet  assures  them  in  the  name  of  the  Lord, 


190  CHARNOCK  ON  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

upon  tlie  strength  of  this  perfection  ;  and  the  other,  upon  the  same 
gromid,  is  confident  of  the  protection  of  tlie  church,  because  of 
God's  lioliness  engaged  in  an  inviolable  covenant. 

3.  Comfort.  Since  holiness  is  a  glorious  perfection  of  the  nature 
of  God,  "he  will  certainly  value  every  holy  soul."  It  is  of  a 
greater  value  with  him  than  the  souls  of  all  men  in  the  world,  that 
are  destitute  of  it :  "wicked  men  are  the  worst  of  vilenesses,"  mere 
dross  and  dunghill.''^  Purity,  then,  Avhich  is  contrary  to  wickedness, 
must  be  the  most  precious  thing  in  his  esteem  ;  he  must  needs  love 
that  quality  which  he  is  most  pleased  with  in  himself,  as  a  father 
looks  with  most  delight  upon  the  child  which  is  possessed  with  those 
dispositions  he  most  values  in  his  own  nature.  "  Hi,s  countenance 
doth  behold  the  upright"  (Ps.  xi.  7).  He  looks  upon  them  with  a 
full  and  open  face  of  favor,  with  a  countenance  clear,  unmasked,  and 
smiling  with  a  face  full  of  delight.  Heaven  itself  is  not  such  a 
pleasing  object  to  him  as  the  image  of  his  own  uncreated  holiness  in 
the  created  holiness  of  men  and  angels :  as  a  man  esteems  that  most 
which  is  most  like  him,  of  his  own  generation,  more  than  a  piece  of 
art,  which  is  merely  the  product  of  his  wit  or  strength.  And  he 
must  love  holiness  in  the  creature,  he  would  not  else  love  his  own 
image,  and,  consequently,  would  undervalue  himself.  He  despiseth 
the  image  the  wicked  bears  (Ps.  Ixxiii.  20),  but  he  cannot  disesteem 
his  own  stamp  on  the  godly ;  he  cannot  but  delight  in  his  own 
work,  his  choice  work,  the  master-piece  of  all  his  works,  the  new 
creation  of  things ;  that  which  is  next  to  himself,  as  being  a  Divine 
nature  like  himself  (2  Pet.  i.  4).  When  he  overlooks  strength,  parts, 
knowledge,  he  cannot  overlook  this :  he  "  sets  apart  him  that  is 
godly  for  himself"  (Ps.  iv.  3),  as  a  peculiar  object  to  take  pleasure 
in ;  he  reserves  such  for  his  own  complaceny,  when  he  leaves  the 
rest  of  the  world  to  the  devil's  power ;  he  is  choice  of  them  above 
all  his  other  works,  and  will  not  let  any  have  so  great  a  propriety  in 
them  as  himself.  If  it  be  so  dear  to  him  here  in  its  imperfect  and 
mixed  condition,  that  he  appropriates  it  as  a  peculiar  object  for  his 
own  delight,  how  much  more  will  the  unspotted  purity  of  glorified 
saints  be  infinitely  pleasing  to  him !  so,  that  he  will  take  less  plea- 
sure in  the  material  heavens  than  in  such  a  soul.  Sin  only  is  detest- 
able to  God  ;  and  when  this  is  done  away,  the  soul  becomes  as  lovely 
in  his  account,  as  before  it  was  loathsome. 

4.  It  is  comfort,  upon  this  account,  that  "  God  will  perfect  holi- 
ness in  every  upright  soul."  "We  many  times  distrust  God,  and  de- 
spond in  ourselves,  because  of  the  infinite  holiness  of  the  Divine  na- 
ture, and  the  dunghill  corruption  in  our  own ;  but  the  holiness  of 
God  engageth  him  to  the  preservation  of  it,  and,  consequently,  to 
the  perfection  of  it,  as  appears  by  our  Saviour's  argument  (John 
xvii.  11),  "  Holy  Father,  keep  through  thy  own  name,  those  whom 
thou  hast  given  me ;" — to  what  end? — "  that  they  may  be  one  as  we 
are ;"  one  with  us,  in  the  resemblances  of  purity.  And  the  holi- 
ness of  the  soul  is  used  as  an  argument  by  the  Psalmist  (Ps.  Ixxxvi. 
2),  "  Preserve  my  soul,  for  I  am  holy  ;"  that  is,  I  have  an  ardent  de- 
sire to  holiness :  thou  hast  separated  me  from  the  mass  of  the  cor- 

*  Ps.  xii.  8.  The  vilest  men. 


ON  THE  HOLINESS   OF   GOD.  191 

rupted  "world,  preserve  and  perfect  me  witli  the  assembly  of  the 
glorified  choir.  The  more  holy  any  are,  the  more  communicative 
they  are ;  God  being  most  holy,  is  most  communicative  of  that 
which  he  most  esteems  in  himself,  and  delights  to  see  in  his  crea- 
ture :  he  is,  therefore,  more  ready  to  impart  his  holiness  to  them  that 
beg  for  it,  than  to  communicate  his  knowledge  or  his  power. 
Though  he  were  holy,  yet  he  let  Adam  fall,  Avho  never  petitioned 
his  holiness  to  preserve  him ;  he  let  him  fall,  to  declare  the  hoHncss 
of  his  own  nature,  which  had  wanted  its  due  manifestation  without 
it :  but  since  that  cannot  be  declared  in  a  higher  manner  than  it 
hath  been  already  in  the  death  of  the  Surety,  that  bore  our  guilt, 
there  is  no  fear  he  should  cast  the  work  out  of  his  hands,  since  the 
design  of  the  permission  of  man's  apostasy,  in  the  discovery  of  the 
perfections  of  his  nature,  has  been  fully  answered.  The  "finishing 
the  good  work  he  hath  begun,"  hath  a  relation  to  the  glory  of 
Christ ;  and  his  own  glory  in  Christ  to  be  manifested  in  the  day  of 
his  appearing  (Phil.  i.  6),  wherein  the  glory,  both  of  his  own  holi- 
ness, and  the  holiness  of  the  Mediator,  are  to  receive  their  full  man- 
ifestation. As  it  is  a  part  of  the  holiness  of  Christ  to  "  sanctify  his 
church"  (Eph.  v.  26,  27)  till  not  a  wrinkle  or  spot  be  left,  so  it  is  the 
part  of  God  not  to  leave  that  work  imperfect  which  his  holiness 
hath  attempted  a  second  time  to  beautify  his  creature  with.  He  will 
not  cease  exalting  this  attribute,  which  is  the  believers'  by  the 
new  covenant,  till  he  utters  that  applauding  speech  of  his  own 
work  (Cant.  iv.  7),  "  Thou  art  all  fair,  my  love ;  there  is  no  spot 
in  thee." 

Use  3,  is  for  Exhortation.  Is  holiness  an  eminent  perfection  of 
the  Divine  nature  ?  then — ■ 

Exhort.  1.  Let  us  get  and  preserve  right  and  strong  apprehensions 
of  this  Divine  perfection.  Without  a  due  sense  of  it,  we  can  never 
exalt  God  in  our  hearts ;  and  the  more  distinct  conceptions  we  have 
of  this,  and  the  rest  of  his  attributes,  the  more  we  glorify  him. 
When  Moses  considered  God  as  "his  strength  and  salvation,"  he 
would  exalt  him  (Exod.  xv.  2) ;  and  he  could  never  break  out  in  so 
admirable  a  doxology  as  that  in  the  text,  without  a  deep  sense  of 
the  glory  of  his  purity,  which  he  speaks  of  with  so  much  admira- 
tion.    Such  a  sense  will  be  of  use  to  us. 

1.  In  promoting  genuine  convictions.  A  deep  consideration  of 
the  holiness  of  God  cannot  but  be  followed  with  a  deep  considera- 
tion of  our  impure  and  miserable  condition  by  reason  of  sin :  we 
cannot  glance  upon  it  without  reflections  upon  our  own  vileness. 
Adam  no  sooner  heard  the  voice  of  a  holy  God  in  the  garden,  but 
he  considered  his  own  nakedness  with  shame  and  fear  (Gen.  iii.  10) ; 
much  less  can  we  fix  our  minds  upon  it,  but  we  must  be  touched 
with  a  sense  of  our  own  uncleanness.  The  clear  beams  of  the  sun 
discover  that  filthiness  in  our  garments  and  members,  which  was  not 
visible  in  the  darkness  of  the  night.  Impure  metals  are  discerned 
by  comparing  them  with  that  which  is  pure  and  perfect  in  its  kind. 
The  sense  of  guilt  is  the  first  natural  result  upon  a  sense  of  this  ex- 
cellent perfection ;  and  the  sense  of  the  imperfection  of  our  own 
righteousness  is  the  next.     Who  can  think  of  it,  and  reflect  upon 


192  CHARNOCK  ON   THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

himself  as  an  object  fit  for  Divine  love?  Who  can  have  a  due 
thought  of  it,  without  regarding  himself  as  stubble  before  a  consum- 
ing fire?  Who  can,  without  a  confusion  of  heart  and  face,  glance 
upon  that  pure  eye  which  beholds  with  detestation  the  foul  motes, 
as  well  as  the  filthier  and  bigger  spots  ?  When  Isaiah  saw  his  glory, 
and  heard  how  liighly  the  angels  exalted  God  for  this  perfection,  he 
was  in  a  cold  sweat,  ready  to  swoon,  till  a  seraphim,  with  a  coal  from 
the  altar,  both  purged  and  revived  him  (Isa.  vi.  5,  7).  They  arc 
sound  and  genuine  convictions,  which  have  the  prospect  of  Divine 
purity  for  their  immediate  spring,  and  not  a  foresight  of  our  own 
misery ;  when  it  is  not  the  punishment  we  have  deserved,  but  the 
holiness  we  have  offended,  most  grates  our  hearts.  Such  convic- 
tions are  the  first  rude  draughts  of  the  Divine  image  in  our  spirits, 
and  grateful  to  God,  because  they  are  an  acknowledgment  of  the 
glory  of  this  attribute,  and  the  first  mark  of  honor  given  to  it  by 
the  creature.  Tliose  that  never  had  a  sense  of  their  own  vileness, 
were  always  destitute  of  a  sense  of  God's  holiness.  And,  by  the 
way,  we  may  observe,  that  those  that  scoff  at  any  for  hanging  down 
the  head  under  the  consideration  and  conviction  of  sin  (as  is  too 
usual  with  the  Avorld),  scoff  at  them  for  having  deeper  appre- 
hensions of  the  purity  of  God  than  themselves,  and  consequently 
make  a  mock  of  the  holiness  of  God  which  is  the  ground  of  those 
convictions;  a  sense  of  this  would  prevent  such  a  damnable  re- 
proaching. 

2.  A  sense  of  this  will  render  us  humble  in  the  possession  of  the 
greatest  holiness  a  creature  were  capable  of.  We  are  apt  to  be 
proud,  with  the  Pharisee,  when  we  look  upon  others  wallowing  in 
the  mire  of  base  and  unnatural  lusts  :  but  let  any  clap  their  wings, 
if  they  can,  in  a  vain  boasting  and  exaltation,  when  they  view  the 
holiness  of  God.  What  torch,  if  it  had  reason,  would  be  proud,  and 
swagger  in  its  own  light,  if  it  compared  itself  with  the  sun?  "Who 
can  stand  before  this  holy  Lord  God  ?"  is  the  just  reflection  of  the 
holiest  person,  as  it  was  of  those  (1  Sam.  vi.  20)  that  had  felt  the 
marks  of  his  jealousy  after  their  looking  into  the  ark,  though  likely 
out  of  affection  to  it,  and  triumphant  joy  at  its  return.  When  did 
the  angels  testify,  by  the  covering  of  their  faces,  their  weakness  to 
bear  the  lustre  of  his  majesty,  but  when  they  beheld  his  glory  ? 
When  did  they  signify,  by  their  covering  their  feet,  the  shame  of 
their  own  vileness,  but  when  their  hearts  were  fullest  of  the  applaud- 
ings  of  this  perfection  (Isa.  vi.  2,  3)  ?  Though  they  found  them- 
selves without  spot,  yet  not  with  such  a  holiness  that  the}^  could  ap- 
pear either  with  their  faces  or  feet  unvailed  and  unmasked  in  the 
presence  of  God.  Doth  the  immense  splendor  of  this  attribute  en- 
gender shaming  reflections  in  those  pure  spirits  ?  What  will  it,  what 
should  it,  do  in  us,  that  dwell  in  houses  of  clay,  and  creep  up  and 
down  with  that  clay  upon  our  backs,  and  too  much  of  it  in  our 
hearts  ?  The  stars  themselves,  which  appear  beautiful  in  the  night, 
are  masked  at  the  awaking  of  the  sun.  What  a  dim  light  is  that  of 
a  glow-worm  to  that  of  the  sun  !  The  apprehensions  of  this  made 
the  elders  humble  themselves  in  the  midst  of  their  glory,  by  "  cast- 
ing down  their  crowns  before  his  throne"  (Ecv.  iv.  8,  10) ;  a  mcta- 


ON   THE   HOLINESS   OF   GOD.  193 

phor  taken  from  tlie  triumphing  generals  among  the  Romans,  who 
hung  up  their  victorious  laurels  in  the  Capitol,  dedicating  them  to 
their  gods,  acknowledging  them  their  superiors  in  strength,  and  au- 
thors of  their  victory.  This  self-emptiness  at  the  consideration  of 
Divine  purity,  is  the  note  of  the  true  church,  represented  by  the 
twenty-four  elders,  and  a  note  of  a  true  member  of  the  church ; 
whereas  boasting  of  perfection  and  merit  is  the  property  of  the  anti- 
christian  tribe,  that  have  mean  thoughts  of  this  adorable  perfection, 
and  think  themselves  more  righteous  than  the  unspotted  angels. 
What  a  self-annihilation  is  there  in  a  good  man,  when  the  sense  of 
Divine  purity  is  most  lively  in  him !  yea,  how  detestable  is  he  to 
himself!  There  is  as  little  proportion  between  the  holiness  of  the 
Divine  Majesty,  and  that  of  the  most  righteous  creature,  as  there  is 
between  a  nearness  of  a  person  that  stands  upon  a  mountain,  to  the 
sun,  and  of  him  that  beholds  him  in  a  vale  ;  one  is  nearer  than  the 
other,  but  it  is  an  advantage  not  to  be  boasted  of,  in  regard  of  the 
vast  distance  that  is  between  the  sun  and  the  elevated  spectator. 

3.  This  would  make  us  full  of  an  affectionate  reverence  in  all  our 
approaches  to  God.  By  this  perfection  God  is  rendered  venerable, 
and  fit  to  be  reverenced  by  his  creature  ;  and  magnificent  thoughts 
of  it  in  the  creature  would  awaken  him  to  an  actual  reverence  of  the 
Divine  majesty  (Ps.  iii.  9) :  "  Holy  and  reverend  is  his  name ;"  a 
good  opinion  of  this  would  engender  in  us  a  sincere  respect  towards 
him  ;  we  should  then  "  serve  the  Lord  with  fear,"  as  the  expression 
is  (Ps.  ii.  11),  that  is,  be  afraid  to  cast  anything  before  him  that  may 
offend  the  eyes  of  his  purity.  Who  would  venture  rashly  and  garishly 
into  the  presence  of  an  eminent  moralist,  or  of  a  righteous  king  upon 
his  throne  ?  The  fixedness  of  the  angels  arose  from  the  continual 
prospect  of  this.  What  if  we  had  been  with  Isaiah  when  he  saw  the 
vision,  and  beheld  him  in  the  same  glory,  and  the  heavenly  choir  in 
their  reverential  posture  in  the  service  of  God ;  would  it  not  have 
barred  our  wanderings,  and  staked  us  down  to  our  duty  ?  Would 
not  the  fortifying  an  idea  of  it  in  our  minds  produce  the  same  effect? 
It  is  for  want  of  this  we  carry  ourselves  so  loosely  and  unbecoming- 
ly in  the  Divine  presence,  with  the  same,  or  meaner,  affections  than 
those  wherewith  we  stand  before  some  vile  creature  that  is  our  supe- 
rior in  the  world  ;  as  though  a  piece  of  filthy  flesh  were  more  valua- 
ble than  this  perfection  of  the  Divinity.  How  doth  the  Psalmist 
double  his  exhortation  to  men  to  sing  praise  to  God  (Ps.  xlvii.  6) : 
"  Sing  praises  to  God,  sing  praises  ;  sing  praises  unto  our  King,  sing 
praises ;"  because  of  his  majesty,  and  the  purity  of  his  dominion  !  and 
(ver.  8),  "  God  reigneth  over  the  heathen,  God  sitteth  upon  the  throne 
of  his  holiness."  How  would  this  elevate  us  in  praise,  and  prostrate 
us  in  prayer,  when  we  praise  and  pray  with  an  understanding  and 
insight  of  that  nature  we  bless  or  implore ;  as  he  speaks  (ver.  7), 
"  Sing  ye  praises  with  understanding."  The  holiness  of  God  in  his 
government  and  dominion,  the  holiness  of  his  nature,  and  the  holi- 
ness of  his  precepts,  should  beget  in  us  an  humble  respect  in  our 
approaches.  The  more  we  grow  in  a  sense  of  this,  the  more  shall 
we  advance  in  the  true  performance  of  all  our  duties.  Those  nations 
which  adored  the  sun,  had  they  at  first  seen  his  brightness  wrapped 

VOL    II. — 13 


194  CHARNOCK   ON   THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

and  masked  in  a  cloud,  and  paid  a  veneration  to  it,  how  would  their 
adorations  have  mounted  to  a  greater  point,  after  they  had  seen  it 
in  its  full  brightness,  shaking  off  those  vails,  and  chasing  away  the 
mists  before  it !  what  a  profound  reverence  would  they  have  paid  it, 
when  they  beheld  it  in  its  glory  and  meridian  brightness!''  Our 
reverence  to  God  in  all  our  addresses  to  him  will  arrive  to  greater 
degrees,  if  every  act  of  duty  be  ushered  in,  and  seasoned  with  the 
thoughts  of  God  as  sitting  upon  a  throne  of  holiness  ;  we  shall  have 
a  more  becoming  sense  of  our  own  vileness,  a  greater  ardor  to  his 
service,  a  deeper  respect  in  his  presence,  if  our  understanding  be 
more  cleared,  and  possessed  with  notions  of  this  perfection.  Thus 
take  a  view  of  God  in  this  part  of  his  glory,  before  you  fall  down 
before  his  throne,  and  assure  yourselves  you  will  find  your  hearts 
and  services  quickened  with  a  new  and  lively  spirit. 

4.  A  due  sense  of  this  perfection  in  God  would  produce  in  us  a 
fear  of  God,  and  arm  us  against  temptation  and  sin.  What  made 
the  heathen  so  wanton  and  loose,  but  the  representations  of  their 
gods  as  vicious  ?  Who  would  stick  at  adulteries,  and  more  pro- 
digious lusts,  that  can  take  a  pattern  for  them  from  the  person  he 
adores  for  a  deity  ?  Upon  which  account  Plato  would  have  poets 
banished  from  his  commonwealth,  because,  by  dressing  up  their  gods 
in  wanton  garbs  in  their  poems,  they  encouraged  wickedness  in  the 
people.  But  if  the  thoughts  of  God's  holiness  were  impressed  upon 
us,  we  should  regard  sin  with  the  same  eye,  mark  it  with  the  same 
detestation  in  our  measures,  as  God  himself  doth.  So  far  as  we  are 
sensible  of  the  Divine  purity,  we  should  account  sin  vile  as  it  de- 
serves ;  we  should  hate  it  entirely,  without  a  grain  of  love  to  it,  and 
hate  it  perpetually  (Ps.  cxix.  104) :  "  Through  thy  precepts  I  get 
understanding,  therefore  I  hate  every  false  way."  He  looks  into 
God's  statute-book,  and  thereby  arrives  to  an  understanding  of  the 
purity  of  his  nature,  whence  his  hatred  of  iniquity  commenced. 
This  would  govern  our  motion,  check  our  vices  ;  it  would  make  us 
tremble  at  the  hissing  of  a  temptation  :  when  a  corruption  did  but 
peep  out,  and  put  forth  its  head,  a  look  to  the  Divine  Purity  would 
be  attended  with  a  fresh  convoy  of  strength  to  resist  it.  There  is  no 
such  fortification,  as  to  be  wrapped  up  in  the  sense  of  this :  this  would 
fill  us  with  an  awe  of  God ;  we  should  be  ashamed  to  admit  any  filthy 
thing  into  us,  which  we  know  is  detestable  to  his  pure  eye.  As  the  ap- 
proach of  a  grave  and  serious  man  makes  children  hasten  their  trifles 
out  of  the  way ;  so  would  a  consideration  of  this  attribute  make  us  cast 
away  our  idols,  and  fling  away  our  ridiculous  thoughts  and  designs. 

5.  A  due  sense  of  this  perfection  would  inflame  us  with  a  vehe- 
ment desire  to  be  conformed  to  Him.  All  our  desires  would  be  ar- 
dent to  regulate  ourselves  according  to  this  pattern  of  holiness  and 
goodness,  which  is  not  to  be  equalled;  the  contemplating  it  as  it 
shines  forth  in  the  face  of  Christ,  will  "transform  us  into  the  same 
image"  (2  Cor.  iii.  19).  Since  our  lapsed  state,  we  cannot  behold  the 
holiness  of  God  in  itself  without  affrightment ;  nor  is  it  an  object  of 
imitation,  but  as  tempered  in  Christ  to  our  view.  When  we  cannot, 
without  blinding  ourselves,  look  upon  the  sun  in  its  brightness,  we 

^  Amyrald.  Moral.  Tom.  V.  p.  462. 


ON  THE   HOLINESS   OF  €0D.  195 

may  behold  it  tlirougli  a  colored  glass,  whereby  tbe  lustre  of  it  is 
moderated,  without  dazzling  our  eyes.  The  sense  of  it  will  furnish 
us  with  a  greatness  of  mind,  that  little  things  will  be  contemned  by 
us ;  motives  of  a  greater  alloy  would  have  little  influence  upon  us  ; 
we  should  have  the  highest  motives  to  every  duty,  and  motives  of 
the  same  strain  which  influence  the  angels  above.  It  would  change 
us,  not  only  into  an  angelical  nature,  but  a  divine  nature :  we  should 
act  like  men  of  another  sphere ;  as  if  we  had  received  our  original 
in  another  world,  and  seen  with  angels  the  ravishing  beauties  of 
heaven.  How  little  would  the  mean  employments  of  the  world  sink 
us  into  dirt  and  mud  !  How  often  hath  the  meditation  of  the  courage 
of  a  valiant  man,  or  acuteness  and  industry  of  a  learned  person, 
spurred  on  some  men  to  an  imitation  of  them,  and  transformed  them 
into  the  same  nature !  as  the  looking  upon  the  sun  imprints  an  image 
of  the  sun  upon  our  eye,  that  we  seem  to  behold  nothing  but  the  su.n 
a  while  after.  The  view  of  the  Divine  purity  would  fill  us  with  a 
holy  generosity  to  imitate  him,  more  than  the  examples  of  the  best 
men  upon  earth.  It  was  a  saying  of  a  heathen,  that  "  if  virtue  were 
visible,  it  would  kindle  a  noble  flame  of  love  to  it  in  the  heart,  by 
its  ravishing  beauty."  Shall  the  infinite  purity  of  the  Author  of  all 
virtue  come  short  of  the  strength  of  a  creature  ?  Can  we  not  render 
that  visible  to  us  by  frequent  meditation,  which,  though  it  be  invisi- 
ble in  his  nature,  is  made  visible  in  his  law,  in  his  ways,  in  his  Son  ? 
It  would  make  us  ready  to  obey  him,  since  we  know  he  cannot  com- 
mand anything  that  is  sinful,  but  what  is  holy,  just,  and  good :  it 
would  put  all  our  affections  in  their  due  place,  elevate  them  above 
the  creature,  and  subject  them  to  the  Creator. 

6.  It  would  make  us  patient  and  contented  under  all  God's  dispen- 
sations. All  penal  evils  are  the  fruits  of  his  holiness,  as  he  is  Judge 
and  Governor  of  the  world :  he  is  not  an  arbitrary  Judge,  nor  doth 
any  sentence  pronounced,  nor  warrant  for  execution  issue  from  him, 
but  what  bears  upon  it  a  stamp  of  the  righteousness  of  his  nature ; 
he  doth  nothing  by  passion  or  unrighteousness,  but  according  to  the 
eternal  law  of  his  own  unstained  nature,  which  is  the  rule  to  him  in 
his  works,  the  basis  and  foundation  of  his  throne  and  sovereign  do- 
minion (Ps.  Ixxxix.  14) :  "  Justice,"  or  righteousness,  "  and  judg- 
ment are  the  habitation  of  thy  throne  ;"  upon  these  his  sovereign 
power  is  established:  so  that  there  can  be  no  just  complaint  or  in- 
dictment brought  against  any  of  his  proceedings  with  men.  How 
doth  our  Saviour,  who  had  the  highest  apprehensions  of  God's  holi- 
ness, justify  God  in  his  deepest  distresses,  when  he  cried,  and  was 
not  answered  in  the  particular  he  desired,  in  that  prophetic  Psalm  of 
him  (Ps.  xxii.  2,  8),  "  I  cry  day  and  night,  but  thou  hearest  not !" 
Thou  seemest  to  be  deaf  to  all  my  petitions,  afar  off  "  from  the  words 
of  my  roaring  ;  but  thou  art  holy ;"  I  cast  no  blame  upon  thee  :  aU 
thy  dealings  are  squared  by  thy  holiness:  this  is  the  only  law  to 
thee  ;  in  this  I  acquiesce.  It  is  part  of  thy  holiness  to  hide  thy  face 
from  me,  to  show  thereby  thy  detestation  of  sin.  Our  Saviour  adores 
the  Divine  purity  in  his  sharpest  agony,  and  a  like  sense  of  it  would 
guide  us  in  the  same  steps  to  acknowledge  and  glorify  it,  in  our 
greatest  desertions  and  afflictions ;  especially  since  as  they  are  the 


196  CHAHNPCK   ON  THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

fruit  of  the  holiness  of  his  nature,  so  they  are  the  means  to  impart  to 
us  clearer  stamps  of  holiness,  according  to  that  in  himself,  which  is 
the  original  copy  (Heb,  xii.  10).  He  melts  us  down  as  gold,  to  fit  us 
for  the  receiving  a  new  impression,  to  mortify  the  affections  of  the 
flesh,  and  clothe  us  with  the  graces  of  his  Spirit.  The  due  sense  of 
this  would  make  us  to  submit  to  his  stroke,  and  to  wait  upon  him 
for  a  good  issue  of  his  dealings. 

Exhort.  2.  Is  holiness  a  perfection  of  the  Divine  nature  ?  Is  it  the 
glory  of  the  Deity  ?  Then  let  us  glorify  this  holiness  of  God.  Mo- 
ses glorifies  it  in  the  text,  and  glorifies  it  in  a  song,  which  was  a 
copy  for  all  ages.  The  whole  corporation  of  seraphims  have  their 
mouths  filled  with  the  praises  of  it.  The  saints,  whether  militant  on 
earth,  or  triumphant  in  heaven,  are  to  continue  the  same  acclama- 
tion, "  Holy,  holy,  holy,  Lord  God  of  hosts"  (Eev.  iv.  8).  Neither 
angels  nor  glorified  spirits  exalt  at  the  same  rate  the  power  which 
formed  them  creatures,  nor  goodness  which  preserves  them  in  a 
blessed  immortality,  as  they  do  holiness,  which  they  bear  some  beams 
of  in  their  own  nature,  and  whereby  they  are  capacitated  to  stand 
before  His  throne.  Upon  the  account  of  this,  a  debt  of  praise  is  de- 
manded of  all  rational  creatures  by  the  Psalmist  (Ps.  xcix.  8),  "Let 
them  praise  thy  great  and  terrible  name,  for  it  is  holy."  Not  so 
much  for  the  greatness  of  his  Majesty,  or  the  treasures  of  his  justice; 
but  as  they  are  considered  in  conjunction  with  his  holiness,  which 
renders  them  beautiful ;  "for  it  is  holy."  Grandeur  and  majesty, 
simply  in  themselves,  are  not  objects  of  praise,  nor  do  they  merit  the 
acclamations  of  men,  when  destitute  of  righteousness  :  this  only  ren- 
ders everything  else  adorable  ;  and  this  adorns  the  Divine  greatness 
with  an  amiableness  (Isa.  xii.  6) :  "  Great  is  the  Holy  One  of  Israel 
in  the  midst  of  thee  ;"  and  makes  his  might  worthy  of  praise  (Luke 
i.  49).  In  honoring  this,  which  is  the  soul  and  spirit  of  all  the  rest, 
we  give  a  glory  to  all  the  perfections  which  constitute  and  beautify 
his  nature :  and  without  the  glorifying  this  we  glorify  nothing  of 
them,  though  we  should  extol  every  other  single  attribute  a  thousand 
times.  He  values  no  other  adoration  of  his  creatures,  unless  this  be 
interested,  nor  accepts  anything  as  a  glory  from  them  (Lev.  x.  8) 
"I  will  be  sanctified  in  them  that  come  near  me,  and  I  will  be  glori- 
fied :"  as  if  he  had  said,  In  manifesting  my  name  to  be  holy,  you 
truly,  you  only  honor  me.  And  as  the  Scripture  seldom  speaks  of 
this  perfection  without  a  particular  emphasis,  it  teaches  us  not  to 
think  of  it  without  a  special  elevation  of  heart :  by  this  act  only, 
while  we  are  on  earth,  can  we  join  consort  with  the  angels  in  heaven ; 
he  that  doth  not  honor  it,  delight  in  it,  and  in  the  meditation  of  it, 
hath  no  resemblance  of  it ;  he  hath  none  of  the  image,  that  delights 
not  in  the  original.  Everything  of  God  is  glorious,  but  this  most  of 
all.  If  he  built  the  world  principally  for  anything,  it  was  for  the 
communication  of  his  goodness,  and  display  of  his  holiness.  He 
formed  the  rational  creature  to  manifest  his  holiness  in  that  law 
whereby  he  was  to  be  governed :  then  deprive  not  God  of  the  design 
of  his  own  glory.     We  honor  this  attribute, 

1.  When  we  make  it  the  ground  of  our  love  to  God.     Not  be- 
cause he  is  gracious  to  us,  but  holy  in  himself.     As  God  honors  it, 


ON  THE  HOLINESS   OF  GOD.  197 

in  loving  himself  for  it,  we  should  honor  it,  by  pitching  our  affections 
upon  him  chiefly  for  it.  What  renders  God  amiable  to  himself, 
should  render  him  lovely  to  all  his  creatures  (Isa.  xlii.  21) :  "  The 
Lord  is  well  pleased  for  his  righteousness'  sake."  If  the  hatred  of 
evil  be  the  immediate  result  of  a  love  to  God,  then  the  peculiar  ob- 
ject or  term  of  our  love  to  God,  must  be  that  perfection  which  stands 
in  direct  opposition  to  the  hatred  of  evil  (Ps.  xcvii.  10)  :  "  Ye  that 
love  the  Lord,  hate  evil."  When  we  honor  his  holiness  in  every 
stamp  and  impression  of  it :  his  law,  not  principally  because  of  its 
usefulness  to  us,  its  accommodateness  to  the  order  of  the  Avorld,  but 
for  its  innate  purity ;  and  his  people,  not  for  our  interest  in  them,  so 
much  as  for  bearing  upon  them  this  glittering  mark  of  the  Deity,  we 
honor  then  the  purity  of  the  Lawgiver,  and  the  excellency  of  the 
Sanctifier. 

2.  We  lionor  it,  when  we  regard  chiefly  the  illustrious  appearance 
of  this  in  his  judgments  in  the  world.  In  a  case  of  temporal  judg- 
ment, Moses  celebrates  it  in  the  text ;  in  a  case  of  spiritual  judg- 
ments, the  angels  applaud  it  in  Isaiah.  All  his  severe  proceedings 
are  nothing  but  the  strong  breathings  of  this  attribute.  Purity  is 
the  flash  of  his  revenging  sword.  If  he  did  not  hate  evil,  his  ven- 
geance would  not  reach  the  committers  of  it.  He  is  a  "  refiner's  fire" 
in  the  day  of  his  anger  (Mai.  iii.  2).  By  his  separating  judgments, 
"  he  takes  away  the  wicked  of  the  earth  like  dross"  (Ps.  cxix.  119). 
How  is  his  holiness  honored,  when  we  take  notice  of  his  sweeping 
out  the  rubbish  of  the  world  ;  how  he  suits  punishment  to  sin,  and 
discovers  his  hatred  of  the  matter  and  circumstances  of  the  evil,  in 
the  matter  and  circumstances  of  the  judgment.  This  perfection  is 
legible  in  every  stroke  of  his  sword ;  we  honor  it  when  we  read  the 
syllables  of  it,  and  not  by  standing  amazed  only  at  the  greatness  and 
severity  of  the  blow,  when  we  read  how  holy  he  is  in  his  most  terri- 
ble dispensations :  for  as  in  them  God  magnifies  the  gi'eatness  of  his 
power,  so  he  sanctifies  himself;  that  is,  declares  the  purity  of  his  na- 
ture as  a  revenger  of  all  impiety  (Ezek.  xxxviii.  22,  23) ;  "  And  I 
will  plead  against  him  with  pestilence,  and  with  blood :  and  I  will 
rain  upon  him,  and  upon  his  bands,  and  upon  the  people  that  are 
with  him,  an  overflowing  rain  and  great  hailstones ;  fire,  and  brim- 
stone.    Thus  will  I  magnify  m3'self,  and  sanctify  myself." 

3.  We  honor  this  attribute,  when  we  take  notice  of  it  in  every 
accomplishment  of  his  promise,  and  every  grant  of  a  mercy.  His 
truth  is  but  a  branch  of  his  righteousness,  a  slip  from  this  root.  He 
is  glorious  in  holiness  in  the  account  of  Moses,  because  he  "led  forth 
his  people  whom  he  had  redeemed"  (Exod.  xv.  13);  his  people  by  a 
covenant  with  their  fathers,  being  the  God  of  Moses,  the  God  of 
Israel,  and  the  God  of  their  fathers  (ver.  2).  "  My  God,  and  my 
father's  God,  I  will  exalt  thee."  For  what?  for  his  faithfulness  to 
his  promise.  The  holiness  of  God,  which  Mary  (Luke  i.  49)  magni- 
fies, is  summed  up  in  this,  the  help  he  afforded  his  servant  Israel  in 
the  "  remembrance  of  his  mercy,  as  he  spake  to  our  fathers,  to 
Abraham  and  his  seed  forever"  (ver.  54,  55).  The  certainty  of  his 
covenant  mercy  depends  upon  an  unchangeableness  of  his  holiness. 
What  are  "sure  mercies,"  (Isa.  Iv.  3),  are  holy  mercies  in  the  Septua- 


198  CHAENOCK  ON  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

gint,  and  in  Acts  xiii.  34,  wliich  makes  tliat  translation  canonical. 
His  nearness  to  answer  us,  when  we  call  upon  him  for  such  mercies, 
is  a  fruit  of  the  holiness  of  his  name  and  nature  (Ps.  clxv.  17).  "  The 
Lord  is  holy  in  all  his  works ;  the  Lord  is  nigh  to  all  them  that  call 
upon  him."  Hannah,  after  a  return  of  prayer,  sets  a  particular  mark 
upon  this,  in  her  song  (1  Sam.  ii.  2) ;  "  There  is  none  holy  as  the 
Lord ;"  separated  from  all  dross,  firm  to  his  covenant,  and  righteous 
in  it  to  his  suppliants,  that  confide  in  him,  and  plead  his  word. 
When  we  observe  the  workings  of  this  in  every  return  of  prayer, 
we  honor  it ;  it  is  a  sign  the  mercy  is  really  a  return  of  prayer,  and 
not  a  mercy  of  course,  bearing  upon  it  only  the  characters  of  a  com- 
mon providence.  This  was  the  perfection  David  would  bless,  for  the 
catalogue  of  mercies  in  Ps.  ciii.  1,  &c. ;  "  Bless  his  holy  name."  Cer- 
tainly, one  reason  why  sincere  prayer  is  so  delightful  to  him,  is 
because  it  puts  him  upon  the  exercise  of  this  his  beloved  perfection, 
which  he  so  much  delighteth  to  honor.  Since  God  acts  in  all  those 
as  the  governor  of  the  world,  we  honor  him  not,  unless  we  take 
notice  of  that  righteousness  which  fits  him  for  a  governor,  and  is  the 
inward  spring  of  all  his  motions  (Gen.  xviii.  25).  "  Shall  not  the 
Judge  of  all  the  earth  do  right  ?"  It  was  his  design  in  his  pity  to 
Israel,  as  well  as  the  calamities  he  intended  against  the  heathens,  to 
be  "  sanctified  in  them ;  that  is,  declared  holy  in  his  merciful  as  well 
as  his  judicial  procedure  (Ezra  xxxvi.  21,  23).  Hereby  God  credits 
his  righteousness,  which  seemed  to  be  forgotten  by  the  one,  and  con- 
temned by  the  other  ;c  he  removes,  by  this,  all  suspicion  of  unfoith 
fulness  in  him. 

4.  "We  honor  this  attribute,  when  we  trust  his  covenant,  and 
promise  against  outward  appearances.  Thus  our  Saviour,  in  the 
prophecy  of  him  (Ps.  xxii.  2^),  when  God  seemed  to  bar  up  the 
gates  of  his  palace  against  the  entry  of  any  more  petitions,  this  attri- 
bute proves  the  support  of  the  Redeemer's  soul;  "But  thou  art  holy, 

0  thou  that  inhabitest  the  praises  of  Israel:"  as  it  refers  to  what  goes 
before,  it  has  been  twice  explained ;  as  it  refers  to  Avhat  follows,  it  is 
a  ground  of  trust;  "  Thou  inhabitest  the  praises  of  Israel :"  thou  hast 
had  the  praises  of  Israel  for  many  ages,  for  thy  holiness.  How? 
"  Our  fathers  trusted  in  thee,  and  thou  didst  deliver  them ;"  they 
honored  thy  holiness  by  their  trust,  and  thou  didst  honor  their  faith 
by  a  deliverance ;  thou  always  hadst  a  purity  that  would  not  shame 
nor  confound  them.  I  will  trust  in  thee  as  thou  art  holy,  and  expect 
the  breaking  out  of  this  attribute  for  my  good  as  well  as  my  prede- 
cessors ;  "  Our  fathers  trusted  in  thee,"  &c. 

5.  We  honor  this  attribute,  when  we  show  a  greater  affection  to 
the  marks  of  his  holiness  in  times  of  the  greatest  contempt  of  it.  As 
the  Psalmist  (Ps.  cxix.  126,  127);  "They  have  made  void  thy  law, 
therefore  I  love  thy  commandments  above  gold ;"  while  they  spurn 
at  the  purity  of  thy  law,  I  will  value  it  above  the  gold  they  possess ; 

1  will  esteem  it  as  gold,  because  others  count  it  as  dross ;  by  their 
scorn  of  it,  my  love  to  it  shall  be  the  warmer ;  and  my  hatred  of  ini- 
quity shall  be  the  sharper :  the  disdain  of  others  should  inflame  us 
with  a  zeal  and  fortitude  to  appear  in  behalf  of  his  despised  honor. 

<=  rtauct.  m  loc. 


ON  THE   HOLINESS  OF  GOD.  199 

"We  lienor  this  holiness  many  other  ways ;  by  preparation  for  our 
addresses  to  him,  out  of  a  sense  of  his  purity ;  when  we  imitate  it : 
as  He  honors  us  by  "teaching  us  his  statutes"  (Ps.  cxix.  135),  so  we 
honor  him  by  learning  and  observing  them.  When  we  beg  of  him 
to  show  himself  a  refiner  of  us,  to  make  us  more  conformable  to  him 
in  holiness,  and  bless  him  for  any  communication  of  it  to  us,  it  ren- 
ders us  beautiful  and  lovely  in  his  sight.  To  conclude :  to  honor  it, 
is  the  way  to  engage  it  for  us ;  to  give  it  the  glory  of  what  it  hath 
done,  by  the  arm  of  power  for  our  rescue  from  sin,  and  beating  down 
our  corruptions  at  his  feet,  is  the  Avay  to  see  more  of  its  marvellous 
works,  and  behold  a  clearer  brightness.  As  unthankfulness  makes 
him  withdraw  his  grace  (Rom.  i.  21,  2-1),  so  glorifying  him  causes 
him  to  impart  it.  God  honors  men  in  the  same  way  they  honor 
him;  when  we  honor  him  by  acknowledging  his  purity,  he  will 
honor  us  by  communicating  of  it  to  us.  This  is  the  way  to  derive  a 
greater  excellency  to  our  souls. 

Exhort.  3.  Since  holiness  is  an  eminent  perfection  of  the  Divine 
nature,  let  us  labor  after  a  conformity  to  God  in  this  perfection.  The 
nature  of  God  is  presented  to  us  in  the  Scripture,  both  as  a  pattern 
to  imitate,  and  a  motive  to  persuade  the  creature  to  holiness  (1  John 
iii.  3  ;  Matt.  v.  48  ;  Lev.  xi.  44 ;  1  Pet.  i.  15,  16).  Since  it  is,  there- 
fore, the  nature  of  God,  the  more  our  natures  are  beautified  with  it, 
the  more  like  we  are  to  the  Divine  nature.  It  is  not  the  pattern  of 
angels,  or  archangels,  that  our  Saviour,  or  his  apostle,  proposeth  for 
our  imitation;  but  the  original  of  all  purity,  God  himself;  the  same 
that  created  us,  to  be  imitated  by  us.  Nor  is  an  equal  degree  of 
purity  enjoined  us;  though  we  are  to  be  pure,  and  perfect,  and  mer- 
ciful as  God  is,  yet  not  essentially  so ;  for  that  would  be  to  command 
us  an  impossibility  in  itself;  as  much  as  to  order  us  to  cease  to  be 
creatures,  and  commence  gods.  No  creature  can  be  essentially  holy 
but  by  participation  from  the  chief  Fountain  of  Holiness ;  but  we 
must  have  the  same  kind  of  holiness,  the  same  truth  of  holiness.  As 
a  short  line  may  be  as  straight  as  another,  though  it  parallel  it  not 
in  the  immense  length  of  it ;  a  copy  may  have  the  likeness  of  the 
original,  though  not  the  same  perfection ;  we  cannot  be  good,  with- 
out eyeing  some  exemplar  of  goodness  as  the  pattern.  No  pattern 
is  so  suitable  as  that  which  is  the  highest  goodness  and  purity.  That 
limner  that  would  draw  the  most  excellent  piece,  fixes  his  eyes  upon 
the  most  perfect  pattern.  He  that  would  be  a  good  orator,  or  poet, 
or  artificer,  considers  some  person  most  excellent  in  each  kind,  as 
the  object  of  his  imitation.  Who  so  fit  as  God  to  be  viewed  as  the 
pattern  of  holiness,  in  our  intendment  of,  and  endeavor  after  hoh- 
ness  ?  The  Stoics,  one  of  the  best  sects  of  philosophers,  advised  their 
disciples  to  pitch  upon  some  eminent  example  of  virtue,  according 
to  which  to  form  their  lives ;  as  Socrates,  &c.  But  true  holiness  doth 
not  only  endeavor  to  live  the  life  of  a  good  man,  but  chooses  to  live 
a  divine  life;  as  bclbre  the  man  was  "alienated  from  the  life  of  God" 
(Eph.  iv.  19),  so,  upon  his  return,  he  aspires  after  the  life  of  God.  To 
endeavor  to  be  like  a  good  man  is  to  make  one  image  like  another; 
to  set  our  clocks  by  other  clocks,  without  regarding  the  sun :  but 
true  holiness  consists  in  a  likeness  to  the  most  exact  sampler.     God 


200  CHARNOCK  ON  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

being  tlie  first  purity,  is  tlie  rule  as  well  as  tlie  spring  of  all  purity 
in  the  creature,  the  chief  and  first  object  of  imitation.  We  disown 
ourselves  to  be  his  creatures,  if  we  breathe  not  after  a  resemblance  to 
him  in  what  he  is  imitable.  There  was  in  man,  as  created  according 
to  God's  image,  a  natural  appetite  to  resemble  God :  it  was  at  first 
planted  in  him  by  the  Author  of  his  nature.  The  devil's  temptation 
of  him  by  that  motive  to  transgress  the  law,  had  been  as  an  arrow 
shot  against  a  brazen  wall,  had  there  not  been  a  desire  of  some  like- 
ness to  his  Creator  engraven  upon  him  (Gen,  iii,  5) :  it  would  have 
had  no  more  influence  upon  him,  than  it  could  have  had  upon  a 
mere  animal.  But  man  mistook  the  term ;  he  would  have  been  like 
God  in  knowledge,  whereas,  he  should  have  affected  a  greater  resem- 
blance of  him  in  purity.  O  that  we  could  exemplify  God  in  our 
nature !  Precepts  may  instruct  us  more,  but  examples  affect  us  more ; 
one  directs  us,  but  the  other  attracts  us.  What  can  be  more  attrac- 
tive of  our  imitation,  than  that  which  is  the  original  of  all  purity, 
both  in  men  and  angels?  This  conformity  to  him  consists  in  an 
imitation  of  him, 

1.  In  his  law.  The  purity  of  his  nature  was  first  visible  in  this 
glass;  hence,  it  is  called  a  "holy"  law  (Rom.  vii.  12);  a  "pure"  law 
(Ps.  xix.  8).  Holy  and  pure,  as  it  is  a  ray  of  the  pure  nature  of  the 
Lawgiver.  When  our  lives  are  a  comment  upon  his  law,  they  are 
expressive  of  his  holiness :  we  conform  to  his  holiness  when  we  regu- 
late ourselves  by  his  law,  as  it  is  a  transcript  of  his  holiness:  we  do 
not  imitate  it,  when  we  do  a  thing  in  the  matter  of  it  agreeable  to 
that  holy  rule,  but  when  we  do  it  with  respect  to  the  purity  of  the 
Lawgiver  beaming  in  it.  If  it  be  agreeable  to  God's  will,  and  con- 
venient for  some  design  of  our  own,  and  we  do  anything  only  with 
a  respect  to  that  design,  we  make  not  God's  holiness  discovered  in 
the  law  our  rule,  but  our  own  conveniency :  it  is  not  a  conformity  to 
God,  bat  a  conformity  of  our  actions  to  self.  As  in  abstinence  from 
intemperate  courses,  not  because  the  holiness  of  God  in  his  law  hath 
prescribed  it,  but  because  the  health  of  our  bodies,  or  some  noble 
contentments  of  life,  require  it ;  then  it  is  riot  God's  holiness  that  is 
our  rule,  but  our  own  security,  conveniency,  or  something  else  which 
we  make  a  God  to  ourselves.  It  must  be  a  real  conformity  to  the 
law :  our  holiness  should  shine  as  really  in  the  practice,  as  God's 
purity  doth  in  the  precept.  God  hath  not  a  pretence  of  purity  in  his 
nature,  but  a  reality :  it  is  not  only  a  sudden  boiling  up  of  an  admi- 
ration of  him,  or  a  starting  wish  to  be  like  him,  from  some  sudden 
impression  upon  the  fancy,  which  is  a  mere  temporary  blaze,  but  a 
settled  temper  of  soul,  loving  everything  that  js  like  him,  doing- 
things  out  of  a  firm  desire  to  resemble  his  purity  in  the  copy  he  hath 
set ;  not  a  resting  in  negatives,  but  aspiring  to  positives ;  holy  and 
harmless  are  distinct  things:  they  were  distinct  qualifications  in  our 
High  Priest  in  his  obedience  to  the  law  (Heb.  vii,  26),  so  they  must 
be  m  us. 

2.  In  his  Christ.  As  the  law  is  the  transcript,  so  Christ  is  the 
image  of  his  holiness :  the  glory  of  God  is  too  dazzhng  to  be  beheld 
by  us :  the  acute  eye  of  an  angel  is  too  weak  to  look  upon  that 
brio-ht  sun  without  covering  his  lace :  we  are  much  too  weak  to  take 


ON  THE  HOLINESS  OF  GOD.  201 

our  measures  from  that  purity  which  is  infinite  in  his  nature.  But 
he  hath  made  his  Son  hke  us,  that  by  the  imitation  of  him  in  that 
temper,  and  shadow  of  human  flesh,  we  may  arrive  to  a  resemblance 
of  him  (2  Cor.  iii.  18).  Then  there  is  a  conformity  to  him,  when 
that  which  Christ  did  is  drawn  in  lively  colors  in  the  soul  of  a  Chris- 
tian ;  when,  as  he  died  upon  the  cross,  we  die  to  our  sins ;  as  he  rose 
from  the  grave,  we  rise  from  our  lusts ;  as  he  ascended  on  high,  we 
mount  our  souls  thither ;  when  we  express  in  our  lives  what  shined 
in  his,  and  exemplify  in  our  hearts  what  he  acted  in  the  world,  and 
become  one  with  him,  as  he  was  separate  from  sinners.  The  holiness 
of  God  in  Christ  is  our  ultimate  pattern :  as  we  are  not  only  to  be- 
lieve in  Christ,  but  "  by  Christ  in  God"  (John  xiv.  1),  so  we  are  not 
only  to  imitate  Christ,  but  the  holiness  of  God  as  discovered  in  Christ. 
And,  to  enforce  this  upon  us,  let  us  consider, 

(1.)  It  is  this  only  wherein  he  commands  our  imitation  of  him.  We 
are  not  commanded  to  be  mighty  and  wise,  as  God  is  mighty  and  wise : 
but  "  be  holy,  as  I  am  holy."  The  declarations  of  his  ]30wer  are  to 
enforce  our  subjection;  those  of  his  wisdom,  to  encourage  our  direc- 
tion by  him ;  but  this  only  to  attract  our  imitation.  When  he  saith, 
"  I  am  holy,"  the  immediate  inference  he  makes,  is,  "  Be  ye  so  too," 
which  is  not  the  proper  instruction  from  any  other  perfection. '^  Man 
was  created  by  Divine  power,  and  harmonized  by  Divine  wisdom,  but 
not  after  them,  or  according  to  them,  as  the  true  image ;  this  was  the 
prerogative  of  Divine  holiness,  to  be  the  pattern  of  his  rational  crea- 
ture : «  wisdom  and  power  were  subservient  to  this,  the  one  as  the  pencil, 
the  other  as  the  hand  that  moved  it.  The  condition  of  a  creature  is 
too  mean  to  have  the  communications  of  the  Divine  essence;  the  true 
impressions  of  his  righteousness  and  goodness  we  are  only  capable  of. 
It  is  only  in  those  moral  perfections  we  are  said  to  resemble  God.  The 
devils,  those  impure  and  ruined  spirits,  are  nearer  to  him  in  strength 
and  knowledge  than  we  are ;  yet  in  regard  of  that  natural  and  intel- 
lectual perfection,  never  counted  like  him,  but  at  the  greatest  dis- 
tance from  him,  because  at  the  greatest  distance  from  his  purity. 
God  values  not  a  natural  might,  nor  an  acute  understanding,  nor 
vouchsafes  such  perfections  the  glorious  title  of  that  of  his  image. 
Plutarch  saith,  God  is  angry  with  those  that  imitate  his  thunder  or 
lightning,  his  works  of  majesty,  but  delighted  with  those  that  imitate 
his  virtue.^  In  this  only  we  can  never  incur  any  reproof  from  him, 
but  for  falling  short  of  him  iind  his  glory.  Had  Adam  endeavored 
after  an  iniitatiou  of  this,  instead  of  that  of  Divine  knowledge,  he 
had  escaped  his  fall,  and  preserved  his  standing ;  and  had  Lucifer 
wished  himself  like  God  in  this,  as  well  as  his  dominion,  he  had 
still  been  a  glorious  angel,  instead  of  being  now  a  ghastly  devil :  to 
reach  after  a  union  with  the  Supreme  Being,  in  regard  of  holiness, 
is  the  only  generous  and  commendable  ambition. 

(2.)  This  is  the  prime  way  of  honoring  God.  We  do  not  so  glorify 
God  by  elevated  admirations,  or  eloquent  expressions,  or  pompous 
services  of  him,  as  when  we  aspire  to  a  conversing  with  him  with 
unstained  spirits,  and  live  to  him  in  living  like  him.    The  angels  are 

*■  "  lu  tliis,"  saith  Plato,  "  God  is  h  fieau  Trapudeiy/ja.  «  Epli.  iv.  24.     Col.  iii.  10. 

f  Eugub.  iLide  I'ereiiui  I'liiloso.  lib.  vi.  cap.  6. 


202  CHARXOCK   ON  THE   ATTEIBUTES, 

not  called  lioly  for  applauding  liis  purit}^,  but  conforming  to  it.  The 
more  perfect  any  creature  is  in  the  rank  of  beings,  the  more  is  the 
Creator  honored ;  as  it  is  more  for  the  honor  of  God  to  create  an 
angel  or  man,  than  a  m.ere  animal ;  because  there  are  in  such  clearer 
characters  of  Divine  power  and  goodness,  than  in  those  that  are  in- 
ferior. The  more  perfect  any  creature  is  morally,  the  more  is  God 
glorified  by  that  creature ;  it  is  a  real  declaration,  that  God  is  the  best 
and  most  amiable  Being;  that  nothing  besides  him  is  valuable,  and 
worthy  to  be  object  of  our  imitation.  It  is  a  greater  honoring  of 
him,  than  the  highest  acts  of  devotion,  and  the  most  religious  bodily 
exercise,  or  the  singing  this  song  of  Moses  in  the  text,  with  a  trium- 
phant spirit ;  as  it  is  more  the  honor  of  a  father  to  be  imitated  in  his 
virtues  by  his  son,  than  to  have  all  the  glavering  commendations  by 
the  tongue  or  pen  of  a  vicious  and  debauched  child.  By  this  we 
honor  him  in  that  perfection  which  is  dearest  to  him,  and  counted 
by  him  as  the  chiefest  glory  of  his  nature.  God  seems  to  accept  the 
glorifying  this  attribute,  as  if  ft  were  a  real  addition  to  that  holiness 
which  is  infinite  in  his  nature,  and  because  infinite,  cannot  admit  of 
any  increase :  and,  therefore,  the  word  sanctified  is  used  instead  of 
glorified.  (Isa.  viii.  13),  "  Sanctify  the  Lord  of  Hosts  himself,  and 
let  him  be  jout  fear,  and  let  him  be  your  dread."  And  (Isa.  xxix. 
23),  "They  shall  sanctify  the  holy  One  of  Jacob,  and  fear  the  God 
of  Israel."  This  sanctification  of  God  is  by  the  fear  of  him,  which 
signifies  in  the  language  of  the  Old  Testament,  a  reverence  of  him, 
and  a  righteousness  before  him.  He  doth  not  say,  when  he  w^ould 
have  his  power  or  wisdom  glorified.  Empower  me  or  make  me  wise ; 
but  when  he  would  have  his  holiness  glorified  by  the  creature,  it  is, 
Sanctify  me ;  that  is,  manifest  the  purity  of  my  nature  by  the  holi- 
ness of  your  lives :  but  he  expresseth  it  in  such  a  term,  as  if  it  were 
an  addition  to  this  infinite  perfection ;  so  acceptable  it  is  to  him,  as 
if  it  were  a  contribution  from  his  creature  for  the  enlarging  an  attri- 
bute so  pleasing  to  him,  and  so  glorious  in  his  eye.  It  is,  as  much 
as  in  the  creature  lies,  a  jDreserving  the  life  of  God,  since  this  perfec- 
tion is  his  life ;  and  that  he  would  as  soon  part  with  his  life  as  part 
with  his  purity.  It  keeps  up  the  reputation  of  God  in  the  world,  and 
attracts  others  to  a  love  of  him ;  whereas,  unworthy  carriages  defame 
God  in  the  eyes  of  men,  and  bring  up  an  ill  report  of  him,  as  if  he 
were  such  an  one  as  those  that  profess  him,  and  walk  rmsuitably  to 
their  profession,  appear  to  be. 

(3.)  This  is  the  excellency  and  beauty  of  a  creature.  The  title  of 
"  beauty"  is  given  to  it  in  Ps.  ex.  3 ;  "  beauties,"  in  the  plural  number, 
as  comprehending  it  in  all  other  beauties  whatsoever.  What  is  a 
Divine  excellency  cannot  be  a  creature's  deformity :  the  natural  beauty 
of  it  is  a  representation  of  the  Divinity ;  and  a  holy  man  ought  to  es- 
teem himself  excellent  in  being  such  in  his  measure  as  his  God  is, 
and  puts  his  principal  felicity  in  the  possession  of  the  same  purity  in 
truth.  This  is  the  refined  complexion  of  the  angels  that  stand  before 
his  throne.  The  devils  lost  their  comeliness  when  they  fell  from  it. 
It  was  the  honor  of  the  human  nature  of  our  Saviour,  not  only  to  be 
united  to  the  Deity,  but  to  be  sanctified  by  it.  He  was  "  fairer  than 
all  the  children  of  men,"  because  he  had  a  holiness  above  the  children 


ON   THE   HOLINESS   OF   GOD.  203 

of  men :  "  grace  was  poured  into  his  lips"  (Ps.  xlv.  2).  It  was  tlie  jewel 
of  tlie  reasonable  nature  in  paradise :  conformity  to  God  was  man's 
original  happiness  in  his  created  state ;  and  what  was  naturally  so, 
cannot  but  be  immutably  so  in  its  own  nature.  The  beauty  of  every 
copied  thing  consists  in  its  likeness  to  the  original ;  everything  hath 
more  of  loveliness,  as  it  hath  greater  impressions  of  its  first  pattern : 
in  this  regard  hoUness  hath  more  of  beauty  on  it  than  the  whole 
creation,  because  it  partakes  of  a  greater  excellency  of  God  than  the 
sun,  moon,  and  stars.  No  greater  glory  can  be,  than  to  be  a  con- 
spicuous and  visible  image  of  the  invisible,  and  holy,  and  blessed 
God.  As  this  is  the  splendor  of  all  the  Divine  attributes,  so  it  is  the 
flower  of  all  a  christian's  graces,  the  crown  of  all  religion :  it  is  the 
glory  of  the  Spirit,  In  this  regard  the  king's  daughter  is  said  to  be 
"  all  glorious  within"  (Ps.  xlv.  13).  It  is  more  excellent  than  the 
soul  itself,  since  the  greatest  soul  is  but  a  deformed  piece  without  it : 
a  "  diamond  without  lustre.''^  What  are  the  noble  faculties  of  the 
soul  without  it,  but  as  a  curious  rusty  watch,  a  delicate  heap  of  dis- 
order and  confusion  ?  It  is  impossible  there  can  be  beauty  where  there 
are  a  multitude  of  "spots  and  wrinkles"  that  blemish  a  countenance 
(Eph.  V.  27).  It  can  never  be  in  its  true  brightness  but  Avhen  it  is 
perfect  in  purity;  when  it  regains  what  it  was  possessed  of  by  crea- 
tion, and  disjDossessed  of  by  the  fall,  and  recovers  its  primitive  temper. 
We  are  not  so  beautiful  by  being  the  work  of  God,  as  by  having  a 
stamp  of  God  upon  us.  Worldly  greatness  may  make  men  honor- 
able in  the  sight  of  creeping  worms.  Soft  lives,  ambitious  reaches, 
luxurious  pleasures,  and  a  pompous  religion,  render  no  man  excel- 
lent and  noble  in  the  sight  of  God :  this  is  not  the  excellency  and 
nobility  of  the  Deity  which  we  are  bound  to  resemble ;  other  lines 
of  a  Divine  image  must  be  drawn  in  us  to  render  us  truly  excel- 
lent. 

(4.)  It  is  our  life.  What  is  the  life  of  God  is  truly  the  life  of  a 
rational  creature.^'  The  life  of  the  body  consists  not  in  the  perfection 
of  its  members,  and  the  integrity  of  its  organs ;  these  remain  when 
the  body  becomes  a  carcass ;  but  in  the  presence  of  the  soul,  and  its 
vigorous  animation  of  every  part  to  perform  the  distinct  offices  be- 
longing to  each  of  them.  The  life  of  the  soul  consists  not  in  its 
being,  or  spiritual  substance,  or  the  excellency  of  its  faculties  of  un- 
derstanding and  will,  but  in  the  moral  and  becoming  operations  of 
them.  The  spirit  is  only  "  life  because  of  righteousness"  (Ptom.  viii. 
10).  The  faculties  are  turned  by  it,  to  acquit  themselves  in  their 
functions,  according  to  the  will  of  God ;  the  absence  of  this  doth  not 
only  deform  the  soul,  but,  in  a  sort,  annihilate  it,  in  regard  of  its 
true  essence  and  end.  Grace  gives  a  Christian  being,  and  a  want  of 
it  is  the  want  of  a  true  being  (1  Cor.  xv.  10).  When  Adam  divested 
himself  of  his  original  rio-hteousness,  he  came  under  the  force  of 
the  threatening-,  in  regard  of  a  spiritual  death ;  every  person  is 
"morally  dead  while  he  lives"  an  unholy  life  (1  Tim.  v.  6).  What 
life  is  to  the  body,  that  is  righteousness  to  the  spirit ;  and  the  greater 
measure  of  holiness  it  hath,  the  more  of  life  it  hath,  because  it  is  in  a 

s  Vaughau  pp.  4,  5.  ^  Aniirald.  in  Heb.  pp.  101,  102. 


204  CHARNOCK  ON  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

greater  nearness,  and  partakes  more  fully  of  the  fountain  of  life.  Is 
not  that  the  most  worthy  life,  which  God  makes  most  account  of, 
without  which  his  life  could  not  be  a  pleasant  and  blessed  life,  but  a 
life  worse  than  death  ?  What  a  miserable  life  is  that  of  the  men  of 
the  world,  that  are  carried,  with  greedy  inclinations,  to  all  manner 
of  unrighteousness,  whither  their  interests  or  their  lusts  invite  them  1 
Tlie  most  beautiful  body  is  a  carcass,  and  the  most  honorable  person 
hath  but  a  brutish  life  (Ps.  xlix.  20) ;  miserable  creatures  when  their 
life  shall  be  extinct  without  a  Divine  rectitude,  when  all  other  things 
will  vanish  as  the  shadows  of  the  night  at  the  appearance  of  the  sun  ! 
Holiiiess  is  our  life. 

(5.)  It  is  this  only  fits  us  for  communion  with  God.  Since  it  is 
our  beauty  and  our  life,  without  it  what  communion  can  an  excellent 
God  have  with  deformed  creatures ;  a  living  God  with  dead  creatures  ? 
"  Without  holiness  none  shall  see  God"  (Heb.  xii.  14).  The  creature 
must  be  stripped  of  his  unrighteousness,  or  God  of  his  purity,  before 
they  can  come  together.  Likeness  is  the  ground  of  communion,  and 
of  delight  in  it :  the  opposition  between  God  and  unholy  souls  is  as 
great  as  that  between  "  light  and  darkness"  (IJohni.  6).  Divine  fruition 
is  not  so  much  by  a  union  of  presence  as  a  union  of  nature.  Heaven 
is  not  so  much  an  outward  as  an  inward  life  ;  the  foundation  of  glory  is 
laid  in  grace ;  a  resemblance  to  God  is  our  vital  happiness,  without 
which  ttie  vision  of  God  would  not  be  so  much  as  a  cloudy  and  shadowy 
happiness,  but  rather  a  torment  than  a  felicity ;  unless  we  be  of  a 
like  nature  to  God,  we  cannot  have  a  pleasing  fruition  of  him. 
Some  philosophers  think  that  if  our  bodies  were  of  the  same  nature 
with  the  heavens,  of  an  ethereal  substance,  the  nearness  to  the  sun 
would  cherish,  not  scorch  us.  Were  we  partakers  of  a  Divine 
nature,  we  might  enjoy  God  with  delight ;  Avhereas,  remaining  in 
our  unlikeness  to  him,  we  cannot  think  of  him,  and  api^roacli  to 
him  without  terror.  As  soon  as  sin  had  stripped  man  of  the  image 
of  God,  he  was  an  exile  from  the  comfortable  presence  of  God,  un- 
worthy for  God  to  hold  any  correspondence  with  :  he  can  no  more 
delight  in  a  defiled  person  that  a  man  can  take  a  toad  into  intimate 
converse  with  him  ;  he  would  hereby  discredit  his  own  nature,  and 
justify  our  impurity.  The  holiness  of  a  creature  only  prepares  him 
for  an  eternal  conjunction  with  God  in  glory.  Enoch's  walking 
with  God  was  the  cause  of  his  being  so  soon  wafted  to  the  jjlace 
of  a  full  fruition  of  him ;  he  hath  as  much  delight  in  such  as  in 
heaven  itself ;  one  is  his  habitation  as  well  as  the  other  ;  the  one  is 
his  habitation  of  glory,  and  the  other  is  the  house  of  his  pleasure  : 
if  he  dwell  in  Zion,  it  must  be  a  "holy  mountain"  (Joel  iii.  17),  and 
the  members  of  Zion  must  be  upheld  in  their  rectitude  and  integrity 
before  they  be  "  set  before  the  face  of  God  forever"  (Ps.  xli.  12.) 
Such  are  styled  his  jewels,  his  portion,  as  if  he  lived  uj)on  them,  as 
a  man  upon  his  inheritance.  As  God  cannot  delight  in  us,  so  neither 
can  we  delight  in  God  without  it.  We  must  purify  ourselves  "  as 
he  is  pure,"  if  we  expect  to  "  see  him  as  he  is,"  in  the  comfortable 
glory  and  beauty  of  his  nature  (1  John  iii.  2,  3),  else  the  sight  of 
God  would  be  terrible  and  troublesome :  we  cannot  be  satisfied  with 
the  likeness  of  God  at  the  resurrection,  unless  we  have  a  righteous- 


ON   THE   HOLINESS   OF   GOD.  205 

ness  wherewith  to  "behold  his  face"  (Ps.  xvii.  15).  It  is  a  vain 
imagination  in  any  to  think  that  heaven  can  bs  a  place  of  happiness 
to  him,  in  whose  eye  the  beauty  of  holiness  which  fills  and  adorns  it, 
is  an  unlovely  thing ;  or  that  any  can  have  a  satisfaction  in  that 
Divine  purity  which  is  loathsome  to  him  in  the  imitations  of  it.  We 
cannot  enjoy  him,  unless  we  resemble  him  ;  nor  take  any  pleasure 
in  him,  if  we  were  with  him,  without  something  of  likeness  to  him. 
Holiness  fits  us  for  communion  with  God. 

(6.)  We  can  have  no  evidence  of  our  election  and  adoption  with- 
out it.  Conformity  to  God,  in  purity,  is  the  fruit  of  electing  love 
(Eph.  i.  4) ;  "  He  hath  chosen  us  that  we  should  be  holy."  The 
goodness  of  the  fruit  evidenceth  the  nature  of  the  root :  this  is  the 
seal  that  assures  us  the  patent  is  the  authentic  grant  of  the  Prince. 
Whatsoever  is  holy,  speaks  itself  to  be  from  God  ;  and  whosoever 
is  holy,  speaks  himself  to  belong  to  God.  This  is  the  only  evidence 
that  "  we  are  born  of  God"  (1  John  ii.  29).  The  subduing  our  souls 
to  him,  the  forming  us  into  a  resemblance  to  himself,  is  a  more  cer- 
tain sign  we  belong  to  him,  than  if  we  had,  with  Isaiah,  seen  his 
glory  in  the  vision,  with  all  his  train  of  angels  about  him.  This 
justifies  us  to  be  the  seed  of  God,  when  he  hath,  as  it  were,  taken  a 
slip  from  his  own  purity,  and  engrafted  it  in  our  spirits:  he  can 
never  own  us  for  his  children  without  his  mark,  the  stamp  of  holi- 
ness. The  devil's  stamp  is  none  of  God's  badge.  Our  spiritual  ex- 
traction from  him  is  but  pretended,  unless  we  do  things  worthy  of 
so  illustrious  a  birth,  and  becoming  the  honor  of  so  great  a  Father : 
what  evidence  can  we  else  have  of  any  child-like  love  to  God,  since  the 
proper  act  of  love  is  to  imitate  the  object  of  our  affections  ?  And  that 
we  may  be  in  some  measure  like  to  God  in  this  excellent  perfection. 

1st.  Let  us  be  often  viewing  and  ruminating  on  the  holiness  of 
God,  especially  as  discovered  in  Christ.  It  is  by  a  believing  medi- 
tation on  him,  that  we  are  "changed  into  the  same  image"  (2  Cor. 
iii.  18).  We  can  think  often  of  nothing  that  is  excellent  in  the 
world,  but  it  draws  our  faculties  to  some  kind  of  suitable  oj^eration  ; 
and  why  should  not  such  an  excellent  idea  of  the  holiness  of  God  in 
Christ  perfect  our  understandings,  and  awaken  all  the  powers  of  our 
souls  to  be  formed  to  actions  worthy  of  him?  A  painter  employed 
in  the  limning  some  excellent  piece,  has  not  only  his  pattern  before 
his  eyes,  but  his  eye  frequently  upon  the  pattern,  to  possess  his 
fancy  to  draw  forth  an  exact  resemblance.  He  that  would  express 
the  image  of  God,  must  imprint  upon  his  mind  the  purity  of  his 
nature;  cherish  it  in  his  thoughts,  that  the  excellent  beauty  of  it 
may  pass  from  his  understanding  to  his  affections,  and  from  his  affec- 
tions to  his  practice.  How  can  we  arise  to  a  conformity  to  God  in 
Christ,  whose  most  holy  nature  we  seldom  glance  upon,  and  more 
rarely  sink  our  souls  into  the  depths  of  it  by  meditation !  Be  fre- 
quent in  the  meditation  of  the  holiness  of  God. 

2d.  Let  us  often  exericse  ourselves  in  acts  of  love  to  God,  because 
of  this  perfection.  The  more  adoring  thoughts  we  have  ol'  God,  the 
more  delightfully  we  shall  aspire  to,  and  more  ravishingly  catch 
after,  anything  that  may  promote  the  more  full  draught  of  his 
Divine  image  in  our  hearts.     What  we  intensely  affect,  we  desire  to 


206  CHARNOCK  ON  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

be  as  near  to  as  we  can,  and  to  be  that  very  thing,  rather  than  our- 
selves. All  imitations  of  others  arise  from  an  intense  love  to  their 
persons  or  excellency.  When  the  soul  is  ravished  with  this  perfec- 
tion of  God,  it  will  desire  to  be  united  with  it ;  to  have  it  drawn  in 
it,  more  than  to  have  its  own  being  continued  to  it :  it  will  desire 
and  delight  in  its  own  being,  in  order  to  this  heavenly  and  spiritual 
work.  The  impressions  of  the  nature  of  God  upon  it,  and  the  imi- 
tations of  the  nature  of  God  by  it,  will  be  more  desirable  than  any 
natural  perfection  whatsoever.  The  will  in  loving  is  rendered  like 
the  object  beloved;  is  turned  into  its  nature,'  and  imbibes  its  qual- 
ities. The  soul,  by  loving  God,  will  find  itself  more  and  more  trans- 
formed into  the  Divine  image ;  whereas,  slighted  ensamples  are  never 
thought  worthy  of  imitation, 

3d.  Let  us  make  God  our  end.  Every  man's  mind  forms  itself  to 
a  likeness  to  that  which  it  makes  its  chief  end.  An  earthly  soul  is 
as  drossy  as  the  earth  he  gapes  for ;  an  ambitious  soul  is  as  elevated 
as  the  honor  he  reaches  at ;  the  same  characters  that  are  upon  the 
thing  aimed  at,  will  be  imprinted  upon  the  spirit  of  him  that  aims 
at  it.  When  God  and  his  glory  are  made  our  end,  we  shall  find  a 
silent  likeness  pass  in  uj)on  us ;  the  beauty  of  God  will  by  degrees 
enter  upon  our  souls. 

4th.  In  every  deliberate  action,  let  us  reflect  upon  the  Divine 
purity  as  a  pattern.  Let  us  examine  whether  anything  we  are 
prompted  unto  bear  an  impression  of  God  upon  it ;  whether  it  looks 
like  a  thing  that  God  himself  would  do  in  that  case,  were  he  in  our 
natures  and  in  our  circumstances.  See  whether  it  hath  the  livery  of 
God  upon  it,  how  congruous  it  is  to  his  nature ;  whether,  and  in 
what  manner,  the  holiness  of  God  can  be  glorified  thereby ;  and  let 
us  be  industrious  in  all  this ;  for  can  such  an  imitation  be  easy  which 
is  resisted  by  the  constant  assaults  of  the  flesh,  which  is  discouraged 
by  our  own  ignorance,  and  depressed  by  our  faint  and  languishing 
desires  after  it  ?     O !  liappy  we,  if  there  were  such  a  heart  in  us ! 

Exhort.  4.  If  holiness  be  a  perfection  belonging  to  the  nature  of 
God  ;  then,  where  there  is  some  weak  conformity  to  the  holiness  of 
God,  let  us  labor  to  grow  up  in  it,  and  breathe  after  fuller  measures 
of  it.  The  more  likeness  we  have  to  him,  the  more  love  we  shall 
have  from  him.  Communion  will  be  suitable  to  our  imitation ; 
his  love  to  himself  in  his  essence,  will  cast  out  beams  of  love  to 
himself  in  his  image.  If  God  loves  holiness  in  a  lower  measure, 
much  more  will  he  love  it  in  a  higher  degi'ee,  because  then  his 
image  is  more  illustrious  and  beautiful,  and  comes  nearer  to  the 
lively  lineaments  of  his  own  infinite  purity.  Perfection  in  anything 
is  more  lovely  and  amiable  than  imperfection  in  any  state  ;  and  the 
nearer  anything  arrives  to  perfection,  the  further  are  those  things 
separated  from  it  which  might  cool  an  affection  to  it.  An  increase 
in  holiness  is  attended  with  a  manifestation  of  his  love  (John  xiv. 
21) :  "  He  that  hath  my  commandments,  and  keeps  them,  he  it  is 
that  loves  me,  and  he  shall  be  loved  of  my  Father,  and  I  will  love 
him,  and  I  will  manifest  myself  to  him."  It  is  a  testimony  of  love 
to  God,  and  God  will  not  be  behind-hand  with  the  creature  in  kind- 

•  Amor  naturam  induit,  et  mores  imbibit  rei  auiatjB. 


ON  THE   HOLINESS  OF  GOD.  207 

ness;  lie  loves  a  holy  man  for  some  resemblance  to  him  in  his 
nature ;  but  when  there  is  an  abounding  in  sanctified  dispositions 
suitable  to  it,  there  is  an  increase  of  favor ;  the  more  we  resemble 
the  original,  the  more  shall  we  enjoy  the  blessedness  of  that  original : 
as  any  partake  more  of  the  Divine  likeness,  they  partake  more  of 
the  Divine  happiness. 

Exhort.  5.  Let  us  carry  ourselves  holily,  in  a  spiritual  manner,  in 
all  our  religious  approaches  to  God  (Ps.  xciii.  5)  ;  "  Holiness  becomes 
thy  house,  O  Lord,  for  ever."  This  attribute  should  work  in  us  a 
deep  and  reverential  respect  to  God.  This  is  the  reason  rendered 
why  we  shoukl  "worship  at  his  footstool,"  in  the  lowest  posture  of 
humility  prostrate  before  him,  because  "he  is  holy"  (Ps,  xcix.  5). 
Shoes  must  be  put  off  from  our  feet  (Exod.  iii.  5),  that  is,  lusts  from 
our  afl'ections,  everything  that  our  souls  are  clogged  and  bemired 
with,  as  the  shoe  is  with  dirt.  He  is  not  willing  we  should 
offer  to  him  an  impure  soul,  mired  hearts,  rotten  carcasses,  jjutrefied 
in  vice,  rotten  in  iniquity ;  our  services  are  to  be  as  free  from  pro- 
faneness,  as  the  sacrifices  of  the  law  were  to  be  free  from  sickliness 
or  any  blemish.  Whatsoever  is  contrary  to  his  purity,  is  abhorred 
by  him,  and  unlovely  in  his  sight ;  and  can  meet  with  no  other 
success  at  his  hands,  but  a  disdainful  turning  away  both  of  his  eye 
and  ear  (Isa.  i.  15).  Since  he  is  an  immense  purity,  he  will  reject 
from  his  presence,  and  from  having  any  communion  with  him,  all 
that  which  is  not  conformable  to  him ;  as  light  chases  away  the 
darkness  of  the  night,  and  will  not  mix  with  it.  If  we  "  stretch 
out"  our  "hands  towards  him,"  we  must  "put  iniquity  far  away 
from  us"  (Job  xi.  13,  14)  ;  the  fruits  of  all  service  will  else  drop  oSf 
to  nothing.  "  Then  shall  the  offering  of  Judah  and  Jerusalem  be 
pleasant  to  the  Lord"  :  when  ?  when  the  heart  is  j^urged  by  Christ 
sitting  as  a  "purifier  of  silver"  (Mai.  iii.  3,  4).  Not  all  the  incense 
of  the  Indies  yield  him  so  sweet  a  savor,  as  one  spiritual  act  of  wor- 
ship from  a  heart  estranged  from  the  vileness  of  the  world,  and 
ravished  with  an  affection  to,  and  a  desire  of  imitating,  the  purity  of 
his  nature. 

Exhort.  6.  Let  us  address  for  holiness  to  God,  the  fountain  of  it. 
As  he  is  the  author  of  bodily  life  in  the  creature,  so  he  is  the  author 
of  his  own  life,  the  life  of  God  in  the  soul.  By  his  holiness  he  makes 
men  holy,  as  the  sun  by  his  light  enlightens  the  air.  He  is  not  only 
the  Holy  One,  but  our  Holy  One  (Isa.  xliii,  15) ;  "  The  Lord  that 
sanctifies  us"  (Levit.  xx.  8).  As  he  hath  mercy  to  pardon  us,  so  he 
hath  holiness  to  purify  us,  the  excellency  of  being  a  sun  to  comfort 
us,  and  a  shield  to  protect  us,  giving  "grace  and  glory"  (Ps.  Ixxiv. 
11).  Grace  whereby  we  may  have  communion  with  him  to  our 
comfort,  and  strength  against  our  spiritual  enemies  for  our  defence  ; 
grace  as  our  preparatory  to  glory,  and  grace  growing  up  till  it  ripen 
in  glory.  He  only  can  mould  us  into  a  Divine  frame  ;  the  great 
original  can  only  derive  the  excellency  of  his  own  nature  to  us.  We 
are  too  low,  too  lame,  to  lift  up  ourselves  to  it ;  too  much  in  love 
with  our  own  deformity,  to  admit  of  this  beauty  without  a  heavenly 
power  inclining  our  desires  for  it,  our  affections  to  it,  our  willingness 
to  be  partakers  of  it.     He  can  as  soon  set  the  beauty  of  holiness  in 


208  CHAENOCK   ON  THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

a  deformed  lieart,  as  the  beauty  of  harmony  in  a  confused  mass, 
when  he  made  the  world.  He  can  as  soon  cause  the  hght  of  purity 
to  rise  out  of  the  darkness  of  corruption,  as  frame  glorious  spirits  out 
of  the  insufficiency  of  nothing.  His  beauty  doth  not  decay ;  he 
hath  as  much  in  himself  now  as  he  had  in  his  eternity ;  he  is  as 
ready  to  impart  it,  as  he  was  at  the  creation ;  only  we  must  wait 
upon  him  for  it,  and  be  content  to  have  it  by  small  measures  and 
degrees.  There  is  no  fear  of  our  sanctification,  if  we  come  to  him 
as  a  God  of  holiness,  since  he  is  a  God  of  peace,  and  the  breach 
made  by  Adam  is  repaired  by  Christ  (1  Thess.  v.  23) :  "  And  the 
very  God  of  peace  sanctify  you  wholly,"  &c.  He  restores  the  sanc- 
tifying Spirit  which  was  withdrawn  by  the  fall,  as  he  is  a  God  paci- 
fied, and  his  holiness  righted  by  the  Eedeemer.  The  beauty  of  it 
appears  in  its  smiles  upon  a  man  in  Christ,  and  is  as  ready  to  im- 
part itself  to  the  reconciled  creature,  as  before  justice  was  to  punish 
the  rebellious  one.  He  loves  to  send  forth  the  streams  of  this  per- 
fection into  created  channels,  more  than  any  else.  He  did  not  de- 
sign the  making  the  creature  so  powerful  as  he  might,  because 
power  is  not  such  an  excellency  in  his  own  nature,  but  as  it  is  con- 
ducted and  managed  by  some  other  excellency.  Power  is  in- 
different, and  may  be  used  well  or  ill,  according  as  the  possessor 
of  it  is  righteous  or  unrighteous.  God  makes  not  the  creature  so 
powerful  as  he  might,  but  he  delights  to  make  the  creature  that 
waits  upon  him  as  holy  as  it  can  be  ;  beginning  it  in  this  world,  and 
ripening  it  in  the  other.  It  is  from  him  we  must  expect  it,  and 
from  him  that  we  must  beg  it,  and  draw  arguments  from  the  holi- 
ness of  his  nature,  to  move  him  to  work  holiness  in  our  spirits ;  we 
cannot  have  a  stronger  plea.  Purity  is  the  favorite  of  his  own  na- 
ture, and  delights  itself  in  the  resemblances  of  it  in  the  creature. 
Let  us  also  go  to  God,  to  preserve  what  he  hath  already  wrought 
and  imparted.  As  we  cannot  attain  it,  so  we  cannot  maintain  it 
without  him.  God  gave  it  Adam,  and  he  lost  it ;  when  God  gives 
it  us,  we  shall  lose  it  without  his  influencing  and  preserving  grace  ; 
the  channel  will  be  without  a  stream,  if  the  fountain  do  not  bubble 
it  forth ;  and  the  streams  will  vanish,  if  the  fountain  doth  not  con- 
stantly supply  them.  Let  us  apply  ourselves  to  him  for  holiness,  as 
he  is  a  God  glorious  in  holiness ;  by  this  we  honor  God,  and  ad- 
vantage ourselves. 


r- 


>/'2' 


DISCOURSE    XII. 
ON   THE    GOODNESS    OF    GOD. 

Mark  X.  18. — And  Jesus  said  unto  him,  Wliy  callest  thou  me  good?      There  is  none 
good  but  one,  that  is,  God. 

The  words  are  part  of  a  reply  of  our  Saviour  to  the  young  man's 
petition  to  him :  a  certain  person  came  in  haste,  "  running'"  as 
being  eager  for  satisfaction,  to  entreat  his  directions,  what  he  should 
do  to  inherit  everlasting  life  ;  the  person  is  described  only  in  general 
(ver.  17),  "There  came  one,"  a  certain  man:  but  Luke  describes 
him  by  his  dignity  (Luke  xviii.  18),  "  A  certain  ruler ;"  one  of  au- 
thority among  the  Jews.  He  desires  of  him  an  answer  to  a  legal 
question,  "What  he  should  do?"  or,  as  Matthew  hath  it,  "What 
good  thing  shall  I  do,  that  I  may  have  eternal  life"  (Matt.  xix.  16)  ? 
He  imagined  everlasting  felicity  was  to  be  purcliased  by  the  works 
of  the  law ;  he  had  not  the  least  sentiments  of  faith :  Christ's  answer 
implies,  there  was  no  hopes  of  the  happiness  of  another  world  by 
the  works  of  the  law,  unless  they  were  perfect,  and  answerable  to 
every  divine  precept.  He  doth  not  seem  to  have  any  ill,  or  hypo- 
critical intent  in  his  address  to  Christ;  not  to  tempt  him,  but 
to  be  instructed  by  him.  He  seems  to  come  with  an  ardent  desire, 
to  be  satisfied  in  his  demand ;  he  performed  a  solemn  act  of  respect 
to  him,  he  kneeled  to  him,  yotvieTi'irfcc;^  prostrated  himself  upon  the 
ground;  besides,  Clirist  is  said  (ver.  21)  to  love  him,  which  had  been 
inconsistent  with  the  knowledge  Christ  had  of  the  hearts  and 
thoughts  of  men,  and  the  abhorrence  he  had  of  hypocrites,  had  he 
been  only  a  counterfeit  in  this  question.  But  the  first  reply  Christ 
makes  to  him,  respects  the  title  of  "  Good  Master,"  which  this  ruler 
gave  him  in  his  salutation. 

1st,  Some  think,  that  Christ  hereby  would  draw  him  to  an  ac- 
knowledgment of  him  as  God  ;  you  acknowledge  me  "  good  ;"  how 
come  you  to  salute  me  with  so  great  a  title,  since  you  do  not  afford 
it  to  your  greatest  doctors  ?  Lightfoot,  in  loc.  observes,  that  the  title 
of  Rabhi  hone  is  not  in  all  the  Talmud.  You  must  own  me  to  be 
God,  since  you  own  me  to  be  "good:"  goodness  being  a  title  only 
due,  and  properly  belonging,  to  the  Supreme  Being.  If  you  take 
me  for  a  common  man,  with  what  conscience  can  you  salute  me  in 
a  manner  proper  to  God  ?  since  no  man  is  "good,"  no,  not  one,  but 
the  heart  of  man  is  evil  continually.  The  Arians  used  this  place, 
to  back  their  denying  the  Deity  of  Christ :  because,  say  they,  he 
did  not  acknowledge  himself  "  good,"  tlierefore  he  did  not  acknow- 
ledge himself  God.     But  he  doth  not  here  deny  his  Deity,  but  re- 

VOL.    II.  — 14 


210  CHARNOCK  ON   THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

proves  him  for  calling  him  good,  when  he  had  not  yet  confessed 
him  to  be  more  than  a  man.^  You  behold  my  flesh,  but  you  con- 
sider not  the  fulness  of  my  Deity;  if  you  account  me  "good,"  ac- 
count me  God,  and  imagine  me  not  to  be  a  simple  and  a  mere  man,' 
He  disowns  not  his  own.  Deity,  but  allures  the  young  man  to  a 
confession  of  it.  Why  callest  thou  me  good,  since  thou  dost  not 
discover  any  apprehensions  of  my  being  more  than  a  man  ?  Though 
thou  comest  with  a  greater  esteem  to  me  than  is  commonly  en- 
tertained of  the  doctors  of  the  chair,  why  dost  thou  own  me  to  be 
"  good,"  unless  thou  own  me  to  be  God  ?  If  Christ  had  denied 
'himself  in  this  speech  to  be  "good,"  he  had  rather  entertained  this 
person  with  a  frown  and  a  sharp  reproof  for  giving  him  a  title 
due  to  God  alone,  than  have  received  him  with  that  courtesy 
and  complaisance  as  he  did."*  Had  he  said,  there  is  none  "good" 
but  the  Father,  he  had  excluded  himself;  but  in  saying,  there  is 
none  "  good*^  but  God,  he  comprehends  himself. 

2d.  Others  say,  that  Christ  had  no  intention  to  draw  him  to  an 
acknowledgment  of  his  Deity,  but  only  asserts  his  divine  authority 
or  mission  from  God.  For  which  interpretation  Maldonat  calls  Cal- 
vin an  Arianizer.n  He  doth  not  here  assert  the  essence  of  his  Deity, 
but  the  authority  of  his  doctrine ;  as  if  he  should  have  said,  You  do 
without  ground  give  me  the  title  of  "  good,"  unless  you  believe  I 
have  a  Divine  commission  for  what  I  declare  and  act.  Many  do  think 
me  an  impostor,  an  enemy  of  God,  and  a  friend  to  devils ;  you  must 
firmly  believe  that  I  am  not  so,  as  your  rulers  report  me,  but  that  I 
am  sent  of  God,  and  authorized  by  him ;  you  cannot  else  give  me  the 
title  of  good,  but  of  wicked.  And  the  reason  they  give  for  this  in- 
terpretation, is,  because  it  is  a  question,  whether  any  of  the  apostles 
understood  him,  at  this  time,  to  be  God,  which  seems  to  have  no 
great  strength  in  it ;  since  not  only  the  devil  had  publicly  owned 
him  to  be  the  "  Holy  One  of  God"  (Luke  iv.  34),  but  John  the  Bap- 
tist had  borne  record,  that  he  was  the  "  Son  of  God"  (John  i.  82,  34) ; 
and  before  this  time  Peter  had  confessed  him  openly,  in  the  hearing 
of  the  rest  of  the  disciples,  that  he  was  "  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  the 
living  God"  (Matt.  xvi.  16).  But  I  think  Par?eus'  interpretation  is 
best,  which  takes  in  both  those ;  either  you  are  serious  or  deceitful  in 
this  address;  if  you  are  serious,  why  do  you  call  me  "good,"  and 
make  bold  to  fix  so  great  a  title  upon  one  you  have  no  higher  thoughts 
of  than  a  mere  man?  Christ  takes  occasion  from  hence,  to  assert  God 
to  be  only  and  sovereignly  "  good :"  "  There  is  none  good  but  God."o 
God  only  hath  the  honor  of  absolute  goodness,  and  none  but  God 
merits  the  name  of  "  good."  A  heathen  could  say  much  after  the 
same  manner ;  All  other  things  are  far  from  the  nature  of  good ;  call 
none  else  good  but  God,  for  this  would  be  a  profane  error :  other 
things  are  only  good  in  opinion,  but  have  not  the  true  substance  of 
goodness:  he  is  "good"  in  a  more  excellent  way  than  any  creature 
can  be  denominated  "  good."? 

1,  God  is  only  originally  good,  good  of  himself.  All  created 
goodness  is  a  rivulet  from  this  fountain,  but  Divine  goodness  hath 

^  Erasm.  in  loc.         '  Augustia.         ■"  Hensius  in  Matt.         °  Calvin  in  loc. 
•  Trismegist.  Pcemoeud.  cap.  2.  P  Eugubin.  de  Peron.  Philos.  lib.  v.  cap.  9. 


ON  THE   GOODNESS   OF  GOD.  211 

no  spring ;  God  depends  upon  no  other  for  his  goodness ;  he  hath  it 
in,  and  of,  himself:  man  hath  no  goodness  from  himself,  God  hath  no 
goodness  from  without  himself:  his  goodness  is  no  more  derived  from 
another  than  his  being :  if  we  were  good  bj  any  external  thing,  that 
thing  must  be  in  being  before  him,  or  after  him  ;  if  before  him,  he 
was  not  then  himself  from  eternity ;  if  after  him,  he  was  not  good 
in  himself  from  eternity.  The  end  of  his  creating  things,  then,  was 
not  to  confer  a  goodness  upon  his  creatures,  but  to  partake  of  a  good- 
ness from  his  creatures.  God  is  good  by  and  in  himself,  since  all 
things  are  only  good  by  him;  and  all  that  goodness  which  is  in 
creatures,  is  but  the  breathing  of  his  own  goodness  upon  them  :  they 
have  all  their  loveliness  from  the  same  hand  they  have  their  being 
from.  Though  by  creation  God  was  declared  good,  yet  he  was  not 
made  good  by  any,  or  by  all  the  creatures.  He  partakes  of  none, 
but  all  things  partake  of  him.  He  is  so  good,  that  he  gives  all,  and 
receives  nothing ;  only  good,  because  nothing  is  good  but  by  him : 
nothing  hath  a  goodness  but  from  him, 

2.  God  only  is  infinitely  good.  A  boundless  goodness  that  knows 
no  limits,  a  goodness  as  infinite  as  his  essence,  not  only  good,  but 
best ;  not  only  good,  but  goodness  itself,  the  supreme  inconceivable 
goodness.  All  things  else  are  but  little  particles  of  God,  small  sparks 
from  this  immense  flame,  sips  of  goodness  to  this  fountain.  Nothing 
that  is  good  by  his  influence  can  equal  him  who  is  good  by  himself: 
derived  goodness  can  never  equal  primitive  goodness.  Divine  good- 
ness communicates  itself  to  a  vast  number  of  creatures  in  various 
degrees  ;  to  angels,  glorified  spirits,  men  on  earth,  to  every  creature ; 
and  when  it  hath  communicated  all  that  the  present  world  is  capable 
of,  there  is  still  less  displayed,  than  left  to  enrich  another  world.  All 
possible  creatures  are  not  capable  of  exhausting  the  wealth,  the 
treasures,  that  Divine  bounty  is  filled  with. 

3.  God  is  only  perfectly  good,  because  only  infinitely  good.  He 
is  good  without  indigence,  because  he  hath  the  whole  nature  of  good- 
ness, not  only  some  beams  that  may  admit  of  increase  of  degree. 
As  in  him  is  the  whole  nature  of  entity,  so  in  him  is  the  whole  na- 
ture of  excellency.  As  nothing  hath  an  absolute  perfect  being  but 
God,  so  nothing  hath  an  absolutely  perfect  goodness  but  God ;  as  the 
sun  hath  a  perfection  of  heat  in  it,  but  what  is  warmed  by  the  sun 
is  but  imperfectly  hot,  and  equals  not  the  sun  in  that  perfection  of 
heat  wherewith  it  is  naturally  endued.  The  goodness  of  God  is  the 
measure  and  rule  of  goodness  in  everything  else. 

4.  God  only  is  immutably  good.  Other  things  may  be  perpetually 
good  by  supernatural  power,  but  not  immutably  good  in  their  own 
nature.  Other  things  are  not  so  good,  but  they  may  be  bad ;  God 
is  so  good,  that  he  cannot  be  bad.  It  was  the  speech  of  a  philoso- 
pher, that  it  was  a  hard  thing  to  find  a  good  man,  yea,  impossible  ; 
but  though  it  were  possible  to  find  a  good  man,  he  would  be  good 
but  for  some  moment,  or  a  short  time  :  for  though  he  should  be  good 
at  this  instant,  it  was  above  the  nature  of  man  to  continue  in  a  habit 
of  goodness,  without  going  awry  and  warping,  q  But  "the  goodness 
of  God  endureth  forever"  (Ps.  lii.  1).     God  always  ghtters  in  good- 

1  Eugubiu.  de  Peron.  Philos.  lib.  v.  cap.  9.  p.  97.  col. 


212  CHAKNOCK  ON   THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

ness,  as  the  sun,  which  the  heathens  called  the  visible  image  of  the 
Divinity,  doth  with  light.  There  is  not  such  a  perpetual  light  in  the 
sun  as  there  is  a  fulness  of  goodness  in  God;  "no  variableness"  in 
him,  as  he  is  the  "Father  of  Lights"  (James  i.  17). 

Before  I  come  to  the  doctrine,  that  is,  the  chief  scope  of  the  words, 
some  remarks  may  be  made  upon  the  young  man's  question  and  car- 
riage :  "  What  must  I  do  to  inherit  eternal  life  ?" 

1.  The  opinion  of  gaining  eternal  life  by  the  outward  observation 
of  the  law,  will  appear  very  unsatisfactory  to  an  inquisitive  con- 
science. This  ruler  affirmed,  and  certainly  did  confidently  believe, 
that  he  had  fulfilled  the  law  (ver.  20):  "All  this  have  I  observed 
from  my  youth ;"  yet  he  had  not  any  full  satisfaction  in  his  own 
conscience ;  his  heart  misgave,  and  started  upon  some  sentiments  in 
him,  that  something  else  was  required,  and  what  he  had  done  might 
be  too  weak,  too  short  to  shoot  heaven's  lock  for  him.  And  to  that 
purpose  he  comes  to  Christ,  to  receive  instructions  for  the  piecing  up 
whatsoever  was  defective.  "Whosoever  will  consider  the  nature  of 
God,  and  the  relation  of  a  creature,  cannot  with  reason  think,  that 
eternal  life  was  of  itself  due  from  God  as  a  recompense  to  Adam, 
had  he  persisted  in  a  state  of  innocence.  Who  can  think  so  great  a 
reward  due,  for  having  performed  that  which  a  creature  in  that  rela- 
tion was  obliged  to  do  ?  Can  any  man  think  another  obliged  to  con- 
vey an  inheritance  of  a  thousand  pounds  per  annum  upon  his  payment 
of  a  few  farthings,  unless  any  compact  appears  to  support  such  a 
conceit  ?  And  if  it  were  not  to  be  expected  in  the  integrity  of  na- 
ture, but  only  from  the  goodness  of  God,  how  can  it  be  expected 
since  the  revolt  of  man,  and  the  universal  deluge  of  natural  corrup- 
tion ?  God  owes  nothing  to  the  holiest  creature ;  what  he  gives  is  a 
present  from  his  bounty,  not  the  reward  of  the  creature's  merit.  And 
the  apostle  defies  all  creatures,  from  the  greatest  to  the  least,  from 
the  tallest  angel  to  the  lowest  shrub,  to  bring  out  any  one  creature 
that  hath  first  given  to  God  (Eom.  xi.  35);  "  Who  hath  first  given 
to  him,  and  it  shall  be  recompensed  to  him  again?"  The  duty  of  the 
creature,  and  God's  gift  of  eternal  life,  is  not  a  bargain  and  sale.  God 
gives  to  the  creature,  he  doth  not  properly  repay ;  for  he  that  repays 
hath  received  something  of  an  equal  value  and  worth  before.  When 
God  crowns  angels  and  men,  he  bestows  upon  them  purely  what  is  his 
own,  not  what  is  theirs  by  merit  and  and  natural  obligation :  though 
indeed,  what  God  gives  by  virtue  of  a  promise  made  before,  is,  upon 
the  performance  of  the  condition,  due  by  gracious  obligation.  God 
was  not  indebted  to  man  in  innocence,  but  every  man's  conscience 
may  now  mind  him  that  he  is  not  upon  the  same  level  as  in  the  state 
of  integrity ;  and  that  he  cannot  expect  anything  from  God,  as  the 
salary  of  his  merit,  but  the  free  gilt  of  Divine  liberality.  Man  is 
obliged  to  the  practice  of  what  is  good,  both  from  the  excellency  of 
the  Divine  precepts,  and  the  duty  he  owes  to  God;  and  cannot, 
without  some  declaration  from  God,  hope  for  any  other  reward,  than 
the  satisfaction  of  having  well  acquitted  himself  ■■ 

2.  It  is  the  disease  of  human  nature,  since  its  corruption,  to  hope 
for  eternal  life  by  the  tenor  of  the  covenant  of  works.     Though  this 

'  Amyraiit,  Morale. 


ON  THE   GOODNESS   OF   GOD.  213 

ruler's  conscience  was  not  thoroughly  satisfied  with  what  he  had 
done,  but  imagined  he  might,  for  all  that,  fall  short  of  eternal  life, 
yet  he  still  hugs  the  imagination  of  obtaining  it  by  doing  (ver.  17); 
"  What  shall  I  do,  that  I  may  inherit  eternal  life  ?"  This  is  natural 
to  corru23ted  man.  Cain  thought  to  be  accepted  for  the  sake  of  his 
sacrifice ;  and,  when  he  found  his  mistake,  he  was  so  weary  of  seek- 
ing happiness  by  doing,  that  he  would  court  misery  by  murdering. 
All  men  set  too  high  a  value  upon  their  own  services.  Sinful  crea 
tures  would  fain  make  God  a  debtor  to  them,  and  be  purchasers  of 
felicity :  they  would  not  have  it  conveyed  to  them  by  God's  sover- 
eign bounty,  but  by  an  obligation  of  justice  upon  the  value  of  their 
Avorks.  The  heathens  thought  God  would  treat  men  according  to 
the  merit  of  their  services ;  and  it  is  no  wonder  they  should  have 
this  sentiment,  when  the  Jews,  educated  by  God  in  a  wiser  school, 
were  wedded  to  that  notion.  The  Pharisees  were  highly  fond  of  it : 
it  was  the  only  argument  they  used  in  prayer  for  Divine  blessing. 
You  have  one  of  them  boasting  of  his  frequency  in  fasting,  and  his 
exactness  in  paying  his  tithes  (Luke  xix.  12) ;  as  if  God  had  been 
beholden  to  hirn,  and  could  not,  without  manifest  wrong,  deny  him 
his  demand.  And  Paul  confesseth  it  to  be  his  own  sentiment  before 
his  conversion ;  he  accounted  this  "  rigliteousness  of  the  law  gain  to 
him"  (Phil.  iii.  7) ;  he  thought,  by  this,  to  make  his  market  with 
God.  The  whole  nation  of  the  Jews  affected  it, ^  compassing  sea  and 
land  to  make  out  a  righteousness  of  their  own,  as  the  Pharisees  did 
to  make  proselytes.  The  Papists  follow  their  steps,  and  dispute  for 
justification  by  the  merit  of  works,  and  find  out  another  key  of 
works  of  supererogation,  to  unlock  heaven's  gate,  than  whatever  the 
Scripture  informed  us  of  It  is  from  hence,  also,  that  men  are  so 
ready  to  make  faith,  as  a  work,  the  cause  of  our  justification.  Man 
foolishly  thinks  he  hath  enough  to  set  up  himself  after  he  hath 
proved  bankrupt,  and  lost  all  his  estate.  This  imagination  is  born 
with  us,  and  the  best  Christians  may  find  some  sparks  of  it  in  them- 
selves, when  there  are  springings  up  of  joy  in  their  hearts,  upon  the 
more  close  performance  of  one  duty  than  of  another  ;  as  if  they  had 
wiped  off  their  scores,  and  given  God  a  satisfaction  for  their  former 
neglects.  "  We  have  forsaken  all,  and  followed  thee,"  was  the  boast 
of  his  disciples  :  "  What  shall  we  have,  therefore  ?"  was  a  branch  of 
this  root  (Matt.  xix.  27).  Eternal  life  is  a  gift,  not  by  any  obliga- 
tion of  right,  but  an  abundance  of  goodness  ;  it  is  owing,  not  to  the 
dignity  of  our  works,  but  the  magnificent  bounty  of  the  Divine  na- 
ture, and  must  be  sued  for  by  the  title  of  God's  promise,  not  by  the 
title  of  the  creature's  services.     We  may  observe, 

3.  How  insufficient  are  some  assents  to  Divine  truth,  and  some  ex- 
pressions of  affection  to  Christ,  without  the  practice  of  christian  pre- 
cepts. This  man  addressed  Christ  with  a  profound  respect,  acknow- 
ledging him  more  than  an  ordinary  person,  with  a  more  reverential 
carriage  than  we  read  any  of  his  disciples  paid  to  him  in  the  days  of 
his  finish ;  he  fell  down  at  his  feet,  kissed  his  knees,  as  the  custom 
was,  when  they  would  testify  the  gi'eat  respect  they  had  to  any  emi- 
nent person,  especially  to  their  rabbins.     All  this  some  think  to  be 

'  Rom,  X.  3.  "  Goiii";  about  to  establish  their  own  rifrhteousness." 


214  CHAENOCK  ON  THE  ATTEIBUTES. 

included  in  the  word  yofvnBTi^attg.t  He  seems  to  acknowledge  him 
the  Messiah  by  giving  him  the  title  of  "  Good,"  a  title  they  did  not 
give  to  their  doctors  of  the  chair;  he  breathes  out  his  opinion,  that 
he  was  able  to  instruct  him  beyond  the  ability  of  the  law  ;  he  came 
with  a  more  than  ordinary  affection  to  him,  and  expectation  of  ad- 
vantage from  him,  evident  by  his  departing  sad,  when  his  expecta- 
tions were  frustrated  by  his  own  perversity  ;  it  was  a  sign  he  had  a 
high  esteem  of  him  from  whom  he  could  not  part  without  marks  of 
his  grief  What  was  the  cause  of  his  refusing  the  instructions  he  pre- 
tended such  an  affection  to  receive?  He  had  possessions  in  the  world. 
How  soon  do  a  few  drops  of  worldly  advantages  quench  the  first  sparks 
of  an  ill-grounded  love  to  Christ !  How  vain  is  a  complimental  and 
cringing  devotion,  without  a  supreme  preference  of  God,  and  valuation 
of  Christ  above  every  outward  allurement.     We  may  observe  this, 

4.  We  should  never  admit  anything  to  be  ascribed  to  us,  which  is 
proper  to  God.  "  Why  callest  thou  me  good  ?  There  is  none  good 
but  one,  that  is,  God,"  If  you  do  not  acknowledge  me  God,  ascribe 
not  to  me  the  title  of  Good.  It  takes  off  all  those  titles  which  fawn- 
ing flatterers  give  to  men,  "  mighty,"  "  invincible"  to  princes,  "holi- 
ness" to  the  pope.  We  call  one  another  good,  without  considering 
how  evil ;  and  wise,  without  considering  how  foolish ;  mighty,  with- 
out considering  how  weak,  and  knowing,  without  considering  how 
ignorant.  No  man,  but  hath  more  of  wickedness  than  goodness ; 
of  ignorance  than  knowledge  ;  of  weakness  than  strength.  God  is 
a  jealous  God  of  his  own  honor ;  he  will  not  have  the  creature  share 
with  him  in  his  royal  titles.  It  is  a  part  of  idolatary  to  give  men 
the  titles  which  are  due  to  God ;  a  kind  of  a  worship  of  the  creature 
together  with  the  Creator.  Worms  will  not  stand  out,  but  assault 
Herod  in  his  purple,  when  he  usurps  the  prerogative  of  God,  and 
prove  stiff  and  invincible  vindicators  of  their  Creator's  honor,  Avhen 
summoned  to  arms  by  the  Creator's  word  (Acts  xii.  22,  23). 

Doctrine.  The  observation  which  I  intend  to  prosecute,  is  this : — 
Pure  and  perfect  goodness  is  only  the  royal  prerogative  of  God ; 
goodness  is  a  choice  perfection  of  the  Divine  nature.  This  is  the 
true  and  genuine  character  of  God ;  he  is  good,  he  is  goodness,  good 
in  himself^  good  in  his  essence,  good  in  the  highest  degree,  possessing 
whatsoever  is  comely,  excellent,  desirable ;  the  highest  good,  because 
first  good :  whatsoever  is  perfect  goodness,  is  God ;  whatsoever  is 
truly  goodness  in  any  creature,  is  a  resemblance  of  God."  All  the 
names  of  God  are  comprehended  in  this  one  of  good.  All  gifts,  all 
variety  of  goodness,  are  contained  in  him  as  one  common  good.  He 
is  the  efficient  cause  of  all  good,  by  an  overflowing  goodness  of  his 
nature ;  he  refers  all  things  to  himself,  as  the  end,  for  the  represen- 
tation of  his  own  goodness;  "Truly  God  is  good"  (Ps.  Ixxiii.  1). 
Certainly,  it  is  an  undoubted  truth  ;  it  is  written  in  his  works  of  na- 
ture, and  his  acts  of  grace  (Exod.  xxxiv.  6).  "  He  is  abundant  in 
goodness."  And  every  thing  is  a  memorial,  not  of  some  fevr  sparks, 
but  of  his  greater  goodness  (Ps.  cxlv.  7).  This  is  often  celebrated  in 
the  Psalms,  and  men  invited  more  than  once,  to  sing  forth  the 
praises  of  it  (Ps.  cvii.  8,  15,  21,  31).     It  may  better  be  admired  than 

-'  Ver.   17.      Lightfoot  in  loc.         "  Fieia.  in  Dionys.  de  Divin.  Nom.  cap.  511. 


ON  THE   GOODNESS   OF   GOD.  215 

sufficiently  spoken  of,  or  thougbt  of,  as  it  merits.  It  is  discovered 
in  all  his  works,  as  the  goodness  of  a  tree  in  all  its  fruits ;  it  is  easy 
to  be  seen,  and  more  pleasant  to  be  contemplated.     In  general, 

1.  All  nations  in  the  world  have  acknowledged  God  good ;  Vo 
'jyudov  was  one  of  the  names  the  Platonists  expressed  him  by; 
and  good  and  God,  are  almost  the  same  words  in  our  language.  All 
as  readily  consented  in  the  notion  of  his  goodness,  as  in  that  of  his 
Deity.  Whatsoever  divisions  or  disputes  there  were  among  them  in 
the  other  perfections  of  God,  they  all  agreed  in  this  without  dispute, 
saith  Synesius.  One  calls  him  Venus,  in  regard  of  his  loveliness.^ 
Another  calls  him  "Equitu  love,  as  being  the  band  which  ties  all  things 
together.y  No  perfection  of  the  Divine  nature  is  more  eminently, 
nor  more  speedily  visible  in  the  whole  book  of  the  creation,  than  this. 
His  greatness  shines  not  in  any  part  of  it,  where  his  goodness  doth 
not  as  gloriously  glister :  whatsoever  is  the  instrument  of  his  work, 
as  his  power ;  whatsoever  is  the  orderer  of  his  work,  as  his  wisdom ; 
yet  nothing  can  be  adored  as  the  motive  of  his  work,  but  the  good- 
ness of  his  nature.  This  only  could  induce  him  to  resolve  to  create : 
his  wisdom  then  steps  in,  to  dispose  the  methods  of  what  he  resolved ; 
and  his  power  follows  to  execute,  what  his  wisdom  hath  disposed, 
and  his  goodness  designed.  His  power  in  making,  and  his  wis- 
dom in  ordering,  are  subservient  to  his  goodness ;  and  this  good- 
ness, which  is  the  end  of  the  creation,  is  as  visible  to  the  eyes  of  men, 
as  legible  to  the  understanding  of  men,  as  his  power  in  forming 
them,  and  his  wisdom  in  tuning  them.  And  as  the  book  of  creation, 
so  the  records  of  his  government  must  needs  acquaint  them  with  a 
great  part  of  it,  when  they  have  often  beheld  him,  stretching  out  his 
hand,  to  suj^ply  the  indigent,  relieve  the  oppressed,  and  punish  the 
oppressors,  and  give  them,  in  their  distresses,  what  might  "  fill  their 
hearts  with  food  and  gladness."  It  is  this  the  apostle  (Rom.  i.  20, 
21,)  means  by  his  Godhead,  which  he  links  with  his  eternity  and 
power,  as  clearly  seen  in  the  things  that  are  made,  as  in  a  pure  glass, 
"  For  the  invisible  things  of  him  from  the  creation  of  the  world,  are 
clearly  seen,  being  understood  by  the  things  that  are  made,  even  his 
eternal  power  and  Godhead."  The  Godhead  which  comprehends  the 
whole  nature  of  God  as  discoverable  to  his  creatures,  was  not  known, 
yea,  was  impossible  to  be  known,  by  the  works  of  creation.  There  had 
been  nothing  then  reserved  to  be  manifested  in  Christ :  but  his  good- 
ness, which  is  properly  meant  there  by  his  Godhead,  was  as  clearly 
visible  as  his  power.  The  apostle  upbraids  them  with  their  unthank- 
fulness,  and  argues  their  inexcusableness,  because  the  arm  of  his 
power  in  creation  made  no  due  impression  of  fear  ujjon  their  spirits, 
nor  the  beams  of  his  goodness  wrought  in  them  sufficient  sentiments 
of  gratitude.  Their  not  glorifying  God,  was  a  contempt  of  the  for- 
mer ;  and  their  not  being  thankful,  was  a  slight  of  the  latter.  God 
is  the  object  of  honor,  as  he  is  powerful,  and  the  object  of  thankful- 
ness properly  as  he  is  bountiful.  All  the  idolary  of  the  heathens, 
is  a  clear  testimony  of  their  common  sentiment  of  the  goodness  of 
God:  since  the  more  eminently  useful  any  person  was  in  some  ad- 
vantageous invention  for  the  benefit  of  mankind,  they  thought  he 

» Eiiipedoeles.  r  Hesiod. 


216  CHARNOCK  ON  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

merited  a  rank  in  the  number  of  their  deities.  The  ItaUans  esteemed 
Pithagoras  a  god,  because  he  was  finhttdijuj.-ioiuiog-.^  to  be  good  and 
useful,  was  an  approximation  to  the  Divine  nature.  Hence  it  was, 
that  when  the  Lystrians  saw  a  resemblance  of  the  Divine  goodness 
in  the  charitable  and  miraculous  cure  of  one  of  their  crippled  citi- 
zens, presently  they  mistook  Paul  and  Barnabas  for  gods,  and  in- 
ferred from  thence  their  right  to  divine  worship,  inquiring  into  noth- 
ing else  but  the  visible  character  of  their  goodness  and  usefulness, 
to  capacitate  them  for  the  honor  of  a  sacrifice  (Acts  xiv.  8-11). 
Hence  it  was,  that  they  adored  those  creatures  that  were  a  common 
benefit,  as  the  sun  and  moon,  which  must  be  founded  upon  a  pre- 
existent  notion,  not  only  of  a  Being,  but  of  the  bounty  and  good- 
ness of  God,  which  was  naturally  implanted  in  them,  and  legible  in 
all  God's  works.  And  the  more  beneficial  anything  was  to  them, 
and  the  more  sensible  advantages  they  received  from  it,  the  higher 
station  they  gave  it  in  the  rank  of  their  idols,  and  bestowed  upon  it 
a  more  solemn  worship  :  an  absurd  mistake  to  think  everything  that 
was  sensibly  good  to  them,  to  be  God,  clothing  himself  in  such  a 
form  to  be  adored  by  them.  And  upon  this  account  the  Egyptians 
worshipped  God  under  the  figure  of  an  ox ;  and  the  East  Indians, 
in  some  parts  of  their  country,  deify  a  heifer,  intimating  the  good- 
ness of  God,  as  their  nourisher  and  preserver,  in  giving  them  corn, 
whereof  the  ox  is  an  instrument  in  serving  for  ploughing,  and  pre- 
paring the  ground. 

2.  The  notion  of  goodness  is  inseparable  from  the  notion  of  a 
God.  We  cannot  own  the  existence  of  God,  but  we  must  confess 
also  the  goodness  of  his  nature.  Hence,  the  apostle  gives  to  his 
goodness  the  title  of  his  Godhead,  as  if  goodness  and  godhead  were 
convertible  terms  (Rom.  i.  20).  As  it  is  indissolubly  linked  with  the 
being  of  a  Deity,  so  it  cannot  be  severed  from  the  notion  of  it :  we 
as  soon  undeify  him  by  denying  him  good,  as  by  denying  him  great : 
Optimus,  Maximus,  the  best,  greatest,  was  the  name  whereby  the  Ro- 
mans entitled  Him.  His  nature  is  as  good,  as  it  is  majestic ;  so  doth 
the  Psalmist  join  them  (Ps.  cxlv.  6,  7),  "I  will  declare  my  great- 
ness ;  they  shall  abundantly  utter  the  memory  of  thy  great  good- 
ness." They  considered  his  goodness  before  his  greatness,  in  putting 
Optimus  before  Maximus  ;  greatness  without  sweetness,  is  an  unruly 
and  aflrighting  monster  in  the  world  ;  like  a  vast  turbulent  sea,  al- 
ways casting  out  mire  and  dirt.  Goodness  is  the  brightness  and  love- 
liness of  our  majestical  Creator.  To  fancy  a  God  Avithout  it,  is  to 
fancy  a  miserable,  scanty,  narrow-hearted,  savage  God,  and  so  an 
unlovely,  and  horrible  being :  for  he  is  not  a  God  that  is  not  good ; 
he  is  not  a  God  that  is  not  the  highest  good :  infinite  goodness  is 
niore  necessary  to,  and  more  straitly  joined  with  an  infinite  Deity, 
llian  infinite  power  and  infinite  wisdom :  we  cannot  conceive  him 
God,  unless  we  conceive  him  the  highest  good,  having  nothing  supe- 
rior to  himself  in  goodness,  as  he  hath  nothing  superior  to  himself 
in  excellency  and  perfection.  No  man  can  possibly  form  a  notion 
of  God  in  his  mind,  and  yet  form  a  notion  of  something  better  than 
God ;  for  whoever  thinks  anything  better  than  God,  fancieth  a  God 

»  Iii!nl)lych.  Vit.  Pytbag.  lib.  i.  col.  6.  p.  43. 


ON  THE   GOODNESS  OF  GOD.  217 

witb.  some  defect :  by  how  mucli  the  better  he  thinks  that  thing  to 
be,  by  so  much  the  more  imperfect  he  makes  God  in  his  thoughts. 
This  notion  of  the  goodness  of  God  was  so  natural,  that  some  philo- 
sophers and  others,  being  startled  at  the  evil  they  saw  in  the  world, 
fancied,  besides  a  good  God,  an  evil  principle,  the  author  of  all  pun- 
ishments in  the  world.  This  was  ridiculous ;  for  those  two  must  be 
of  equal  power,  or  one  inferior  to  the  other  ;  if  equal,  the  good  could 
do  nothing,  but  the  evil  one  would  restrain  him  ;  and  the  evil  one 
could  do  nothing,  but  the  good  one  would  contradict  him  ;  so  they 
would  be  always  contending,  and  never  conquering :  if  one  were  in- 
ferior to  the  other,  then  there  would  be  nothing  but  what  that  superior 
ordered.  Good,  if  the  good  one  were  superior  ;  and  nothing  but  evil, 
if  the  bad  one  were  superior.     In  the  prosecution  of  this,  let  us  see. 

I  What  this  goodness  is.  II.  Some  projiositions  concerning  the 
nature  of  it.  III.  That  God  is  good.  IV.  The  manifestation  of  it 
in  creation,  providence,  and  redemption.     V.  The  use. 

I.  What  this  goodness  is.  There  is  a  goodness  of  being,  which  is 
the  natural  perfection  of  a  thing  ;  there  is  the  goodness  of  will,  which 
is  the  holiness,  and  righteousness  of  a  person ;  there  is  the  good- 
ness of  the  hand,  which  we  call  liberality,  or  beneficence,  a  doing 
good  to  others. 

1.  We  mean  not  by  this,  the  goodness  of  his  essence,  or  the  per- 
fection of  his  nature.  God  is  thus  good,  because  his  nature  is  in- 
finitely perfect ;  he  hath  all  things  requisite  to  the  completing  of  a 
most  perfect  and  sovereign  Being.  All  good  meets  in  his  essence, 
as  all  water  meets  in  the  ocean.  Under  this  notion  all  the  attributes 
of  God,  which  are  requisite  to  so  illustrious  a  Being,  are  compre- 
hended. All  things  that  are,  have  a  goodness  of  being  in  them,  de- 
rived to  them  by  the  power  of  God,  as  they  are  creatures ;  so  the 
devil  is  good,  as  he  is  a  creature  of  God's  making :  he  hath  a  natu- 
ral goodness,  but  not  a  moral  goodness  :  when  he  fell  from  God,  he 
retained  his  natural  goodness  as  a  creature ;  because  he  did  not  cease 
to  be,  he  was  not  reduced  to  that  nothing,  from  whence  he  was 
drawn;  but  he  ceased  to  be  morally  good,  being  stripped  of  his 
righteousness  by  his  apostasy ;  as  a  creature,  he  was  God's  work  ;  as 
a  creature,  he  remains  still  God's  work ;  and,  therefore,  as  a  creature, 
remains  still  good,  in  regard  of  his  created  being.  The  more  of  be- 
ing anything  hath,  the  more  of  this  sort  of  natural  goodness  it  hath ; 
and  so  the  devil  hath  more  of  this  natural  goodness  than  men  have  ; 
because  he  hath  more  marks  of  the  excellency  of  God  upon  him,  in 
regard  of  the  greatness  of  his  knowledge,  and  the  extent  of  his 
power,  the  largeness  of  his  capacity,  and  the  acuteness  of  his  under- 
standing, which  are  natural  perfections  belonging  to  the  nature  of 
an  angel,  though  he  hath  lost  his  moral  perfections.  God  is  sove- 
reignly and  infinitely  good  in  this  sort  of  goodness.  He  is  unsearch- 
ably perfect  (Job  xi.  7) ;  nothing  is  wanting  to  his  essence,  that  is 
necessary  to  the  perfection  of  it ;  yet  this  is  not  that  which  the  Scrip- 
ture expresseth  Under  the  term  of  goodness,  but  a  perfection  of 
God's  nature  as  related  to  us,  and  which  he  poureth  forth  upon 
all  his  creatures,  as  goodness  which  flows  from  this  natural  per- 
fection of  the  Deity. 


218  •  CHARNOCK   ON  THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

2.  Nor  is  it  the  same  witli  the  blessedness  of  God,  but  something 
flowing  from  his  blessedness.  Were  he  not  first  infinitely  blessed, 
and  full  in  himself,  he  could  not  be  infinitely  good  and  difi'usive  to 
us ;  had  he  not  an  infinite  abundance  in  his  own  nature,  he  could 
not  be  overflowing  to  his  creatures ;  had  not  the  sun  a  fulness  of 
light  in  itseif,  and  the  .sea  a  vastness  of  water,  the  one  could 
not  enrich  the  world  with  its  beams,  nor  the  other  fill  every  creek 
with  its  waters. 

8.  Nor  is  it  the  same  with  the  holiness  of  God.  The  holiness  of 
God  is  the  rectitude  of  his  nature,  whereby  he  is  pure,  and  without 
spot  in  himself;  the  goodness  of  God  is  the  efiiux  of  his  will,  where- 
by he  is  beneficial  to  his  creatures  :  the  holiness  of  God  is  manifest 
in  his  rational  creatures;  but  the  goodness  of  God  extends  to  all  the 
works  of  his  hands.  His  holiness  beams  most  in  his  law ;  his  good- 
ness reacheth  to  everything  that  had  a  being  from  him  (Ps.  cxlv.  9) : 
"  The  Lord  is  good  to  alL"  And  though  he  be  said  in  the  same 
Psalm  (ver.  17)  to  be  "holy  in  all  his  works,"  it  is  to  be  understood 
of  his  bounty,  bountiful  in  all  his  works ;  the  Hebrew  word  signify- 
ing both  holy  and  liberal,  and  the  margin  of  the  Bible  reads  it 
"merciful'  or  "bountiful." 

•1.  Nor  is  this  goodness  of  God  the  same  with  the  mercy  of  God. 
Goodness  extends  to  more  objects  than  mercy  ;  goodness  stretcheth 
itself  out  to  all  the  works  of  his  hands ;  mercy  extends  only  to  a 
miserable  object ;  for  it  is  joined  with  a  sentiment  of  pity,  occa- 
sioned by  the  calamity  of  another.  The  mercy  of  God  is  exer- 
cised about  those  that  merit  punishment ;  the  goodness  of  God  is 
exercised  upon  objects  that  have  not  merited  anything  contrary  to 
the  acts  of  his  bounty.  Creation  is  an  act  of  goodness,  not  of 
mercy ;  providence  in  governing  some  part  of  the  world,  is  an  act 
of  goodness,  not  of  mercy. '^  The  heavens,  saith  Austin,  need  the 
goodness  of  God  to  govern  them,  but  not  the  mercy  of  God  to  re- 
lieve them ;  the  earth  is  full  of  the  misery  of  man,  and  the  com- 
passions of  God ;  but  the  heavens  need  not  the  mercy  of  God  to 
pity  them,  because  they  are  not  miserable ;  though  they  need  the 
goodness  and  power  of  God  to  sustain  them  ;  because,  as  creatures, 
they  are  impotent  without  him.  God's  goodness  extends  to  the 
angels,  that  kept  their  standing,  and  to.  man  in  innocence,  who  in 
that  state  stood  not  in  need  of  mercy.  Goodness  and  mercy  are  dis- 
tinct, though  mercy  be  a  branch  of  goodness ;  there  may  be  a  mani- 
festation of  goodness,  though  none  of  mercy.  Some  think  Christ 
had  been  incarnate,  had  not  man  fallen  :  had  it  been  so,  there  had 
been  a  manifestation  of  goodness  to  our  nature,  but  not  of  mercy, 
because  sin  had  not  made  our  natures  miserable.  The  devils  are 
monuments  of  God's  creating  goodness,  but  not  of  his  pardoning 
compassions.  The  grace  of  God  respects  the  rational  creature ; 
mercy  the  miserable  creature ;  goodness  all  his  creatures,  brutes,  and 
the  senseless  plants,  as  well  as  reasonable  man. 

5.  By  goodness,  is  meant  the  bounty  of  God.  This  is  the  notion 
of  goodness  in  the  world ;  when  we  say  a  good  man,  we  mean  either 
a  holy  man  in  his  life,  or  a  charitable  and  liberal  man  in  the  man- 

»  Lombard  lib.  iv.  distinct.  4G.  p.  286. 


ON  THE   GOODNESS   OF   GOD.  219 

agemeut  of  his  goods.  A  rigliteous  man,  and  a  good  man,  are  dis- 
tinguished (Rom.  V.  7).  "For  scarcely  for  a  righteous  man  will  one 
die ;  yet  for  a  good  man  one  would  even  dare  to  die  ;"  for  an  inno- 
cent man,  one  as  innocent  of  the  crime  as  himself  would  scarce  ven- 
ture his  life  ;  but  for  a  good  man,  a  liberal,  tender-hearted  man,  that 
had  been  a  common  good  in  the  place  where  he  lived,  or  had  done 
another  as  great  a  benefit  as  life  itself  amounts  to,  a  man  out  of  grati- 
tude might  dare  to  die.  "  The  goodness  of  God  is  his  inclination  to 
deal  well  and  bountifully  with  his  creatures." ^  It  is  that  whereby 
he  wills  there  should  be  something  besides  himself  for  his  own  glory. 
God  is  good  himself,  and  to  himself,  i.  e.  highly  amiable  to  himself ; 
and,  therefore,  some  define  it  a  perfection  of  God,  whereby  he  loves 
himself  and  his  own  excellency  ;  but  as  it  stands  in  relation  to  his 
creatures,  it  is  that  perfection  of  God  whereby  he  delights  in  his 
works,  and  is  beneficial  to  them.  God  is  the  highest  goodness,  be- 
cause he  doth  not  act  for  his  own  profit,  but  for  his  creatures'  wel- 
fare, and  the  manifestation  of  his  own  goodness.  He  sends  out  his 
beams,  without  receiving  any  addition  to  himself,  or  substantial  ad- 
vantage from  his  creatures.  It  is  from  this  perfection  that  he  loves 
whatsoever  is  good,  and  that  is  whatsoever  he  hath  made,  "for  every 
creature  of  God  is  good"  (1  Tiin.  iv.  4) ;  every  creature  hath  some 
communications  from  him,  which  cannot  be  without  some  affection 
to  them  ;  every  creature  hath  a  footstep  of  Divine  goodness  upon  it ; 
God,  therefore,  loves  that  goodness  in  the  creature,  else  he  would  not 
love  himself.  God  hates  no  creature,  no,  not  the  devils  and  damned, 
as  creatures ;  he  is  not  an  enemy  to  them,  as  they  are  the  works  of 
his  hands  ;  he  is  properly  an  enemy,  that  doth  simply  and  absolutely 
wish  evil  to  another ;  but  God  doth  not  absolutely  wish  evil  to  the 
damned  ;  that  justice  that  he  inflicts  upon  them,  the  deserved  pun- 
ishment of  their  sin,  is  part  of  his  goodness,  as  shall  afterwards  be 
shown.c  This  is  the  most  pleasant  perfection  of  the  Divine  nature ; 
his  creating  power  amazes  us ;  his  conducting  wisdom  astonisheth 
us ;  his  goodness,  as  furnishing  us  with  all  conveniences,  delights  us ; 
and  renders  both  his  amazing  power,  and  astonishing  wisdom,  de- 
lightful to  us.  As  the  sun,  by  efi'ecting  things,  is  an  emblem  of 
God's  power ;  by  discovering  things  to  us,  is  an  emblem  of  his  wis- 
dom ;  but  by  refreshing  and  comforting  us,  is  an  emblem  of  his 
goodness  ;  and  without  this  refreshing  virtue  it  communicates  to  us, 
we  should  take  no  pleasure  in  the  creatures  it  produceth,  nor  in  the 
beauties  it  discovers.  As  God  is  great  and  powerful,  he  is  the  ob- 
ject of  our  understanding  ;  but  as  good  and  bountiful,  he  is  the  ob- 
ject of  our  love  and  desire. 

6.  The  goodness  of  God  comprehends  all  his  attributes.  All  the 
acts  of  God  are  nothing  else  but  the  effluxes  of  his  goodness,  distin- 
guished by  several  names,  according  to  the  objects  it  is  exercised 
about.  As  the  sea,  though  it  be  one  mass  of  water,  yet  we  distin- 
guish it  by  several  names,  according  to  the  shores  it  washeth,  and 
beats  upon ;  as  the  British  and  German  Ocean,  though  all  be  one 
sea.  When  Moses  longed,  to  see  his  glory,  God  tells  him,  he  would 
give  him  a  prospect  of  his  goodness  (Ex.  xxxiii.  19) :  "  I  will  make 

''  Coccei.  sum.  p.  50.  ^   Cajetaa  in  sccund.  secunda.  Qu.  34.  Ar.  3. 


220  CHARNOCK  ON   THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

all  my  goodness  to  pass  before  tliee."  His  goodness  is  his  glory  and 
Godhead,  as  much  as  is  delightfully  visible  to  his  creatures,  and 
whereby  he  doth  benefit  man :  *'  I  will  cause  my  goodness,"  or  "  come- 
liness," as  Calvin  renders  it,  "to  pass  before  thee  ;"  what  is  this,  but 
the  train  of  all  his  lovely  perfections  springing  from  his  goodness  ? 
the  whole  catalogue  of  mercy,  grace,  long-sufiering,  abundance  of 
truth,  summed  up  in  this  one  word  (Ex.  xxxiv.  6).  All  are  streams 
from  this  fountain  ;  he  could  be  none  of  this,  were  he  not  first  good. 
When  it  confers  happiness  without  merit,  it  is  grace ;  when  it  be- 
stows happiness  against  merit,  it  is  mercy ;  when  he  bears  with  pro- 
voking rebels,  it  is  long-suffering  ;  when  he  performs  his  promise,  it 
is  trath ;  when  it  meets  with  a  person  to  whom  it  is  not  obliged,  it 
is  grace ;  when  he  meets  with  a  person  in  the  world,  to  which  he 
hath  obliged  himself  by  promise,  it  is  truth  ;d  when  it  commiserates 
a  distressed  person,  it  is  pity  ;  when  it  supplies  an  indigent  person, 
it  is  bounty ;  when  it  succors  an  innocent  person,  it  is  righteousness ; 
and  when  it  pardons  a  penitent  person,  it  is  mercy  ;  all  summed  up 
in  this  one  name  of  goodness ;  and  the  Psalmist  expresseth  the  same 
sentiment  in  the  same  words  (Ps.  cxlv.  7,  8) :  "They  shall  abundantly 
utter  the  memory  of  thy  great  goodness,  and  shall  sing  of  thy  right- 
eousness. The  Lord  is  gracious  and  full  of  compassion,  slow  to  anger, 
and  of  great  mercy ;  the  Lord  is  good  to  all,  and  his  tender  mercies 
are  over  his  works."  He  is  first  good,  and  then  compasssionate. 
Eighteousness  is  often  in  Scripture  taken,  not  for  justice,  but  charita- 
bleness; this  attribute,  saith  one,e  is  so  full  of  God,  that  it  doth  deify 
all  the  rest,  and  verify  the  adorableness  of  him.  His  wisdom  might 
contrive  against  us,  his  power  bear  too  hard  upon  us  ;  one  might  be 
too  hard  for  an  ignorant,  and  the  other  too  mighty  for  an  impotent 
creature ;  his  holiness  would  scare  an  impure  and  guilty  creature, 
but  his  goodness  conducts  them  all  for  us,  and  makes  them  all  amia- 
ble to  us ;  whatever  comeliness  they  have  in  the  eye  of  a  creature, 
whatever  comfort  they  afford  to  the  heart  of  a  creature,  we  are  ob- 
liged for  all  to  his  goodness.  This  puts  all  the  rest  upon  a  delight- 
ful exercise ;  this  makes  his  wisdom  design  for  us,  and  this  makes 
his  power  to  act  for  us ;  this  veils  his  holiness  from  affrighting  us, 
and  this  spirits  his  mercy  to  relieve  us :  all  his  acts  towards  man, 
are  but  the  workmanship  of  this.^  What  moved  him  at  first  to  cre- 
ate the  world  out  of  nothing,  and  erect  so  noble  a  creature  as  man, 
endowed  with  such  excellent  gifts  ;  was  it  not  his  goodness  ?  what 
made  him  separate  his  Son  to  be  a  sacrifice  for  us,  after  we  had  en- 
deavored to  rase  out  the  first  marks  of  his  favor  ;  was  it  not  a  strong 
bubbling  of  goodness  ?  What  moves  him  to  reduce  a  fallen  crea- 
ture to  the  due  sense  of  his  duty,  and  at  last  bring  him  to  an  eter- 
nal felicity ;  is  it  not,  only  his  goodness  ?  This  is  the  captain  attri- 
bute that  leads  the  rest  to  act.  This  attends  them,  and  spirits  them 
in  all  his  ways  of  acting.  This  is  the  complement  and  perfection  of 
all  his  works ;  had  it  not  been  for  this,  which  set.  all  the  rest  on  work, 
nothing  of  his  wonders  had  been  seen  in  creation,  nothing  of  his 
compassions  had  been  seen  in  redemption. 

^   Herle  upon  Wisdom,  cap.  5.  ]ip.  41,  42.  «  Ingelo  Bentivolio,  and  Uran.  Book 

IV.  pp.  260,  261.  '   Daille,  Melang.  Part  II.  pp.  704,  705. 


ON   THE   GOODNESS   OF   GOD.  221 

II.  The  second  thing  is,  some  propositions  to  explain  the  nature 
of  this  goodness. 

1.  He  is  good  by  his  own  essence.  God  is  not  only  good  in  his 
essence,  but  good  by  his  essence  ;  the  essence  of  "  every  created 
being  is  good ;"  so  the  unerring  God  pronounced  everything  which 
he  had  made  (Gen.  i.  31).  The  essence  of  the  worst  creatures,  yea, 
of  the  impure  and  savage  devils,  is  good ;  but  they  are  not  good 
per  essentiam^  for  then  they  could  not  be  bad,  malicious,  and  oppres- 
sive. God  is  good,  as  he  is  God  ;  and  therefore  good  by  himself,  and 
from  himself,  not  by  participation  from  another ;  he  made  everything 
good,  but  none  made  him  good ;  since  his  goodness  was  not  received 
from  another,  he  is  good  by  his  own  nature.  He  could  not  receive 
it  from  the  things  he  created,  they  are  later  than  he  ;  since  they  re- 
ceived all  from  him,  they  could  bestow  nothing  on  him ;  and  no  God 
preceded  him,  in  whose  inheritance  and  treasures  of  goodness,  he 
cotild  be  a  successor ;  he  is  absolutely  his  own  goodness,  he  needed 
none  to  make  him  good ;  but  all  things  needed  him,  to  be  good 
by  him.  Creatures  are  good  by  being  made  so  by  him,  and  cleav- 
ing to  him ;  he  is  good  without  cleaving  to  any  goodness  without 
him.  Goodness  is  not  a  quality  in  him,  but  a  nature  ;  not  a  habit 
added  to  his  essence,  but  his  essence  itself;  he  is  not  first  God,  and 
then  afterwards  good ;  but  he  is  good  as  he  is  God ;  his  essence, 
being  one  and  the  same,  is  formally  and  equally  God  and  good.? 
\4vxuyudof^  "good  of  himself,"  was  one  of  the  names  the  Plato- 
nists  gave  him.  He  is  essentially  good  in  his  own  nature,  and  not 
by  any  outward  action  which  follows  his  essence.  He  is  an  inde- 
pendent Being,  and  hath  nothing  of  goodness  or  happiness  from  any- 
thing without  him,  or  anything  he  doth  act  about.  If  he  were  not 
good  by  his  essence,  he  could  not  be  eternally  good,  he  could  not  be 
the  first  good ;  he  would  have  something  before  him,  from  whence 
he  derived  that  goodness  wherewith  he  is  possessed  ;  nor  could  he 
be  perfectly  good,  for  he  could  not  be  equally  good  to  that  from 
whom  he  derived  his  goodness  ;  no  star,  no  splendid  body,  that  de- 
rives light  from  the  sun,  doth  equal  that  sun  by  which  it  is  enlight- 
ened. Hence  his  goodness  must  be  infinite,  and  circumscribed  by 
no  limits ;  the  exercise  of  his  goodness  may  be  limited  by  himself ; 
but  his  goodness,  the  principle,  cannot ;  for  since  his  essence  is  infi- 
nite, and  his  goodness  is  not  distinguished  from  his  essence,  it  is  in- 
finite also ;  if  it  were  limited,  it  were  finite ;  he  cannot  be  bounded 
by  anything  without  him ;  if  so,  then  he  were  not  God,  because  he 
would  have  something  superior  to  him,  to  put  bars  in  his  way ;  if 
there  were  anything  to  fix  him,  it  must  be  a  good  or  evil  being ; 
good  it  cannot  be,  for  it  is  the  property  of  goodness  to  encourage 
goodness,  not  to  bound  it ;  evil  it  cannot  be,  for  then  it  would  ex- 
tinguish goodness,  as  well  as  limit  it ;  it  would  not  be  content  with 
the  circumscribing  it,  without  destroying  it ;  for  it  is  the  nature  of 
every  contrary,  to  endeavor  the  destruction  of  its  opposite.  He  is 
essentially  good  by  his  own  essence;  .therefore,  good  of  himself; 
therefore,  eternally  good ;  and  therefore,  abundantly  good. 

2.  God  is  the  prime  and  chief  goodness.     Being  good  per  se,  and 

P  Fic-itii.  Epist.  lib.  xi.  cpist.  30. 


222  CHAENOCK  ON  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

by  his  own  essence,  lie  must  needs  be  tlie  cliief  goodness,  in  whom 
there  can  be  nothing  but  good,  from  whom  there  can  proceed  nothing 
but  good,  to  whom  all  good  whatsoever  must  be  referred,  as  the  final 
cause  of  all  good.  As  he  is  the  chief  Being,  so  he  is  the  chief  good ; 
and  as  we  rise  by  steps  from  the  existence  of  created  things,  to  ac- 
knowledge one  Supreme  Being,  which  is  God,  so  we  mount  by  steps 
from  the  consideration  of  the  goodness  of  created  things,  to  acknowl- 
edge one  Infinite  Ocean  of  sovereign  goodness,  whence  the  streams 
of  created  goodness  are  derived.  When  we  behold  things  that  par- 
take of  goodness  from  another,  we  must  acquiesce  in  one  that  hath 
goodness  by  participation  from  no  other,  but  originally  from  himself, 
and  therefore  supremely  in  himself  above  all  other  things :  so  that, 
as  nothing  greater  and  more  majestic  can  be  imagined,  so  also 
nothing  better  and  more  excellent  can  be  conceived  than  God. 
Nothing  can  add  to  him,  or  make  him  better  than  he  is  ;  nothing 
can  detract  from  him,  to  make  him  worse  ;  nothing  can  be  added  to 
him,  nothing  can  be  severed  from  him  ;  no  created  good  can  render 
him  more  excellent ;  no  evil,  from  any  creature,  can  render  him 
less  excellent ;  "  our  goodness  extends  not  to  him"  (Ps.  xvi.  2) ; 
"  wickedness  may  hurt  a  man,  as  we  are,  and  our  righteousness  may 
profit  the  son  of  man  ;  but,  if  we  be  righteous,  what  give  we  to  Him, 
or  what  receives  he  at  our  hands"  (Job  xxxv.  7,  8)  ?  as  he  hath  no 
superior  in  place  above  him,  so,  being  chief  of  all,  he  cannot  be  made 
better  by  any  inferior  to  him.  How  can  he  be  made  better  by  any 
that  hath  from  himself  all  that  he  hath  ?  The  goodness  of  a  creature 
may  be  changed,  but  the  goodness  of  the  Creator  is  immutable ; 
he  is  always  like  himself,  so  good  that  he  cannot  be  evil,  as  he  is  so 
blessed  that  he  cannot  be  miserable.  Nothing  is  good  but  God,  be- 
cause nothing  is  of  itself  but  God  ;  as  all  things,  being  from  nothing, 
are  nothing  in  comparison  of  God,  so  all  things,  being  from  nothing, 
are  scanty  and  evil  in  comparison  of  God.  If  anything  had  been, 
ex  Deo^  God  being  the  matter  of  it,  it  had  been  as  good  as  God  is ; 
but  since  the  principle,  whence  all  things  were  drawn,  was  nothing, 
though  the  efiicient  cause  by  which  they  were  extracted  from  nothing 
was  God,  they  are  as  nothing  in  goodness,  and  not  estimable  in  com- 
parison of  God  (Ps.  Ixxiii.  25):  "  Whom  have  I  in  heaven  but  thee?" 
&c.  God  is  all  good ;  every  creature  hath  a  distinct  variety  of  good- 
ness :  God  distinctly  pronounced  every  day's  work  in  the  creation 
"  good."  Food  communicates  the  goodness  of  its  nourishing  virtue 
to  our  bodies;  flowers  the  goodness  of  their  odors  to  our  smell; 
every  creature  a  goodness  of  comeliness  to  our  sight;  plants  the 
goodness  of  healing  qualities  for  our  cure ;  and  all  derive  from  them- 
selves a  goodness  of  knowledge,  objectively  to  our  understandings. 
The  sun,  by  one  sort  of  goodness,  warms  us ;  metals  enrich  us ;  liv- 
ing creatures  sustain  us,  and  delight  us  by  another ;  all  those  have 
distinct  kinds  of  goodness,  which  are  eminently  summed  up  in  God, 
and  are  all  but  parts  of  his  immense  goodness.  It  is  he  that  en- 
lightens us  by  his  sun,  nourisheth  us  by  bread  (Matt.  iv.  4) :  "  It  is 
not  by  bread  alone  that  we  live,  but  by  the  word  of  God."  It  is  all 
but  his  own  supreme  goodness,  conveyed  to  us  through  those  varie- 
ties of  conduit-pipes.     "God  is  all  good;"  other  things  are  good  in 


ON  THE   GOODNESS  OF  GOD.  228 

their  kind  ;  as,  a  good  man,  a  good  angel,  a  good  tree,  a  good  plant; 
but  God  hatli  a  good  of  all  kinds  eminently  in  his  nature.  He  is  no 
less  all-good,  than  lie  is  almighty,  and  all-knowing ;  as  the  sun  con- 
tains in  it  all  the  light,  and  more  light  than  is  in  all  the  clearest 
bodies  in  the  world,  so  doth  God  contain  in  himself  all  the  good, 
and  more  good  than  is  in  the  richest  creatures.  Nothing  is  good, 
but  as  it  resembles  him  ;  as  nothing  is  hot,  but  as  it  resembles  lire, 
the  prime  subject  of  heat.  God  is  omnipotent,  therefore  no  good 
can  be  wanting  to  him.  If  he  were  destitute  of  any  which  he  could 
not  have,  he  were  not  almighty  :  he  is  so  good,  that  there  is  no  mix- 
ture of  anything  which  can  be  called  not  good  in  him  ;  everything 
besides  him  wants  some  good,  which  others  have.  Nothing  can  be 
so  evil  as  God  is  good.  There  can  be  no  evil  but  there  is  some  mix- 
ture of  good  with  it;  no  nature  so  evil  but  there  is  some  spark  of  good- 
ness in  it :  but  God  is  a  good  which  hath  no  taint  of  evil ;  nothmg 
can  be  so  supreme  an  evil  as  God  is  supreme  goodness.  He  is  only 
good,  without  capacity  of  increase ;  he  is  all  good,  and  unmixedly 
good  ;  none  good  but  God  :  a  goodness,  like  the  sun,  that  hath  all 
light,  and  no  darkness.  That  is  the  second  thing;  he  is  the  su- 
preme and  chief  goodness. 

3.  This  goodness  is  communicative.  None  so  communicatively 
good  as  God.  As  the  notion  of  God  includes  goodness,  so  the  no- 
tion of  goodness  includes  diffasiveness  ;  without  goodness  he  would 
cease  to  be  a  Deity,  and  without  diffasiveness  he  would  cease  to  be 
good.  The  being  good  is  necessary  to  the  being  God  ;  for  goodness 
is  nothing  else,  in  the  notion  of  it,  but  a  strong  inclination  to  do 
good ;  either  to  find  or  make  an  object,  wherein  to  exercise  itself, 
according  to  the  propension  of  its  own  nature ;  and  it  is  an  inclina- 
tion of  communicating  itself,  not  for  its  own  interest,  but  the  good 
of  the  object  it  pitcheth  upon.  Thus  God  is  good  by  nature  ;  and 
his  nature  is  not  without  activity  ;  he  acts  conveniently  to  his  own 
nature  (Ps.  cxix.  68) :  "  Thou  art  good,  and  dost  good,"  And 
nothing  accrues  to  him,  by  the  communications  of  himself  to  others, 
since  his  blessedness  was  as  great  before  the  frame  of  any  creature 
as  ever  it  was  since  the  erecting  of  the  world  ;  so  that  the  goodness 
of  Christ  himself  increaseth  not  the  lustre  of  his  happiness  (Ps.  xvi. 
2) :  "  My  goodness  extends  not  to  thee."  He  is  not  of  a  niggardly 
and  envious  nature ;  he  is  too  rich  to  have  any  cause  to  envy,  and 
too  good  to  have  any  will  to  envy ;  he  is  as  liberal  as  he  is  rich,  ac- 
cording to  the  capacity  of  the  object  about  which  his  goodness  is 
exercised.  The  Divine  goodness,  being  the  supreme  goodness,  is 
goodness  in  the  highest  degree  of  activity ;  not  an  idle,  enclosed, 
pent  up  goodness,  as  a  spring  shut  up,  or  a  fountain  sealed,  bubbling 
up  within  itself,  but  bubbling  out  of  itself :  a  fountain  of  gardens  to 
water  every  part  of  his  creation ;  "  He  is  an  ointment  poured  forth" 
(Cant.  i.  3) :  nothing  spreads  itself  more  than  oil,  and  takes  up  a 
larger  space  wheresoever  it  drops.  It  may  be  no  less  said  of  the 
goodness  of  God,  as  it  is  of  the  fulness  of  Christ  (Eph.  i.  23) ;  "  He 
fills  all  in  all :"  he  fills  rational  creatures  with  understanding,  sensi- 
tive nature  with  vigor  and  motion,  the  Avhole  world  with  beauty  and 
sweetness.     Every  taste,  every  touch  of  a  creature,  is  a  taste  and 


224  CHARNOCK  ON   THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

toucli  of  Divine  goodness.  Divine  goodness  offers  itself  in  one  spark 
in  this  creature,  in  another  spark  in  the  other  creature,  and  alto- 
gether make  up  a  goodness  inconceivable  by  any  creature.  The 
whole  mass,  and  extracted  spirit  of  it,  is  infinitely  short  of  the  good- 
ness of  the  Divine  nature,  imperfect  shadows  of  that  goodness  which 
is  in  himself.  Indeed,  the  more  excellent  anjiihing  is,  the  more 
nobly  it  acts  ;  how  remotely  doth  light,  that  excellent  brightness  of 
the  creation,  disperse  itself!  How  doth  that  glorious  creature,  which 
God  hath  set  in  the  heavens,  spread  its  wings  over  heaven  and  earth, 
roll  itself  about  the  world,  cast  its  beams  upward  and  downward, 
insinuate  into  all  corners,  pierce  the  depths,  and  shoot  up  its  rays 
into  the  heights,  encircle  the  higher  and  lower  creatures  in  its  arms, 
reach  out  its  communications  to  influence  everything  under  the 
earth,  as  well  as  dart  its  beams  of  light  and  heat  on  things  above,  or 
upon  the  earth !  "  Nothing  is  hid  from  it"  (Ps.  xix.  6) ;  not  from 
its  power,  nor  from  its  sweetness.  How  communicative  also  is 
water,  a  necessary  and  excellent  creature !  How  active  is  it  in  a 
river,  to  nourish  the  living  creatures  engendered  in  its  womb !  re- 
fresheth  every  shore  it  runs  by  ;  promotes  the  propagation  of  fruits 
for  the  nourishment,  and  bestows  a  verdure  upon  the  ground,  for  the 
delight  of  man ;  and  where  it  cannot  reach  the  higher  ground  in  its 
substance,  it  doth  by  its  vapors,  mounted  up  and  concocted  by  the 
sun,  and  gently  distilled  upon  the  earth,  for  the  opening  its  womb 
to  bring  forth  its  fruits.  God  is  more  prone  to  communicate  himself, 
than  the  sun  to  spread  its  wings,  or  the  earth  to  mount  up  its  fruits, 
or  the  water  to  multiply  living  creatures.''  Goodness  is  his  nature. 
Hence  were  there  internal  communications  of  himself  from  eternity ; 
diffusions  of  himself,  without  himself"  in  time,  in  the  creation  of  the 
world,  like  a  full  vessel  running  over.  He  created  the  world  that 
he  might  impart  his  goodness  to  something  without  him,  and  diffuse 
larger  measures  of  his  goodness,  after  he  had  laid  the  first  founda- 
tion of  it  in  his  being ;  and  therefore  he  created  several  sorts  of 
creatures,  that  they  might  be  capable  of  various  and  distinct 
measures  of  his  liberality,  according  to  the  distinct  capacities  of 
their  nature,  but  imparted  most  to  the  rational  creature,  because  that 
is  only  capable  of  an  understanding  to  know  him,  and  will  to  em- 
brace him.  He  is  the  highest  goodness,  and  therefore  a  communica- 
tive goodness,  and  acts  excellently  according  to  his  nature. 

4.  God  is  necessarily  good.  None  is  necessarily  good  but  God  ;  he 
is  as  necessarily  good,  as  he  is  necessarily  God.  His  goodness  is  as 
inseparable  from  his  nature  as  his  holiness.  He  is  good  by  nature, 
not  only  by  will ;  as  he  is  holy  by  nature,  not  only  by  will,  he  is 
good  in  his  nature,  and  good  in  his  actions ;  and  as  he  cannot  be  bad 
in  his  nature,  so  he  cannot  be  bad  in  his  communications  ;  he  can  no 
more  act  contrary  to  this  goodness  in  any  of  his  actions,  than  he  can 
un-God  himself.  It  is  not  necessary  that  God  should  create  a  world ; 
he  was  at  his  own  choice  whether  he  would  create  or  no ;  but  when 
he  resolves  to  make  a  world,  it  is  necessary  that  he  should  make  it 
good,  because  he  is  goodness  itself,  and  cannot  act  against  his  own 
nature.     He  could  not  create  anything  without  goodness  in  the  very 

>>  Tom.  II.  p.  926. 


ON  THE   GOODNESS   OF   GOD.  225 

act ;  tlie  very  act  of  creation,  or  communicating  being  to  anything 
without  himself,  is  in  itself  an  act  of  goodness,  as  well  as  an  act  of 
power ;  had  he  not  been  good  in  himself,  nothing  could  have  been 
endued  with  any  goodness  by  him.     In  the  act  of  giving  being,  he 
is  liberal ;  the  being  he  bestows  is  a  displaying  his  own  liberality  ; 
he  could  not  confer  what  he  needs  not,  and  which  could  not  be  de- 
served, without  being  bountiful ;  since  what  was  nothing,  could  not 
merit  to  be  brought  into  being,  the  very  act  of  giving  to  nothing  a 
being,  was  an  act  of  choice  goodness.     He  could  not  create  anything 
without  goodness  as  the  motive,  and  the  necessary  motive  ;  his  good- 
ness could  not  necessitate  him  to  make  the  world,  but  his  goodness 
could  only  move  him  to  resolve  to  make  a  world ;  he  was  not  bound 
to  erect  and  fashion  it  because  of  his  goodness,  but  he  could  not  frame 
it  without  his  goodness  as  the  moving  cause.     He  could  not  create 
anything,  but  he  must  create  it  good.     It  had  been  inconsistent  with 
the  supreme  goodness  of  his  nature,  to  have  created  only  murderous, 
ravenous,  injurious  creatures;  to  have  created  a  bedlam  rather  than 
a  world :  a  mere  heap  of  confusion  would  have  been  as  inconsistent 
with  his  Divine  goodness,  as  with  his  Divine  wisdom.     Again,  when 
his  goodness  had  moved  him  to  make  a  creature,  his  goodness  would 
necessarily  move  him  to  be  beneficial  to  his  creature ;  not  that  this 
necessity  results  from  any  merit  in   the  creature,  which   he   had 
framed ;  but  from  the  excellency  and  difPusiveness  of  his  own  nature, 
and  his  own  glory ;  the  end  for  which  he  formed  it,  which  would 
have  been  obscure,  yea,  nothing,  without  some  degrees  of  his  bounty. 
What  occasion  of  acknowledgments  and  praise  could  the  creature 
have  for  its  being,  if  God  had  given  him  only  a  miserable  being, 
while  it  was  innocent  in  action  ?     The  goodness  of  God  would  not 
suffer  him  to  make  a  creature,  without  providing  conveniences  for 
it,  so  long  as  he  thought  good  to  maintain  its  being,  and  furnishing 
it  with  that  which  was  necessary  to  answer  that  end  for  which  he 
created  it ;  and  his  own  nature  would  not  suffer  him  to  be  unkind 
to  his  rational  creature,  while  it  was  innocent.     It  had  been  injustice 
to  inflict  evil  upon  the  creature,  that  had  not  offended,  and  had  no 
relation  to  an  offending  creature ;  the  nature  of  God  could  not  have 
brought  forth  such  an  act :  and,  therefore,  some  say,  that  God,  after 
he  had  created  man,  could  not  presently  annihilate  him,  and  take 
away  his  life  and  being.'     As  a  sovereign,  he  might  do  it ;  as  Al- 
mighty, he  was  able  to  do  it,  as  well  as  create  him ;  but  in  regard  of 
his  goodness,  he  could  not  morally  do  it :  for  had  he  annihilated  man 
as  soon  as  ever  he  had  made  him,  he  had  not  made  man  for  himself, 
and  for  his  own  glory ;  to  be  loved,  worshipped,  sought,  and  ac- 
knowledged by  him.     He  would  not  then  have  been  the  end  of 
man  ;  he  had  created  him  in  vain,  and  the  world  in  vain,  which  he 
assures  us  he  did  not  (Isa.  xlv.  18,  19).     And,  certainly,  if  the  gifts 
of  God  be  without  repentance,  man  could  not  have  been  annihilated 
after  his  creation,  without  repentance  in  God,  without  any  cause, 
had  not  sin  entered  into  the  world.     If  God  did  not  say  to  man,  after 
sin  had  made  its  entrance  into  the  world,  "  Seek  ye  me  in  vain,"  he 
could  not,  because  of  his  goodness,  have  said  so  to  man  in  his  inno- 

'  Cocceii  sum  Theolog.  p.  91. 
VOL.  II. 15 


226  CHARNOCK   ON"  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

cence.  As  God  is  necessarily  mind,  so  he  is  necessarily  will ;  as  lie 
is  necessarily  knowing,  so  he  is  necessarily  loving.  He  could  not 
be  blessed,  if  he  did  not  know  himself,  and  his  own  perfection  ;  nor 
good,  if  he  did  not  delight  in  himself,  and  his  own  perfections. 
And  this  goodness  whereby  he  delights  in  himself,  is  the  source  of 
his  delight  in  his  creatures,  wherein  he  sees  the  footsteps  of  himself. 
If  he  loves  himself,  he  cannot  but  love  the  resemblance  of  himself, 
and  the  image  of  his  own  goodness.  He  loves  himself,  because  he  is 
the  highest  goodness  and  excellency ;  and  loves  everything  as  it  re- 
sembles himself,  because  it  is  an  efflux  of  his  own  goodness ;  and  as 
he  doth  necessarily  love  himself,  and  his  own  excellency,  so  he  doth 
necessarily  love  anything  that  resembles  that  excellency,  which  is 
the  primary  object  of  his  esteem.     But, 

5.  Though  he  be  necessarily  good,  yet  he  is  also  freely  good.  The 
necessity  of  the  goodness  of  his  nature  hinders  not  the  liberty  of  his 
actions ;  the  matter  of  his  acting  is  not  at  all  necessary,  but  the  man- 
ner of  his  acting  in  a  good  and  bountiful  Avay,  is  necessar}^,  as  well 
as  free.''  He  created  the  world  and  man  freely,  because  he  might 
choose  whether  he  would  create  it,  but  he  created  them  good  neces- 
sarily, because  he  was  first  necessarily  good  in  his  nature,  before  he 
was  freely  a  Creator.  When  he  created  man,  he  freely  gave  him  a 
positive  law,  but  necessarily  a  wise  and  righteous  law ;  because  he 
was  necessarily  wise,  and  righteous,  before  he  was  freely  a  Lawgiver. 
When  he  makes  a  promise,  he  freely  lets  the  word  go  out  of  his  lips, 
but  when  he  hath  made  it,  he  is  necessarily  a  faithful  performer ;  be- 
cause he  was  necessarily  true  and  righteous  in  his  nature,  before  he 
was  freely  a  promiser.  God  is  necessarily  good  in  his  nature,  but  free 
in  his  communications  of  it ;  to  make  him  necessarily  to  communi- 
cate his  goodness  in  the  first  creation  of  the  creature,  would  render 
him  but  impotent,  good  without  liberty  and  without  will ;  if  the 
communications  of  it  be  not  free,  the  eternity  of  the  world  must 
necessarily  be  concluded,  which  some  anciently  asserted  from  the 
naturalness  of  God's  goodness,  making  the  world  flow  from  God  as 
light  from  the  sun.  God,  indeed,  is  necessarily  good,  affective  in  re- 
gard of  his  nature,  but  freely  good,  affective^  in  regard  of  the  effluxes 
of  it  to  this  or  that  particular  subject  he  pitcheth  on.  He  is  not  so 
necessarily  communicative  of  his  goodness  as  the  sun  of  his  light,  or 
a  tree  of  its  cooling  shade,  that  chooseth  not  its  objects,  but  enlight- 
ens all  indifferently,  without  any  variation  or  distinction  ;  this  were 
to  make  God  of  no  more  understanding  than  the  sun,  to  shine  not 
where  it  pleaseth,  but  where  it  must.  He  is  an  understanding  agent, 
and  hath  a  sovereign  right  to  choose  his  own  subjects;  it  would  not 
be  a  supreme  goodness,  if  it  were  not  a  voluntary  goodness.  It  is 
agreeable  to  the  nature  of  the  highest  good,  to  be  absolutely  free,  to 
dispense  his  goodness  in  what  methods  and  measures  he  pleaseth, 
according  to  the  free  determinations  of  his  own  will,  guided  by  the 
wisdom  of  his  mind,  and  regulated  by  the  holiness  of  his  nature. 
He  is  not  to  "  give  an  account  of  any  of  his  matters"  (Job  xxxiii. 
13) ;  "  He  will  have  mercy  on  whom  he  will  have  mercy,  and  he 
will  have  compassion  on  whom  he  will  have  compassion"  (Eom.  ix. 

^  Gilbert  de  Del  Domlnio,  p.  6. 


ON  THE   GOODNESS   OF   GOD.  227 

15) ;  and  he  will  be  good,  to  whom  lie  will  be  good ;  when  he  doth 
act,  he  cannot  but  act  well,  so  it  is  necessary ;  yet  he  may  act  this 
good  or  that  good,  to  this  or  that  degree,  so  it  is  free.  As  it  is  the 
perfection  of  his  nature,  it  is  necessary ;  as  it  is  the  communication 
of  his  bounty,  it  is  voluntary.  The  eye  cannot  but  see  if  it  be  open, 
yet  it  may  glance  upon  this  or  that  color,  fix  upon  this  or  that  ob- 
ject, as  it  is  conducted  by  the  will.  God  necessarily  loves  himself, 
because  he  is  good,  yet  not  by  constraint,  but  freedom  ;  because  his 
aifectioii  to  himself  is  from  a  knowledge  of  himself.  He  necessarily 
loves  his  own  image,  because  it  is  his  image ;  yet  freely,  because  not 
blindly,  but  from  motions  of  understanding  and  will.  What  neces- 
sity could  there  be  upon  him,  to  resolve  to  communicate  his  good- 
ness ?  It  could  not  be  to  make  himself  better  by  it,  for  he  had  a 
goodness  incapable  of  any  addition ;  he  confers  a  goodness  on  his 
creatures,  but  reaps  not  a  harvest  of  goodness  to  his  own  essence 
from  his  creatures.  What  obligation  could  there  be  from  the  crea- 
ture, to  confer  a  goodness  on  him  to  this  or  that  degree,  for  this  or 
that  duration  ?  If  he  had  not  created  a  man,  nor  angel,  he  had  done 
them  no  wrong ;  if  he  had  given  them  only  a  simple  being,  he  had 
manifested  a  part  of  his  goodness,  without  giving  them  a  right  to 
challenge  any  more  of  him  ;  if  he  had  taken  away  their  beings  after 
a  time  when  he  had  answered  his  end,  he  had  done  them  no  injury: 
for  what  law  obliged  him  to  enrich  them,  and  leave  them  in  that  be- 
ing wherein  he  had  invested  them,  but  his  sole  goodness  ?  What- 
ever sparks  of  goodness  any  creature  hath,  are  the  free  effusions  of 
God's  bounty,  the  offspring  of  his  own  inclination  to  do  well,  the 
simple  favor  of  the  donor ;  not  purchased,  not  merited  by  the  crea- 
ture. God  is  as  unconstrained  in  his  liberty,  in  all  his  communica- 
tions, as  infinite  in  his  goodness,  the  fountain  of  them. 

6.  This  goodness  is  communicative  with  the  greatest  pleasure. 
Moses  desired  to  see  his  glory,  God  assures  him  he  should  see  his 
goodness  (Exod.  xxxiii.  18,  19) ;  intimating  that  his  goodness  is  his 
glory,  and  his  glory  his  delight  also.  He  sends  not  forth  his  bless- 
ings with  an  ill  will ;  he  doth  not  stay  till  they  are  squeezed  from 
him  ;  he  prevents  men  with  his  blessings  of  goodness  (Ps.  xxi.  3)  ; 
he  is  most  delighted  when  he  is  most  diffusive ;  and  his  pleasure  in 
bestowing,  is  larger  than  his  creature's  in  possessing.  He  is  not  cove- 
tous of  his  own  treasures.  He  lays  up  his  goodness  in  order  to  lay- 
ing it  out  with  a  complacency  wholly  divine.  The  jealousy  princes 
have  of  their  subjects  makes  them  sparing  of  their  gifts,  for  fear  of 
giving  them  materials  for  rebellion :  God's  foresight  of  the  ill  use 
men  would  make  of  his  benefits  damped  him  not  in  bestowing  his 
largesses.  He  is  incapable  of  envy ;  his  own  happiness  can  no  more 
be  diminished,  than  it  can  be  increased.  None  can  over-top  him  in 
goodness,  because  nothing  hath  any  good  but  what  is  derived  from 
him ;  his  gifts  are  without  repentance :  sorrow  hath  no  footing  in 
him,  who  is  infinitely  happy,  as  well  as  infinitely  good.  Goodness 
and  envy  are  inconsistent.  How  unjustly,  then,  did  the  devil  accuse 
God !  What  God  gives  out  of  goodness,  he  gives  with  joy  and 
gladness.  He  did  not  only  will  that  we  should  be,  but  rejoice  that 
he  had  brought  us  into  being ;  he  rejoiced  in  his  works  (Ps.  civ.  31), 


228  CHABNOCK   ON  THE  ATTEIBUTES. 

and  his  wisdom  stood  by  liim,  "  delighting  in  the  habitable  parts  of 
the  earth"  (Prov.  viii.  31).  He  beheld  the  world  after  its  creation 
with  a  complacency,  and  still  governs  it  with  the  same  pleasure 
wherewith  he  reviewed  it.  Infinite  cheerfulness  attends  infinite 
goodness.  He  would  not  give,  if  he  had  not  a  pleasure  that  others 
should  enjoy  his  goodness ;  since  he  is  better  than  anything,  and 
more  communicative  than  anything ;  he  is  more  joyful  in  giving 
out,  than  the  sun  can  be  to  run  its  race,  in  pouring  forth  light.  He 
is  said  only  to  repent,  and  grieve,  when  men  answer  not  the  obliga- 
tions and  ends  of  his  goodness ;  which  would  be  their  own  felicity, 
as  well  as  his  glory.  Though  he  doth  not  force  greater  degrees  of 
his  goodness  upon  those  that  neglect  it,  yet  he  denies  them  not  to 
those  that  solicit  him  for  it :  it  is  always  greater  pleasure  to  him  to 
impart  upon  the  importunities  of  the  creatures,  than  it  is  to  a  mo- 
ther to  reach  out  her  breast  to  her  crying  and  longing  infant.  He  is 
not  Avearied  by  the  solicitations  of  men ;  he  is  pleased  with  their 
prayers,  because  he  is  pleased  with  the  imparting  of  his  OAvn  good- 
ness :  he  seems  to  be  in  travail  with  it,  longing  to  be  delivered  of  it 
into  the  lap  of  his  creature.  He  is  as  much  delighted  with  petitions 
for  his  liberality  in  bestowing  his  best  goodness,  as  princes  are  weary 
of  the  craving  of  their  subjects.  None  can  be  so  desirous  to  squeeze 
those  that  are  under  them,  as  God  is  delighted  to  enlarge  his  hand 
towards  them.  It  is  the  nature  of  his  goodness  to  be  glad  of  men's 
solicitations  for  it,  because  they  are  significant  valuations  of  it,  and 
therefore  fit  occasions  for  him  to  bestow  it.  Since  he  doth  not  de- 
light in  the  unhappiness  of  any  of  his  creatures,  he  certainly  de- 
lights in  what  may  conduce  unto  their  felicity.  He  doth  with  the 
same  delight  multiply  the  effects  of  his  goodness  where  his  wisdom 
sees  it  convenient,  as  he  beheld  the  first-fruits  of  his  goodness  with 
a  complacency  upon  laying  the  top-stone  of  the  creation. 

7.  The  displaying  of  this  goodness  was  the  motive  and  end  of  all 
his  works  of  creation  and  providence.^  God  being  infinitely  wise, 
would  not  act  without  the  highest  reason,  and  for  the  highest  end. 
The  reason  that  induced  him  to  create,  must  be  of  as  great  an  emi- 
nency  as  himself:  the  motive  could  not  be  taken  without  him,  be- 
cause there  was  nothing  but  himself  in  being ;  it  must  be  taken, 
therefore,  from  within  himself,  and  from  some  one  of  those  most  ex- 
cellent perfections  whereby  we  conceive  him.  But,  upon  the  exact 
consideration  of  all  of  them,  none  can  seem  to  challenge  that  honor 
of  being  the  motive  of  them,  to  resolve  the  setting  forth  any  work, 
but  his  own  goodness ;  this  being  the  first  thing  manifest  in  his  crea- 
tion, seems  to  be  the  first  thing  moving  him  to  a  resolution  to  create. 
Wisdom  may  be  considered  as  directing,  power  considered  as  act- 
ing, but  it  is  natural  to  reflect  upon  goodness  as  moving  the  one  to 
direct,  and  the  other  to  act.  Power  was  the  principle  of  his  action, 
wisdom  the  rule  of  his  action,  goodness  the  motive  of  his  action ; 
principle  and  rule  are  awakened  by  the  motive,  and  subservient  to 
the  end.  That  which  is  the  most  amiable  perfection  in  the  Divine 
nature,  and  that  which  he  first  took  notice  of,  as  the  footsteps  of 
them,  in  the  distinct  view  of  every  day's  work,  and  the  general  view 

1  Amyr.  Moral.  Tom.  I.  p.  260. 


ON  THE   GOODNESS  OF  GOD.  229 

of  the  whole  frame,  seems  to  claim  the  best  right  to  be  entitled  the 
motive  and  end  of  his  creation  of  things.  God  could  have  no  end 
but  himself,  because  there  was  nothing  besides  himself  Again,  the 
end  of  every  agent  is  that  which  he  esteems  good,  and  the  best  good 
for  that  kind  of  action  :  since  nothing  is  to  be  esteemed  good  but 
God,  nothing  can  be  the  ultimate  end  of  God  but  himself,  and  his 
own  goodness.  What  a  man  wills  chiefly  is  his  end ;  but  God  cannot 
will  any  other  thing  but  himself  as  his  end,  because  there  is  nothing 
superior  to  himself  in  goodness.  He  cannot  will  anything  that  su- 
premely serves  himself  and  his  own  goodness  as  his  end  ;  for,  if  he 
did,  that  which  he  wills  must  be  superior  to  himself  in  goodness,  and 
then  he  is  not  God ;  or  inferior  to  him  in  goodness,  and  then  he 
would  not  be  righteous,  in  willing  that  which  is  a  lower  good  before 
a  higher.  God  cannot  will  anything  as  his  end  of  acting,  but  him 
self,  without  undeifying  himself  God's  will  being  infinitely  good, 
cannot  move  for  anything  but  what  is  infinitely  good ;  and,  there- 
fore, whatsoever  God  made,  he  made  for  himself  (Prov.  xvi.  4),  that 
whatsoever  he  made  might  bear  a  badge  of  this  perfection  upon  it, 
and  be  a  discovery  of  his  wonderful  goodness:  for  the  making 
things  for  himself  doth  not  signify  any  indigence  in  God,  that  he 
made  anything  to  increase  his  excellency  (for  that  is  capable  of  no 
addition),  but  to  manifest  his  excellency.  God  possessing  everything 
eminently  in  himself,  did  not  create  the  world  for  any  need  he  had 
of  it ;  finite  things  were  unable  to  make  any  accession  to  that  which 
is  infinite.  Man,  indeed,  builds  a  house  to  be  a  shelter  to  him  against 
wind  and  weather,  and  makes  clothes  to  secure  him  from  cold, 
and  plants  gardens  for  his  recreation  and  health.  God  is  above  all 
those  little  helps;  he  did  not  make  the  world  for  himself  in  such  a 
kind,  but  for  himself,  i.  e.  the  manifestation  of  himself  and  the  riches 
of  his  nature ;  not  to  make  himself  blessed,  but  to  discover  his  own 
blessedness  to  his  creatures,  and  to  communicate  something  of  it  to 
them.  He  did  not  garnish  the  world  with  so  much  bounty,  that  he 
might  live  more  happily  than  he  did  before,  but  that  his  rational 
creatures  might  have  fit  conveniences.  As  the  end  for  which  God 
demands  the  performance  of  our  duty  is  not  for  his  own  advantage, 
but  for  our  good  (Deut.  x.  13),  so  the  end  why  he  conferred  upon  us 
the  excellency  of  such  a  being  was  for  our  good,  and  the  discovery 
of  his  goodness  to  us ;  for  had  not  God  created  the  world,  he  had 
been  wholly  unknown  to  any  but  himself;  he  produced  creatures, 
that  he  might  be  known :  as  the  sun  shines  not  only  to  dis- 
cover other  things,  but  to  be  seen  itself  in  its  beauty  and  bright- 
ness. God  would  create  things,  because  he  would  be  known  in  his 
glory  and  liberality ;  hence  is  it  that  he  created  intellectual  crea- 
tures, because  witliout  them  the  rest  of  the  creation  could  not  be 
taken  notice  of:  it  had  been  in  some  sort  in  vain ;  for  no  nature 
lower  than  an  understanding  nature,  was  able  to  know  the  marks  of 
God  in  the  creation,  and  acknowledge  him  as  God.  In  this  regard, 
God  is  good  above  all  creatures,  because  he  intends  only  to  commu- 
nicate his  goodness  in  creation,  not  to  acquire  any  goodness,  or  ex- 
cellency from  them,  as  men  do  in  their  framing  of  things.  God  is 
all,  and  is  destitute  of  nothing,  and,  therefore,  nothing  accrues  to 


230  CHARNOCK  ON  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

liim  by  tlie  creation,  but  the  acknowledgment  of  bis  goodness. 
This  goodness,  therefore,  must  be  the  motive  and  end  of  all  his 
works. 

III.  The  third  thing,  that  God  is  good. 

1.  The  more  excellent  anything  is  in  nature,  the  more  of  good- 
ness and  kindness  it  hath.  For  we  see  more  of  love  and  kindness 
in  creatures  that  are  endued  with  sense,  to  their  descendants,  than  in 
plants,  that  have  only  a  principle  of  growth.  Plants  preserve  their 
seeds  whole  that  are  enclosed  in  them ;  animals  look  to  their  young 
only  after  they  are  dropped  from  them ;  yet,  after  some  time,  take 
no  more  notice  of  them  than  of  a  stranger  that  never  had  any  birth 
from  them.  Bu"t  man,  that  hath  a  higher  principle  of  reason, 
cherisheth  his  offspring,  and  gives  them  marks  of  his  goodness  while 
he  lives,  and  leaves  not  the  world  at  the  time  of  his  death  without 
some  testimonies  of  it :  much  more  must  Grod,  who  is  a  higher  prin- 
ciple than  sense  or  reason,  be  "  good"  and  bountiful  to  all  his  off- 
spring. The  more  perfect  anything  is,  the  more  it  doth  communi- 
cate itself.  The  sun  is  more  excellent  than  the  stars,  and,  therefore, 
doth  more  sensibly,  more  extensively,  disperse  its  liberal  beams  than 
the  stars  do.  And  the  better  any  man  is,  the  more  charitable  he  is  ; 
God  being  the  most  excellent  nature,  having  nothing  more  excellent 
than  himself,  because  nothing  more  ancient  than  himself,  who  is  the 
Ancient  of  Days  :  there  is  nothing,  therefore,  better  and  more  boun- 
tiful than  himself 

2.  He  is  the  cause  of  all  created  goodness ;  he  must  therefore  him- 
self be  the  Supreme  Good.  What  good  is  in  the  heavens,  is  the  pro- 
duct of  some  Being  above  the  earth ;  and  those  varieties  of  goodness 
in  the  earth,  and  several  creatures,  are  somewhere  in  their  fulness 
and  union :  that,  therefore,  which  possesses  all  those  scattered  good- 
nesses in  their  fulness,  must  be  all  good,  all  that  good  which  is  dis- 
played in  creatures ;  therefore  sovereignly  best.  Whatsoever  natural 
or  moral  goodness  there  is  in  the  world,  in  angels,  or  men,  or  inferior 
creatures,  is  a  line  drawn  from  that  centre,  the  bubblings  of  that 
fountain.  God  cannot  but  be  better  than  all,  since  the  goodness  that 
is  in  creatures  is  the  fruit  of  his  own.  If  he  were  not  good,  he  could 
produce  no  good:  he  could  not  bestow  what  he  had  not.  If  the 
creature  be  "  good,"  as  the  apostle  says  "  every  creature  is"  (1  Tim. 
iv.  4),  he  must  needs  be  better  than  all,  because  they  have  nothing 
but  what  is  derived  to  them  from  him ;  and  much  more  goodness 
than  all,  because  finite  beings  are  not  capable  of  receiving  into  them, 
and  containing  in  themselves,  all  that  goodness  which  is  in  an  Infi- 
nite Being ;  when  we  search  for  good  in  creatures,  they  come  short 
of  that  satisfaction  which  is  in  God  (Ps.  iv.  6).  As  the  certainty  of  a 
first  principle  of  all  things,  is  necessarily  concluded  from  the  being 
of  creatures,  and  the  upholding  and  sustaining  power  and  virtue  of 
God  is  concluded  from  the  mutability  of  those  things  in  the  world ; 
whence  we  infer,  that  there  must  be  some  stable  foundation  of  those 
tottering  things,  some  firm  hinge  upon  which  those  changeable  things 
do  move,  without  which  there  would  be  no  stability  in  the  kinds  of 
things,  no  order,  no  agreement,  or  union  among  them :  so  from  the 
goodness  of  everything,  and  their  usefulness  to  us,  we  must  conclude 


ON  THE   GOODNESS   OF  GOD.  231 

him  good,  who  made  all  those  things.  And  since  we  find  distinct 
goodnesses  in  the  creature,  we  must  conclude  that  one  principle 
whence  they  did  flow,  excels  in  the  glory  of  goodness :  all  those  lit- 
tle glimmerings  of  goodness  which  are  scattered  in  the  creatures,  as 
the  image  in  the  glass,  represent  the  face,  posture,  motion  of  him 
whose  image  it  is,  but  not  in  the  fulness  of  life  and  spirit,  as  in  the 
original ;  it  is  but  a  shadoAv  at  the  best,  and  speaks  something  more 
excellent  in  the  copy.  As  God  hath  an  inliniteness  of  being  above 
them,  so  he  hath  a  supremacy  of  goodness  beyond  them :  what  the}" 
have,  is  but  a  participation  from  him ;  what  he  hath,  must  be  infi- 
nitely supereminent  above  them.  If  anything  be  good  by  itself,  it 
must  be  infinitely  good,  it  would  set  itself  no  bounds ;  we  must  make 
as  many  gods,  as  particulars  of  goodness  in  the  world:  but  being 
good  by  the  bounty  of  another,  that  from  whence  they  flow  must  be 
the  chief  goodness.  It  is  God's  excellency  and  goodness,  which,  like 
a  beam,  pierceth  all  things:  he  decks  spirits  with  reason,  endues 
matter  with  form,  furnisheth  everything  with  useful  qualities."!  As 
one  beam  of  the  sun  illustrates  fire,  water,  earth ;  so  one  beam  of 
God  enlightens  and  endows  minds,  souls,  and  universal  nature: 
nothing  in  the  world  had  its  goodness  from  itself,  any  more  than 
it  had  its  being  from  itself  The  cause  must  be  richer  than  the 
effect. 

But  that  which  I  intend  is  the  defence  of  this  goodness. 

First,  The  goodness  of  God  is  not  impaired  by  suflering  sin  to 
enter  into  the  world,  and  man  to  fall  thereby.  It  is  rather  a  testi- 
mony of  God's  goodness,  that  he  gave  man  an  ability  to  be  happy, 
than  any  charge  against  his  goodness,  that  he  settled  man  in  a  capa- 
city to  be  evil.  God  was  first  a  benefactor  to  man,  before  man  could 
be  a  rebel  against  God.  May  it  not  be  inquired,  whether  it  had  not 
been  against  the  wisdom  of  God,  to  have  made  a  rational  creature 
with  liberty,  and  not  suffer  him  to  act  according  to  the  nature  he 
was  endowed  with,  and  to  follow  his  own  choice  for  some  time? 
Had  it  been  wisdom  to  frame  a  free  creature,  and  totally  to  restrain 
that  creature  from  following  its  liberty  ?  Had  it  been  goodness,  as 
it  were,  to  force  the  creature  to  be  happy  against  its  will  ?  God's 
goodness  furnished  Adam  with  a  power  to  stand ;  was  it  contrary  to 
his  goodness,  to  leave  Adam  to  a  free  use  of  that  power?  To  make 
a  creature,  and  not  let  that  creature  act  according  to  the  freedom  of 
his  nature,  might  have  been  thought  to  have  been  a  blot  upon  his 
wisdom,  and  a  constraint  upon  the  creature,  not  to  make  use  of  that 
freedom  of  his  nature,  which  the  Divine  goodness  had  bestowed 
upon  him.  To  what  purpose  did  God  make  a  law,  to  govern  his 
rational  creature,  and  yet  resolve  that  creature  should  not  have  his 
choice,  whether  he  would  obey  it  or  no  ?  Had  he  been  really  con- 
strained to  observe  it,  his  observation  of  it  could  no  more  have  been 
called  obedience,  than  the  acts  of  brutes  that  have  a  kind  of  natural 
constraint  upon  them  by  the  instinct  of  their  nature,  can  be  called 
obedience:  in  vain  had  God  endowed  a  creature  with  so  great  and 
noble  a  principle  as  liberty.    Had  it  been  goodness  in  God,  after  he  had 

'"  Fieiuus  iu  Cou.  Amor.  Orat.  2.  cap.  p.  1326. 


232  CHARNOCK  ON  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

made  a  reasonable  creature,  to  govern  him  in  the  same  manner  as  he 
does  brutes  by  a  necessary  instinct?  It  was  the  goodness  of  God  to 
the  nature  of  men  and  angels,  to  leave  them  in  such  a  condition,  to 
be  able  to  give  him  a  voluntary  obedience,  a  nobler  offering  than 
the  whole  creation  could  present  him  with ;  and  shall  this  goodness 
be  undervalued,  and  accounted  mean,  because  man  made  an  ill  use 
of  it,  and  turned  it  into  wantonness  ?  As  the  unbelief  of  man  doth 
not  diminish  the  redeeming  grace  of  God  (Eom.  iii.  3),  so  neither 
doth  the  fall  of  man  lessen  the  creating  goodness  of  God.  Besides, 
why  should  the  permission  of  sin  be  thought  more  a  blemish  to  his 
goodness,  than  the  providing  a  way  of  redemption  for  the  destroying 
the  works  of  sin  and  the  devil,  be  judged  the  glory  of  it,  whereby 
he  discovered  a  goodness  of  grace  that  surpassed  the  bounds  of  na- 
ture ?  If  this  were  a  thing  that  might  seem  to  obscure  or  deface 
the  goodness  of  God,  in  the  permission  of  the  fall  of  angels  and 
Adam,  it  was  in  order  to  bring  forth  a  greater  goodness  in  a  more 
illustrious  pomp,  to  the  view  of  the  world  (Eom.  xi.  32):  "God  hath 
concluded  them  all  in  unbelief,  that  he  might  have  mercy  upon  all." 
But  if  nothing  could  be  alleged  for  the  defence  of  his  goodness  in 
this,  it  were  most  comely  for  an  ignorant  creature  not  to  impeach 
his  goodness,  but  adore  him  in  his  proceedings,  in  the  same  language 
the  apostle  doth  (ver.  33):  "O  the  depth  of  the  riches  both  of  the 
wisdom  and  knowledge  of  God !  How  unsearchable  are  his  judg- 
■uents,  and  his  ways  past  finding  out!" 

Secondly,  Nor  is  his  goodness  prejudiced,  by  not  making  all  things 
the  equal  subjects  of  it. 

1.  It  is  true  all  things  are  not  subjects  of  an  equal  goodness.  The 
goodness  of  God  is  not  so  illustriously  manifested  in  one  thing  as  an- 
other. In  the  creation  he  hath  dropped  goodness  upon  some,  in  giv- 
ing them  beings  and  sense,  and  poured  it  upon  others  in  endowing 
them  with  understanding  and  reason.  The  sun  is  full  of  light,  but 
it  hath  a  want  of  sense ;  brutes  excel  in  the  vigor  of  sense,  but  they 
are  destitute  of  the  light  of  reason ;  man  hath  a  mind  and  reason 
conferred  on  him,  but  he  hath  neither  the  acuteness  of  mind,  nor  the 
quickness  of  motion  equal  with  an  angel.  In  providence  also  he  doth 
give  abundance,  and  opens  his  hand  to  some ;  to  others  he  is  more  spar- 
ing: he  gives  greater  gifts  of  knowledge  to  some,  while  he  lets  oth- 
ers remain  in  ignorance  ;  he  strikes  down  some,  and  raiseth  others ; 
he  afflicts  some  with  a  continual  pain,  while  he  blesseth  others  with 
an  uninterrupted  health ;  he  hath  chosen  one  nation  wherein  to  set 
up  his  gospel  sun,  and  leaves  another  benighted  in  their  own  igno- 
rance. "  Known  was  God  in  Judea ;  they  were  a  peculiar  people 
alone  of  all  the  nations  of  the  earth"  (Deut.  xiv.  2).  He  was  not 
equally  good  to  the  angels :  he  held  forth  his  hand  to  support  some 
in  their  happy  habitation,  while  he  suffered  others  to  sink  in  irrep- 
arable ruin  ;  and  he  is  not  so  diffusive  here  of  his  goodness  to  his 
own  as  he  will  be  in  heaven.  Here  their  sun  is  sometimes  clouded, 
but  there  all  clouds  and  shades  will  be  blown  away,  and  melted  into 
nothing :  instead  of  drops  here,  there  will  be  above  rivers  of  life.  Is 
any  creature  destitute  of  the  open  marks  of  his  goodness,  though  all 
are  not  enriched  with  those  signal  characters  which  he  vouchsafes  to 


ON  THE   GOODNESS  OF  GOD.  233 

others?  He  that  is  unerring,  pronounced  everything  good  distinctly 
in  its  production,  and  the  wliole  good  in  its  universal  perfection 
(Gen.  i.  4,  10,  12,  18,  21,  25,  31).  Though  he  made  not  all  things 
equally  good,  yet  he  made  nothing  evil ;  and  though  one  creature  in 
regard  of  its  nature  may  be  better  than  another,  yet  an  inferior  crea- 
ture, in  regard  of  its  usefulness  in  the  order  of  the  creation,  may  be 
better  than  a  superior.  The  earth  hath  a  goodness  in  bringing  forth 
fruits,  and  the  waters  in  the  sea  a  goodness  in  multiplying  food.  That 
any  of  us  have  a  being  is  goodness ;  that  we  have  not  so  healthful  a 
being  as  others  is  unequal,  but  not  unjust  goodness.  He  is  good  to 
all,  though  not  in  the  same  degree :  "  The  whole  earth  is  full  of  his 
mercy"  (Ps.  cxix.  64).  A  good  man  is  good  to  his  cattle,  to  his  ser- 
vants ;  he  makes  a  provision  for  all,  but  he  bestows  not  those  floods 
of  bounty  upon  them  that  he  doth  upon  his  children.  As  there  are 
various  gifts,  but  one  Spirit  (1  Cor.  xii.  4),  so  there  are  various  distri- 
butions, but  from  one  goodness ;  the  drops,  as  well  as  the  fuller 
streams,  are  of  the  same  fountain,  and  relish  of  the  nature  of  it ;  and 
though  he  do  not  make  all  men  partake  of  the  riches  of  his  grace 
after  the  corruption  of  their  nature,  is  his  goodness  disgraced  hereby  ? 
or  doth  he  merit  the  title  of  cruelty  ?  Will  any  diminish  the  good- 
ness of  a  father  for  his  not  setting  up  his  son  after  he  hath  foolishly 
and  wilfully  proved  bankrupt ;  or  not  rather  admire  his  liberality  in 
giving  him  so  large  a  stock  to  trade  with  when  he  first  set  him  up 
in  the  world  ? 

2.  The  goodness  of  God  to  creatures,  is  to  be  measured  by  their 
distinct  usefulness  to  the  common  end.  It  were  better  for  a  toad  or 
serpent  to  be  a  man,  i,  e.  better  for  the  creature  itself,  as  it  were  ad- 
vanced to  a  higher  degree  of  being,  but  not  better  for  the  universe : 
he  could  have  made  every  pebble  a  living  creature,  and  every  liv- 
ing creature  a  rational  one ;  but  that  he  made  everything  as  we 
see,  it  was  a  goodness  to  the  creature  itself;  but  that  he  did  not 
make  it  of  a  higher  elevation  in  nature,  was  a  part  of  his  goodness 
to  the  rational  creature.  If  all  were  rational  creatures,  there  would 
have  been  wanting  creatures  of  an  inferior  nature  for  their  con- 
veniency ;  there  would  have  wanted  the  manifestation  of  the  variety 
and  "  fulness  of  his  goodness."  Had  all  things  in  the  world  been 
rational  creatures,  much  of  that  goodness  which  he  hath  communi- 
cated to  rational  creatures  would  not  have  appeared :  how  could 
man  have  showed  his  skill  in  taming  and  managing  creatures  more 
mighty  than  himself?  What  materials  would  there  have  been  to 
manifest  the  goodness  of  God,  bestowed  upon  the  reasonable  crea- 
tures for  framing  excellent  works  and  inventions  ?  Much  of  the 
goodness  of  God  had  lain  wrapt  up  from  sense  and  understanding. 
All  other  things  partake  not  of  so  great  a  goodness  as  man ;  yet 
they  are  so  subservient  to  that  goodness  poured  forth  on  man,  that 
little  of  it  could  have  been  seen  without  them.  Consider  man, 
every  member  in  his  body  hath  a  goodness  in  itself;  but  a  greater 
goodness  as  referred  to  the  wliole,  without  which  the  goodness  of 
the  more  noble  part  would  not  be  manifested.  The  head  is  the 
most  excellent  member,  and  hath  greater  impressions  of  Divine 
goodness  upon  it,  in  regard  that  it  is  the  organ  of  understanding : 


234  CHAENOCK  ON  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

were  every  member  of  the  body  a  head,  what  a  deformed  monster 
would  man  be !  If  he  were  all  head,  where  would  be  feet  for 
motion,  and  arms  for  action  ?  Man  would  be  fit  only  for  thought, 
and  not  for  exercise.  The  goodness  of  God  in  giving  man  so  noble 
a  part  as  the  head,  could  not  be  known  Avithout  a  tongue,  whereby 
to  express  the  conception  of  his  mind  ;  and  without  feet  and  hands 
whereby  to  act  much  of  what  he  conceives,  and  determines,  and 
execute  the  resolves  of  his  will ;  all  those  have  a  goodness  in  them- 
selves, an  honor,  a  comeliness  from  the  goodness  of  God  (1  Cor. 
xii.  22,  23),  but  not  so  great  a  goodness  as  the  nobler  part :  yet,  if 
you  consider  them  in  their  functions,  and  refer  them  to  that  excel- 
lent member  which  they  serve,  their  inferior  goodness  is  absolutely 
necessary  to  the  goodness  of  the  other ;  without  which,  the  good- 
ness of  the  head  and  understanding  would  lie  in  obscurity,  be  in- 
significant to  the  whole  world,  and,  in  a  great  measure,  to  the  per- 
son himself  that  wants  such  members. 

3.  "  The  goodness  of  God  is  more  seen  in  this  inequality."  If 
God  were  equally  good  to  all,  it  would  destroy  commerce,  unity,  the 
links  of  human  society,  damp  charity,  and  render  that  useless  which 
is  one  of  the  noblest  and  delightfulest  duties  to  be  exercised  here  ; 
it  would  cool  prayer,  which  is  excited  by  wants,  and  is  a  necessary 
demonstration  of  the  creature's  dependence  on  God.  But  in  this 
inequality  every  man  hath  enough  in  his  enjoyments  for  praise, 
and  in  his  wants,  matter  for  his  prayer.  Besides  the  inequality  of 
the  creature  is  the  ornament  of  the  world ;  what  pleasure  could  a 
garden  afi:brd  if  there  were  but  one  sort  of  flowers,  or  one  sort  of 
plants?  far  less  than  when  there  is  variety  to  please  the  sight,  and 
every  other  sense.  Again,  the  freedom  of  Divine  goodness,  which 
is  the  glory  of  it,  is  evident  hereby ;  had  he  been  alike  good  to 
all,  it  would  have  looked  like  a  necessary,  not  a  free  act ;  but  by 
the  inequality,  it  is  manifest  that  he  doth  not  do  it  by  a  natural  ne- 
cessity as  the  sun  shines,  but  by  a  voluntary  liberty,  as  being  the 
entire  Lord,  and  free  disposer  of  his  own  goods ;  and  that  is  the 
gift  of  the  pleasure  of  his  will,  as  well  as  the  efflux  of  his  nature, 
that  he  hath  not  a  goodness  Avithout  wisdom,  but  a  wisdom  as  rich 
as  his  bounty. 

4.  The  goodness  of  God  could  not  be  equally  communicated  to 
all,  after  their  settlement  in  their  several  beings, — because  they  have 
not  a  capacity  in  their  natures  for  it :  he  doth  bestow  the  marks  of 
his  goodness  according  to  that  natural  capacity  of  fitness  he  per- 
ceives in  his  creatures ;  as  the  water  of  the  sea  fills  every  creek  and 
gulf  with  different  measures,  according  to  the  compass  each  have  to 
contain  it ;  and  as  the  sun  doth  disperse  light  to  the  stars  above, 
and  the  places  below,  to  some  more,  to  some  less,  according  to  the 
measures  of  their  reception.  God  doth  not  do  good  to  all  creatures 
according  to  the  greatness  of  his  own  power,  and  the  extent  of  his 
own  wealth,  but  according  to  the  capacity  of  the  subject;  not  so 
much  good  as  he  can  do,  but  so  much  good  as  the  creature  can  re- 
ceive. The  creature  would  sink,  if  God  would  pour  out  all  his 
goodness  upon  it;  as  Moses  would  have  perished,  if  God  should 
have  shown  him  all  his  glory  (Exod.  xxxiii.  18,  20).      He   doth 


ON  THE   GOODNESS  OF  GOD.  235 

manifest  more  good  to  liis  reasonable  creatures,  because  they  are 
more  capable  of  acknowledging,  and  setting  forth  his  goodness. 

5.  God  ought  to  be  allowed  the  free  disposal  of  his  own  good- 
ness. Is  not  God  the  Lord  of  his  own  gifts;  and  will  you  not  allow 
him  the  privilege  of  having  some  more  peculiar  objects  of  his  love 
and  pleasure,  which  you  allow  without  blame  to  man,  and  use  your- 
self without  any  sense  of  a  crime  ?  Is  a  prince  esteemed  good, 
though  he  be  not  equally  bountiful  to  all  his  servants,  nor  equally 
gracious  in  pardoning  all  his  rebels;  and  shall  the  goodness  of  the 
great  Sovereign  of  the  world  be  impeached,  notwithstanding  those 
mighty  distributions  of  it,  because  he  will  act  according  to  his  own 
wisdom  and  pleasure,  and  not  according  to  men's  fancies  and  hu- 
mors? Must  purblind  reason  be  the  judge  and  director  how  God 
shall  dispose  of  his  own,  rather  than  his  own  infinite  wisdom  and 
sovereign  will  ?  Is  God  less  good,  because  there  are  numberless  no- 
things, which  he  is  able  to  bring  into  being  ?  He  could  create  a 
world  of  more  creatures  than  he  hath  done:  doth  he,  therefore, 
wish  evil  to  them,  by  letting  them  remain  in  that  nothing  from 
whence  he  could  draw  them  ?  No ;  but  he  denies  that  good  to 
them,  which  he  is  able,  if  he  pleased,  to  confer  upon  them.  If  God 
doth  not  give  that  good  to  a  creature  which  it  wants  by  its  own 
demerit,  can  he  be  said  to  wish  evil  to  it ;  or,  only  to  deny  that 
goodness  which  the  creature  hath  forfeited,  and  which  is  at  God's 
liberty  to  retain  or  disperse?"  Though  God  cannot  but  love  his 
own  image  where  he  finds  it,  yet  when  this  image  is  lost,  and  the 
devil's  image  voluntary  received,  he  may  choose  whether  he  will 
manifest  his  goodness  to  such  a  one  or  no.  Will  you  not  account 
that  man  liberal,  that  distributes  his  alms  to  a  great  company, 
though  he  rejects  some  ?  Much  more  will  you  account  him  good, 
if  he  rejects  none  that  implore  him,  but  dispenseth  his  doles  to 
every  one  upon  their  petition :  and  is  he  not  good,  because  he 
will  not  bestow  a  farthing  upon  those  that  address  not  themselves 
to  him  ?  God  is  so  good,  that  he  denies  not  the  best  good  to 
those  that  seek  him :  he  hath  promised  life  and  happiness  to  them 
that  do  so.  Is  he  less  good,  because  he  will  not  distribute  his 
goodness  to  those  that  despise  him  ?  Though  he  be  good,  yet  his 
wisdom  is  the  rule  of  dispensing  his  goodness. 

6.  The  severe  punishment  of  offenders,  and  the  afflictions  he  in- 
flicts upon  his  servants,  are  no  violations  of  his  goodness.  The 
notion  of  God's  vindictive  justice  is  as  naturally  inbred,  and  im- 
planted in  the  mind  of  man,  as  that  of  his  goodness,  and  those  two 
sentiments  never  shocked  one  another.  The  heathen  never  thought 
him  bad,  because  he  was  just;  nor  unrighteous,  because  he  was 
good.  God  being  infinitely  good,  cannot  possibly  intend  or  act' 
anything  but  what  is  good :  "  Thou  art  good,  and  thou  doest 
good  ;"  i.  e.  whatsoever  thou  dost  is  good,  whatsoever  it  be,  pleasant 
or  painful  to  the  creature  (Ps.  cxix.  68) :  punishments  themselves 
are  not  a  moral  evil  in  the  person  that  inflicts,  tliongh  they  are  a 
natural  evil  in  the  person  that  suffers  them.°  In  ordering  pim- 
ishment  to  the  wicked,  good  is  added  to  evil ;    in    ordering    im- 

»  Camero,  p.  30.  <»  Boetius. 


236  CHARNOCK  ON  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

punity  to  the  wicked,  evil  is  added  to  evil.  To  punish  wicked- 
ness is  right,  therefore  good :  to  leave  men  uncontrolled  in  their 
wickedness,  is  unrighteous,  and  therefore  bad.  But,  again,  shall 
his  justice  in  some  few  judgments  in  the  world,  impeach  his  good- 
ness, more  than  his  wonderful  patience  to  sinners  is  able  to  silence 
the  calumnies  against  him?  Is  not  his  hand  fuller  of  gracious 
doles,  than  of  dreadful  thunderbolts  ?  Doth  he  not  oftener  seem 
forgetful  of  his  justice,  when  he  pours  out  upon  the  guilty  the 
streams  of  his  mercy,  than  to  be  forgetful  of  his  goodness,  when  he 
sprinkles  in  the  world  some  drops  of  his  wrath  ? 

First,  God's  judgments  in  the  world,  do  not  infringe  his  goodness; 
for, 

1.  The  justice  of  God  is  a  part  of  the  goodness  of  his  nature. 
God  himself  thought  so,  when  he  told  Moses  he  would  make  all  his 
goodness  pass  before  him  (Exod.  xxxiii.  19) :  he  leaves  not  out  in 
that  enumeration  of  the  parts  of  it,  his  resolution,  by  no  means  to 
clear  the  guilty,  but  to  visit  the  iniquity  of  the  fathers  upon  the 
children  (Exod,  xxxiv.  7).  It  is  a  property  of  goodness  to  hate  evil, 
and,  therefore,  a  property  of  goodness  to  punish  it :  it  is  no  less 
righteousness  to  give  according  to  the  deserts  of  a  person  in  a  way 
of  punishment,  than  to  reward  a  person  that  obeys  his  precepts  in  a 
way  of  recompense.  Whatsoever  is  righteous  is  good  ;  sin  is  evil ; 
and,  therefore,  whatsoever  doth  witness  against  it,  is  good ;  his  good- 
ness, therefore,  shines  in  his  justice,  for  without  being  just  he  could 
not  be  good.  Sin  is  a  moral  disorder  in  the  world  :  every  sin  is  in- 
justice :  injustice  breaks  God's  order  in  the  world  ;  there  is  a  neces- 
sity tlierefore  of  justice  to  put  the  world  in  order.  Punishment 
orders  the  person  committing  the  injury,  who,  when  he  will  not  be 
in  the  order  of  obedience,  must  be  in  the  order  of  suffering  for  God's 
honor.  The  goodness  of  all  things  which  God  pronounced  so,  con- 
sisted in  their  order  and  beneficial  helpfulness  to  one  another :  when 
this  order  is  inverted,  the  goodness  of  the  creature  ceaseth  :  if  it  be 
a  bad  thing  to  spoil  this  order,  is  it  not  a  part  of  Divine  goodness  to 
reduce  them  into  order,  that  they  may  be  reduced  in  some  measure 
to  their  goodness?  Do  we  ever  account  a  governor  less  in  goodness, 
because  he  is  exact  in  justice,  and  punisheth  that  which  makes  a 
disorder  in  his  government  ?  and  is  it  a  diminution  of  the  Divine 
goodness,  to  punish  that  which  makes  a  disorder  in  the  world  ?  As 
wisdom  without  goodness  would  be  a  serpentine  craft,  and  issue  in 
destruction ;  so  goodness  without  justice  would  be  impotent  indul- 
gence, and  cast  things  into  confusion.  When  Abel's  blood  cried 
out  for  engeance  against  Cain,  it  spake  a  good  thing;  Christ's 
blood  speaking  better  things  than  the  blood  of  Abel,  implies  that 
Abel's  blood  spake  a  good  thing ;  the  comparative  implies  a  positive 
(Ileb.  xii.  24).  If  it  were  the  goodness  of  that  innocent  blood  to  de- 
mand justice,  it  could  not  be  a  badness  in  the  Sovereign  of  the  world 
to  execute  it.  How  can  God  sustain  the  part  of  a  good  and  right- 
eous judge,  if  he  did  not  preserve  human  society?  and  how  would 
it  be  preserved,  without  manifesting  himself  by  public  judgments 
against  public  wrongs  ?  Is  there  not  as  great  a  necessity  that  good- 
ness should  have  instruments  of  judgment,  as  that  there  should  be 


ON  THE   GOODNESS   OF   GOD.  237 

prisons,  bridewells,  and  gibbets,  in  a  good  commonwealth  ?  Did  not 
the  thunderbolts  of  God  sometimes  roar  in  the  ears  of  men,  they 
would  sin  with  a  higher  hand  than  they  do,  fly  more  in  the  face  of 
God,  make  the  world  as  much  a  moral,  as  it  was  at  first  a  natural 
chaos:  the  ingenuity  of  men  would  be  damped,  if  there  were  not 
something  to  work  upon  their  fears,  to  keep  them  in  their  due  order. 
Impunity  of  the  innocent  person  is  worse  than  any  punishment.  It 
is  a  misery  to  want  medicines  for  the  cure  of  a  sharp  disease ;  and  a 
mark  of  goodness  in  a  prince  to  consult  for  the  security  of  the  politi- 
cal body,  by  cutting  off  a  gangrened  and  corrupting  member :  and 
wliat  prince  would  deserve  the  noble  title  of  good,  if  he  did  not  re- 
strain, by  punishment,  those  evils  which  impair  the  public  welfare? 
Is  it  not  necessary  that  the  examples  of  sin,  whereby  others  have 
been  encouraged  to  wickedness,  should  be  made  examples  of  justice, 
whereby  the  same  persons  and  others  may  be  discouraged  from  what 
before  they  were  greedily  inclined  unto  ?  Is  not  a  hatred  of  what 
is  bad  and  unwortliy,  as  much  a  part  of  Divine  goodness,  as  a  love 
to  what  is  excellent,  and  bears  a  resemblance  to  himself?  Could  he 
possibly  be  accounted  good,  that  should  bear  the  same  degree  of 
affection  to  a  prodigious  vice,  as  to  a  sublime  virtue?  and  should 
behave  himself  in  the  same  manner  of  carriage  to  the  innocent  and 
culpable  ?  could  you  account  him  good,  if  he  did  always  with  plea- 
sure behold  evil,  and  perpetually  suffer  the  oppressions  of  the  inno- 
cent under  unpunished  wickedness?  How  should  we  know  the 
goodness  of  the  Divine  nature,  and  his  affection  to  the  goodness  of 
his  creature,  if  he  did  not  by  some  acts  of  severity  witness  his  impla- 
cable aversion  against  sin,  and  his  care  to  preserve  the  good  govern- 
ment of  the  world  ?  If  corrupted  creatures  should  always  be  ex- 
empt from  the  effects  of  his  indignation,  he  would  declare  himself 
not  to  be  infinitely  good,  because  he  would  not  be  really  righteous. 
No  man  thinks  it  a  natural  vice  in  the  sun,  by  the  power  of  its 
scorching  heat,  to  dry  up  and  consume  the  unwholesome  vapors  of 
the  air  ;  nor  are  the  demonstrations  of  Divine  justice  any  blots  upon 
his  goodness,  since  they  are  both  for  the  defence  and  glory  of  his 
holiness,  and  for  the  preservation  of  the  beauty  and  order  of  the 
world. 

2.  Is  it  not  part  of  the  goodness  of  God  to  make  laws,  and  annex 
threatenings ;  and  shall  it  be  an  impeachment  of  his  goodness  to 
support  them  ?  The  more  severe  laws  are  made  for  deterring  evil, 
the  better  is  that  prince  accounted  in  making  such  provision  for  the 
welfare  of  the  community.  The  design  of  laws,  and  the  design  of 
upholding  the  honor  of  those  laws  by  the  punishment  of  offenders, 
is  to  promote  goodness  and  restrain  evil ;  the  execution  of  those 
laws  must  be  therefore  pursuant  to  the  same  design  of  goodness 
which  first  settled  them.  Would  it  not  be  contrary  to  goodness,  to 
suffer  that  which  was  designed  for  the  support  of  goodness,  to  be 
scorned  and  slighted  ?  It  would  neither  be  prudence  nor  goodness, 
but  folly  and  vice,  to  let  laws,  which  were  made  to  promote  virtue, 
be  broken  with  impunity.  Would  not  this  be  to  weaken  virtue, 
and  give  a  new  life  and  vigor  to  vice  ?  Not  only  the  righteousness 
of  the  law  itself,  but  the  wisdom  of  the  Lawgiver  would  be  exposed 


238  CHARNOCK  ON   THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

to  contempt,  if  the  violations  of  it  remained  uncontrolled,  and  the 
violence  offered  by  men  passed  unpunished.  None  but  will  ac- 
knowledge the  Divine  precepts  to  be  the  image  of  the  righteousness 
of  God,  and  beneficial  for  the  common  good  of  the  world  (Rom,  vii. 
12):  "  The  law  is  holy,  just,  aud  good,"  and  so  is  every  precept  of 
it ;  the  law  is  for  no  other  end,  but  to  keep  the  creature  in  subjection 
to,  and  dependence  on  God  ;  this  dependence  could  not  be  preserved 
Avithout  a  law,  nor  that  law  be  kept  in  reputation,  without  a  penalty ; 
nor  would  that  penalty  be  significant  without  an  execution.  Every 
law  loseth  the  nature  of  a  laAV,  without  a  penalty  ;  and  the  penalty 
loseth  its  vigor,  without  the  infliction  of  it :  how  can  those  laws  at- 
tain their  end,  if  the  transgressions  of  them  be  not  punished  ?  Would 
not  the  wickedness  of  the  men's  hearts  be  encouraged  by  such  a  kind 
of  uncomely  goodness  ?  and  all  the  threatenings  be  to  no  other  end, 
than  to  engender  vain  and  fruitless  fears  in  the  minds  of  men  ?  Is 
it  good  for  the  majesty  of  God  to  suffer  itself  to  be  trampled  on  by 
his  vassals  ?  to  suffer  men,  by  their  rebellion,  to  level  his  law  with 
the  wickedness  of  their  own  hearts ;  and  by  impunity  slight  his  own 
glory,  and  encourage  their  disobedience?  Who  would  give  any 
man,  any  prince,  any  father,  that  should  do  so,  the  name  of  a  good 
governor  ?  If  it  were  a  fruit  of  Divine  goodness  to  make  laws,  is  it 
contrary  to  goodness  to  support  the  honor  of  them  ?  It  is  every 
whit  as  rational  and  as  good  to  vindicate  the  honor  of  his  laws  by 
justice,  as  at  first  to  settle  them  by  authority  ;  as  much  goodness  to 
vindicate  it  from  contempt,  as  at  first  to  enact  it ;  as  it  is  as  much 
wisdom  to  preserve  a  law,  as  at  first  to  frame  it :  shall  his  precepts 
be  thought  by  him  unworthy  of  a  support,  that  were  not  thought  by 
him  unworthy  to  be  made  ?  The  same  reason  of  goodness  that  led 
him  to  enjoin  them,  Avill  lead  him  to  revenge  them.  Did  evil  appear 
odious  to  him,  while  he  enacted  this  law ;  and  Avould  not  his  good- 
ness, as  well  as  his  wisdom,  appear  odious  to  him,  if  he  did  never 
execute  it  ?  AVould  it  not  be  a  denial  of  his  own  goodness,  to  be 
led  by  the  foolish  and  corrupt  judgment  of  his  creatures,  and  slight 
his  own  law,  because  his  rebels  spurn  at  it  ?  Since  he  valued  it  be- 
fore they  could  actually  contemn  it,  would  he  not  misjudge  his  own 
law  and  his  own  wisdom,  discount  from  the  true  value  of  them,  con- 
demn his  own  acts,  censure  his  precepts  as  unrighteous,  and  there- 
fore evil  and  injurious  ?  remove  the  differences  between  good  and 
evil,  look  upon  vice  as  virtue,  and  wickedness  as  righteousness,  if 
he  thought  his  commands  unworthy  a  vindication  ?  How  can  there 
be  any  support  to  the  honor  of  his  precepts,  without  sometimes  exe- 
cuting the  severity  of  his  threatenings  ?  And  as  to  his  threatenings 
of  punishment  for  the  breach  of  his  laws,  are  they  not  designed  to 
discourage  wickedness,  as  the  promises  of  reward  were  designed  to 
encourage  goodness  ?  Hath  he  not  multiplied  the  one,  to  scare  men 
from  sin,  as  well  as  the  other,  to  allure  men  to  obedience  ?  Is  not 
the  same  truth  engaged  to  support  the  one,  as  well  as  the  other ;  and 
how  could  he  be  abundant  in  goodness,  if  he  were  not  abundant  in 
truth  (Exod,  xxxiv,  6)  ?  both  are  linked  together  ;  if  he  neglected 
his  truth,  he  would  be  out  of  love  with  his  own  goodness  ;  since  it 
cannot  be  manifested  in  performing  the  promises  to  the  obedient,  if 


ON  THE   GOODNESS   OF   GOD.  239 

it  be  not  also  manifested  in  executing  liis  tlireatenings  upon  tlie  re- 
bellious. Had  not  God  annexed  tlireatenings  to  his  laws,  lie  would 
have  had  no  care  of  his  own  goodness.  The  order  between  God  and 
the  creature,  wherein  the  declaration  of  his  goodness  consisted,  might 
have  been  easily  broken  by  his  creature;  man  would  have  freed 
himself  from  subjection  to  God;  been  unaccountable  to  him,  had 
this  consisted  with  that  infinite  goodness  whereby  he  loves  himself, 
and  loves  his  creatures.  As  therefore  the  annexing  threatenings  to 
his  law,  was  a  part  of  his  goodness  ;  the  execution  of  them  is  so  far 
from  being  a  blemish,  that  it  is  the  honor  of  his  goodness.  The  re- 
wards of  obedience,  and  the  punishment  of  disobedience,  refer  to  the 
same  end,  viz.  the  due  manifestation  of  the  valuation  of  his  own  lavv^, 
the  glorifying  his  own  goodness,  which  enjoined  so  beneficial  a  law 
for  man,  and  the  support  of  that  goodness  in  the  creatures,  which  by 
that  law  he  demands  righteously  and  kindly  of  them. 

3.  Hence  it  follows,  That  not  to  punish  evil,  would  be  a  want  of 
goodness  to  himself.  The  goodness  of  God  is  an  indulgent  good- 
ness, in  a  way  of  wisdom  and  reason;  not  a  fond  goodness,  in  a 
way  of  weakness  and  folly :  would  it  not  be  a  weakness,  always  to 
bear  with  the  impenitent  ?  a  want  of  expressing  a  goodness  to  good- 
ness itself?  Would  not  goodness  have  more  reason  to  complain,  for 
a  want  of  justice  to  rescue  it,  than  men  have  reason  to  complain,  for 
the  exercise  of  justice  in  the  vindication  of  it?  If  God  established 
all  things  in  order,  with  infinite  wisdom  and  goodness,  and  God 
silently  beheld,  forever,  this  order  broken,  would  he  not  either 
charge  himself  with  a  want  of  power,  or  a  want  of  will,  to  preserve 
the  marks  of  his  own  goodness  ?  Would  it  be  a  kindness  to  himself 
to  be  careless  of  the  breaches  of  his  own  orders  ?  His  throne  would 
shake,  yea,  sink  from  under  him,  if  justice,  whereby  he  sentenceth, 
and  judgment,  whereby  he  executes  his  sentence,  were  not  the  sup- 
ports of  it  (Ps.  Ixxxix.  14).  "Justice  and  judgment  are  the  habita- 
tion of  thy  throne,  P'sn,  the  stability  or  foundation  of  thy  throne. 
So,  Ps.  xcii.  2.  Man  would  forget  his  relation  to  God ;  God  would 
be  unknown  to  be  sovereign  of  the  world,  were  he  careless  of  the 
breaches  of  his  own  order  (Ps.  ix.  16).  "  The  Lord  is  known  by  the 
judgments  which  he  executes;"  is  it  not  a  part  of  his  goodness,  to 
preserve  the  indispensable  order  between  himself  and  his  creatures  ? 
His  own  sovereignty,  which  is  good,  and  the  subjection  of  the  crea- 
ture to  him  as  sovereign,  which  is  also  good ;  the  one  would  not  be 
maintained  in  its  due  place,  nor  the  other  restrained  in  due  limits, 
without  punishment.  Would  it  be  a  goodness  in  him  to  see  good- 
ness itself  trampled  upon  constantly,  without  some  time  or  other 
appearing  for  the  relief  of  it  ?  Is  it  not  a  goodness  to  secure  his  own 
honor,  to  prevent  further  evil  ?  Is  it  not  a  goodness  to  discourage 
men  by  judgments,  sometimes,  from  a  contempt  and  ill  use  of  his 
bounty ;  as  well  as  sometimes  patiently  to  bear  with  them,  and  wait 
upon  them  for  a  reformation  ?  Must  God  be  bad  to  himself,  to  be 
kind  to  his  enemies  ?  And  shall  it  be  acounted  an  unkindness,  and 
a  mark  of  evil  in  him,  not  to  suffer  himself  to  be  always  outraged 
and  defied?  The  world  is  wronged  by  sin,  as  well  as  God  is  injured 
by  it.     How  could  God  be  good  to  himself,  if  he  righted  not  his 


240  CHARNOCK   ON  THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

own  honor  ?  or  be  a  good  governor  of  the  world,  if  he  did  not  some- 
times witness  against  the  injuries  it  receives  sometimes  from  the 
works  of  his  hands  ?  Would  he  be  good  to  himself,  as  a  God,  to  be 
careless  of  his  own  honor  ?  or  good,  as  the  Rector  of  the  world,  and 
be  regardless  of  the  world's  confusion  ?  That  God  should  give  an 
eternal  good  to  that  creature  that  declines  its  duty,  and  despiseth 
his  sovereignty,  is  not  agreeable  to  the  goodness  of  his  wisdom,  or 
that  of  his  righteousness.  It  is  a  part  of  God's  goodness  to  love  him- 
self Would  he  love  his  sovereignty,  if  he  saw  it  daily  slighted, 
without  sometimes  discovering  how  much  he  values  the  honor  of  it? 
Would  he  have  any  esteem  for  his  own  goodness,  if  he  beheld  it 
trampled  upon,  without  any  will  to  vindicate  it  ?  Doth  mercy  de- 
serve the  name  of  cruelty,  because  it  pleads  against  a  creature  that 
hath  so  often  abused  it,  and  hath  refused  to  have  any  pity  exercised 
towards  it  in  a  righteous  and  regular  way?  Is  sovereignty  destitute 
of  goodness,  because  it  preserves  its  honor  against  one  that  would 
not  have  it  reign  over  him  ?  Would  he  not  seem,  by  such  a  regard- 
lessness,  to  renounce  his  own  essence,  undervalue  and  undermine 
his  own  goodness,  if  he  had  not  an  implacable  aversion  to  whatso- 
ever is  contrary  to  it?  If  men  turn  grace  into  wantonness,  is  it  not 
more  reasonable  he  should  turn  his  grace  into  justice  ?  All  his  attri- 
butes, which  are  parts  of  his  goodness,  engage  him  to  punish  sin ; 
without  it,  his  authority  would  be  vilified,  his  purity  stained,  his 
power  derided,  his  truth  disgraced,  his  justice  scorned,  his  wisdom 
slighted ;  he  would  be  thought  to  have  dissembled  in  his  laws ;  and  be 
judged,  according  to  the  rules  of  reason,  to  be  void  of  true  goodness. 
4.  Punishment  is  not  the  primary  intention  of  God.  It  is  his 
goodness  that  he  hath  no  mind  to  punish ;  and  therefore  he  hath  put 
a  bar  to  evil,  by  his  prohibitions  and  threatenings,  that  he  might 
prevent  sin,  and,  consequently,  any  occasions  of  severity  against 
his  creature.?  The  principal  intention  of  God,  in  his  law,  was 
to  encourage  goodness,  that  he  might  reward  it;  and  when,  by 
the  commission  of  evil,  God  is  provoked  to  punish,  and  takes  the 
sword  into  his  hand,  he  doth  not  act  against  the  nature  of  his 
goodness,  but  against  the  first  intention  of  his  goodness  in  his  pre- 
cepts, which  was  to  reward ;  as  a  good  judge  principally  intends, 
in  the  exercise  of  his  ofhce,  to  protect  good  men  from  violence,  and 
maintain  the  honor  of  the  laws,  yet,  consequently,  to  punish  bad 
men,  without  which  the  protection  of  the  good  would  not  be  secured, 
nor  the  honor  of  the  law  be  supported ;  and  a  good  judge,  in  the  ex- 
ercise of  his  office,  doth  principally  intend  the  encouragement  of  the 
good,  and  wisheth  there  were  no  wickedness  that  might  occasion 
punishment ;  and,  when  he  doth  sentence  a  malefactor,  in  order  to 
the  execution  of  him,  he  doth  not  act  against  the  goodness  of  his 
nature,  but  pursuant  to  the  duty  of  his  place,  but  wisheth  he  had  no 
occasion  for  such  severity.  Thus  God  seems  to  speak  of  himself 
(Isa.  xxviii.  21);  he  calls  the  act  of  his  wrath  his  "  strange  work,  his 
strange  act;"  a  work,  not  against  his  nature,  as  the  Governor  of  the 
world,  but  against  his  first  intention,  as  Creator,  which  was  to  mani- 
fest his  goodness ;  therefore  he  moves  with  a  slow  pace  in  those  acts, 

P  Zaruovecius,  de  Satisfact.  Part  I.  cap.  i.  pp.  3,  4. 


ON  THE   GOODNESS  OF  GOD.  241 

brings  out  liis  judgments  witli  relentings  of  heart,  and  seems  to  cast 
out  his  thunderbolts  with  a  trembhng  hand :  "  He  doth  not  afflict 
wilHngly,  nor  grieve  the  children  of  men"  (Lam,  iii.  33) ;  and  there- 
fore he  "  delights  not  in  the  death  of  a  sinner"  (Ezek.  xxxiii.  11); 
not  in  death,  as  death ;  in  punishment,  as  punishment ;  but  as  it  re- 
duceth  the  suffering  creature  to  the  order  of  his  precept,  or  reduceth 
him  into  order  under  his  power,  or  reforms  others  who  are  specta- 
tors of  the  punishment  upon  a  criminal  of  their  own  nature ;  God 
only  hates  the  sin,  not  the  sinner ;  he  desires  only  the  destruction 
of  the  one,  not  the  misery  of  the  other ;  the  nature  of  a  man  doth  not 
dis]3lease  him,  because  it  is  a  work  of  his  own  goodness,  but  the  na- 
ture of  the  sinner  displeaseth  him,  because  it  is  a  work  of  the  sinner's 
own  extravagance.  1  Divine  goodness  pitcheth  not  its  hatred  prima- 
rily upon  the  sinner,  but  upon  the  sin :  but  since  he  cannot  punish 
the  sin  without  punishing  the  subject  to  which  it  cleaves,  the  sinner 
falls  under  his  lash.  AVhoever  regards  a  good  judge  as  an  enemy  to 
the  malefactor,  but  as  an  enemy  to  his  crime,  when  he  doth  sentence 
and  execute  him  ? 

5.  Judgments  in  the  world  have  a  goodness  in  them,  therefore 
they  are  no  impeachments  of  the  goodness  of  God. 

(1.)  A  goodness  in  their  preparations.  He  sends  not  judgments 
mthout  giving  warnings ;  his  justice  is  so  far  from  extinguishing  his 
goodness,  that  his  goodness  rather  shines  out  in  the  preparations  of 
his  justice;  he  gives  men  time,  and  sends  them  messengers,  to  per- 
suade them  to  another  temjDcr  of  mind,  that  he  may  change  his  hand, 
and  exercise  his  liberality  where  he  threatened  his  severity.  When 
the  heathen  had  presages  of  some  evil  upon  their  persons  or  countries, 
they  took  them  for  invitations  to  repentance,  excited  themselves  to 
many  acts  of  devotion,  implored  his  favor,  and  often  experimented  it. 
Tlie  Ninevites,  upon  the  proclamation  of  the  destruction  of  their  city 
by  Jonah,  fell  to  petitioning  him,  whereby  they  signified,  that  they 
thought  him  good,  though  he  were  just,  and  more  prone  to  pity  than 
severity ;  and  their  humble  carriage  caused  the  arrows  he  had  ready 
against  them  to  drop  out  of  his  hands  (Jonah  iii.  9,  10).  When  he 
brandisheth  his  sword,  he  wishes  for  some  to  stand  in  that  gap,  to  mol- 
lify his  anger,  that  he  might  not  strike  the  fatal  blow  (Ezek.  xxxii.  30); 
"  I  sought  for  a  man  among  them  that  should  make  up  the  hedge,  and 
stand  in  the  gap  before  me  in  the  land,  that  I  should  not  destroy  it." 
He  was  desirous  that  his  creatures  might  be  in  a  capacity  to  receive 
the  marks  of  his  bounty.''  This  he  signified,  not  obscurely,  to  Moses 
(Exod.  xxxii.  10),  when  he  spoke  to  him  to  let  him  alone,  that  his 
anger  might  wax  hot  against  the  people,  after  they  had  made  a 
golden  calf  and  worshipped  it.  "  Let  me  alone,"  said  God :  not  that 
Moses  restrained  him,  saith  Chrysostom,  who  spake  nothing  to  him, 
but  stood  silent  before  him,  and  knew  nothing  of  the  people's  idola- 
try ;  but  God  would  give  him  an  occasion  of  praying  for  them,  that 
he  might  exercise  his  mercy  towards  them ;  yet  in  such  a  manner, 
that  the  people,  being  struck  with  a  sense  of  their  crime,  and  the 
horror  of  Divine  justice,  they  might  be  amended  for  the  future,  when 
they  should  understand  that  their  death  was  not  averted  by  their 

<i  Suarcz,  Vol.  I.  de  Deo,  lib.  iii.  cap.  1.  p.  146.  '  Cressel.  Authol.  Decad.  II.  p.  162. 

VOL.   II. — IG 


242  CHARNOCK  ON  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

own  merit  or  intercession,  but  by  Moses,  his  patronage  of  them,  and 
pleading  for  tliem ;  as  we  see  sometimes  masters  and  fathers  angry 
with  their  servants  and  children,  and  preparing  themselves  to  punish 
them,  but  secretly  wish  some  friend  to  intercede  for  them,  and  take 
them  out  of  their  hands :  there  is  a  goodness  shining  in  the  prepara- 
tions of  his  judgments. 

2.  A  goodness  in  the  execution  of  them.  They  are  good,  as  they 
shew  God  disaffected  to  evil,  and  conduce  to  the  glory  of  his  holi- 
ness, and  deter  others  from  jjresumptuous  sins  (Deut.  x.  3) :  "I  will 
be  glorified  in  all  that  draw  near  unto  me  ; — in  his  judgment  upon 
Nadab  and  Abihu,  the  sons  of  Aaron,  for  offering  strange  fire.  By 
them  God  preserves  the  excellent  footsteps  of  his  own  goodness  in 
his  creation  and  his  law,  and  curbs  the  licentiousness  of  men,  and 
contains  them  within  the  bounds  of  their  duty.  "  Thy  judgments  are 
good,"  saith  the  Psalmist  (Ps.  cxix ;  xxxix) ;  i.  e.  thy  judicial  pro- 
ceedings upon  the  wicked ;  for  he  desires  God  there  to  turn  away, 
by  some  signal  act,  the  reproach  the  wicked  cast  upon  him.  Can 
there  be  any  thing  more  miserable  than  to  live  in  a  world  full  of 
wickedness,  and  void  of  the  marks  of  Divine  goodness  and  justice  to 
repress  it?  Were  there  not  judgments  in  the  world,  men  would  for- 
get God,  be  insensible  of  his  government  of  the  world,  neglect  the 
exercises  of  natural  and  christian  duties ;  religion  would  be  at  its 
last  gasp,  and  expire  among  them,  and  men  would  pretend  to  break 
God's  precepts  by  God's  authority.  Are  they  not  good,  then,  as 
they  restrain  the  creature  from  further  evils ;  affright  others  from 
the  same  crimes  which  they  were  inclinable  to  commit?  He  strikes 
some,  to  reform  others  that  are  spectators ;  as  Apollonius  tamed 
pigeons  by  beating  dogs  before  them.  Punishments  are  God's 
gracious  warnings  to  others,  not  to  venture  upon  the  crimes  which 
they  see  attended  with  such  judgments.  The  censers  of  Corah, 
Dathan,  and  Abiram,  were  to  be  wrought  into  plates  for  a  covering 
of  the  altar,  to  abide  there  as  a  memento  to  others,  not  to  approach 
to  the  exercise  of  the  priestly  ofl&ce  without  an  authoritative  call 
from  God  (Numb.  xvi.  38,  40) ;  and  those  judgments  exercised  in 
the  former  ages  of  the  world,  were  intended  by  Divine  goodness  for 
warnings,  even  in  evangelical  times.  Lot's  wife  was  turned  into  a 
pillar  of  salt,  to  prevent  men  from  apostasy  ;  that  use  Christ  himself 
makes  of  it,  in  the  exhortation  against  "turning  back"  (Luke  xvii. 
32,  33).  And  (Ps.  Iviii.  10):  "The  righteous  shall  wash  his  feet  in 
the  blood  of  the  wicked."  When  God  shall  drench  his  sword  in  the 
blood  of  the  wicked,  the  righteous  shall  take  occasion  from  thence, 
to  purify  themselves,  and  reform  their  ways,  and  look  to  the  paths 
.of  their  feet.  Would  not  impunity  be  hurtful  to  the  world,  and 
men  receive  encouragement  to  sin,  if  severities  sometimes  did  not 
bridle  them  from  the  practice  of  their  inclinations  ?  Sometimes  the 
sinner  himself  is  reformed,  and  sometimes  removed  from  being  an 
example  to  others.  Though  thunder  be  an  aflfrightening  noise,  and 
lightning  a  scaring  flash,  yet  they  have  a  liberal  goodness  in  them, 
in  shattering  and  consuming  those  contagious  vapors  which  burden 
and  infect  the  air,  and  thereby  render  it  more  clear  and  healthful. 
Again,  there  are  few  acts  of  Divine  justice  upon  a  people,  but  are  in 


ON   THE   GOODNESS   OF   GOD.  243 

the  very  execution  of  tliem  attended  witli  demonstrations  of  liis 
goodness  to  others ;  he  is  a  protector  of  his  own,  while  he  is   a  re- 
venger on  his  enemies;  when  he  rides  upon  his   horses  in   anger 
against  some,  his  ehariots  are  "  chariots  of  salvation"  to  others  (Hab. 
iii.  8).     Terror  makes  way  for  salvation;  the  overthrow  of  Pharaoh 
and  the  strength  of  his  nation,  completed  the  deliverance  of  the  Is- 
raelites.    Had  not  the  Egyptians  met  with  their  destruction,  the  Is- 
raelites had  unavoidably  met  with  their  ruin,  against  all  the  promises 
God  had  made  to  them,  and  to  the  defamation  of  his  former  justice, 
in  the  former  plagues  upon  their  oppressors.     The  death  of  Herod 
was  the  security  of  Peter,  and  the  rest  of  the  maliced  christians. 
The  gracious  deliverance  of  good  men  is  often  occasioned  by  some 
severe  stroke  upon  some  eminent  persecutor  ;  the  destruction  of  the 
oppressor  is  the  rescue  of  the  innocent.     Again,  where  is  there  a 
judgment  but  leaves  more  criminals  behind  than  it  sweeps  away, 
that  deserved  to  be  involved  in  the  same  fate  with  the  rest  ?     More 
Egyptians  were  left  behind  to  possess  and  enjoy  the  goodness  of 
their  fruitful  land,  than  they  were  that  were  hurried  into  another 
world  by  the  overflowing  waves ;  is  not  this  a  mark  of  goodness  as 
well  as  severity  ?     Again,  is  it  not  a  goodness  in  Him  not  to  pour 
out  judgments  according  to  the  greatness  of  his  power  ?  to  go  gradu- 
ally to  work  with  those  whom  he  might  in  a  moment  blow  to  des- 
truction with  one  breath  of  his  mouth  ?     Again,  he  sometimes  exer- 
ciseth  judgments  upon  some,  to  form  a  new  generation  for  himself; 
he  destroyed  an  old  world,  to  raise  a  new  one  more  righteous,  as  a 
man  pulls  down  his  old  buildings  to  erect  a  sounder  and  more  stately 
fabric.     To  sum  up  what  hath  been  said  in  this  particular ;  how 
could  God  be  a  friend  to  goodness,  if  he  were  not  an  enemy  to  evil  ? 
how  could  he  shew  his  enmity  to  evil,  without  revenging  the  abuse 
and  contempt  of  his  goodness  ?     God  would  rather  have  the  repen- 
tance  of  a   sinner    than   his  punishment ;    but  the  sinner  would 
rather  expose  himself  to  the  severest  frowns  of  God,  than  pursue 
those  methods  wherein  he  hath  settled  the  conveyances  of  his  kind- 
ness ;  "  You  will  not  come  to  me  that  you  might  have  life,"  saith 
Christ.     How  is  eternity  of  punishment  inconsistent  with  the  good- 
ness of  God  ?  nay,  how  can  God  be  good  without  it  ?     If  wickedness 
always  remain  in  the  nature  of  man,  is  it  not  fit  the  rod  should  al- 
ways remain  on  the  back  of  men  ?  Is  it  a  want  of  goodness  that  keeps 
an  incorrigible  offender  in  chains  in  a  bridewell  ?     While  sin  re- 
mains, it  is  fit  it  should  be  punished;  would  not  God  else  be  an 
enemy  to  his  own  goodness,  and  shew  favor  to  that  which  doth 
abuse  it,  and  is  contrary  to  it?     He  hath  threatened  eternal  flames 
to  sinners,  that  he  might  the  more  strongly  excite  them  to  a  refor- 
mation of  their  ways,  and  a  practice  of  his  precepts.  In  those  threat- 
enings  he  hath  manifested  his  goodness ;  and  can  it  be  bad  in  him 
to  defend  what  his  goodness  hath  commanded,  and  execute  what 
his  goodness  hath  threatened  ?     His  truth  is  also  a  part  of  his  good- 
ness ;  for  it  is  nothing  but  his  goodness  performing  that  which  it  ob- 
liged him  to  do.     That  is  the  first  thing;  severe  judgments  in  the 
world  are  no  impeachments  of  his  goodness. 

Secondly,  The  afflictions  God  inflicts  upon  his  servants,  are  no 


244  CHAENOCK   ON  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

violations  of  his  goodness.  Sometimes  God  afflicts  men  for  their 
temporal  and  eternal  good ;  for  the  good  of  their  grace,  in  order  to 
the  good  of  their  glory  ;  which  is  a  more  excellent  good,  than  afflic- 
tions can  be  an  evil.  The  heathens  reflected  upon  Ulysses'  hard- 
ship, as  a  mark  of  Jupiter's  goodness  and  love  to  him,  that  his  virtue 
might  be  more  conspicuous.  By  strong  persecutions  brought  upon 
the  church,  her  lethargy  is  cured,  her  chaff  purged,  the  glorious 
fruit  of  the  gospel  brought  forth  in  the  lives  of  her  children ;  the 
number  of  her  proselytes  multiply,  and  the  strength  of  her  weak 
ones  is  increased,  by  the  testimonies  of  courage  and  constancy  which 
the  stronger  present  to  them  in  their  sufferings.  Do  these  good  ef- 
fects speak  a  want  of  goodness  in  God,  who  brings  them  into  this 
condition  ?  By  those  he  cures  his  people  of  their  corruptions,  and 
promotes  their  glory,  by  giving  them  the  honor  of  suffering  for  the 
truth,  and  raiseth  their  spirits  to  a  divine  pitch.  The  epistles  of 
Paul  to  the  Ephesians,  Philippians,  and  Colossians,  wrote  by  him 
while  he  was  in  Nero's  chains,  seem  to  have  a  higher  strain  than 
some  of  those  he  wrote  when  he  was  at  liberty.  As  for  afflictions, 
they  are  marks  of  a  greater  measure  of  fatherly  goodness  than  he 
discovers  to  those  that  live  in  an  uninterrupted  prosperity,  who  are 
not  dignified  with  that  glorious  title  of  sons,  as  those  are  that  "he 
chasteneth"  (Heb.  xii.  6,  7).  Can  any  question  the  goodness  of  the 
father  that  corrects  his  child  to  prevent  his  vice  and  ruin,  and  breed 
him  up  to  virtue  and  honor  ?  It  would  be  a  cruelty  in  a  father  leav- 
ing his  child  without  chastisement,  to  leave  him  to  that  misery  an 
ill  education  would  reduce  him  to :  "  God  judges  us  that  we  might 
not  be  condemned  with  the  world"  (1  Cor.  xi.  82).  Is  it  not  a  greater 
goodness  to  separate  us  from  the  world  to  happiness  by  his  scourge, 
than  to  leave  us  to  the  condemnation  of  the  world  for  our  sins  ?  Is 
it  not  a  greater  goodness  to  make  us  smart  here,  than  to  see  us 
scorched  hereafter  ?  As  he  is  our  Shepherd,  it  is  no  part  of  his  en- 
mity or  ill-will  to  us,  to  make  us  feel  sometimes  the  weight  of  his 
shepherd's  crook,  to  reduce  us  from  our  struggling.  The  visiting 
our  transgressions  with  rods,  and  our  iniquities  with  stripes,  is  one 
of  the  articles  of  the  covenant  of  grace,  wherein  the  greatest  lustre 
of  his  goodness  appears  (Ps.  Ixxxix.  33).  The  advantage  and  gain 
of  our  afflictions  is  a  greater  testimony  of  his  goodness  to  us,  than  the 
pain  can  be  of  his  unkindness ;  the  smart  is  well  recompensed  by 
the  accession  of  clearer  graces.  It  is  rather  a  high  mark  of  good- 
ness, than  an  argument  for  the  want  of  it,  that  he  treats  us  as  his 
children,  and  will  not  suffer  us  to  run  into  that  destruction  we  are 
more  ambitious  of,  than  the  happiness  he  hath  prepared  for  us,  and 
by  afflictions  he  fits  us  for  the  partaking  of,  by  "  imparting  his  holi- 
ness," together  with  the  inflicting  his  rod  (Heb.  xii.  10).  That  is  the 
third  thing,  God  is  good. 

IV.  The  fourth  thing  is  the  manifestation  of  this  goodness  in  Crea- 
tion^ Redemption,  and  Providence. 

First,  In  Creation.  This  is  apparent  from  what  hath  been  said 
before,  that  no  other  attribute  could  be  the  motive  of  his  creating, 
bat  his  goodness ;  his  goodness  was  the  cause  that  he  made  any 
tiling,  and  his  wisdom  was  the  cause  that  he  made  every  thing  in 


ON  THE  HOLINESS  OF  GOD.  245 

order  and  harmony.  He  pronounced  "  every  thing  good,"  i.  e.  such 
as  became  his  goodness  to  bring  forth  into  being,  and  rested  in 
them  more,  as  they  were  stamps  of  his  goodness,  than  as  the}^ 
were  marks  of  his  power,  or  beams  of  his  wisdom.  And  if  all  crea- 
tures were  able  to  answer  to  this  question,  What  that  was  which 
create!  them  ?  the  answer  would  be,  Almighty  power,  but  employed 
by  the  motion  of  infinite  goodness.^  All  the  varieties  of  creatures 
are  so  many  apparitions  of  this  goodness.  Though  God  be  one,  yet 
he  cannot  appear  as  a  God  but  in  variety.  As  the  greatness  of 
power  is  not  manifest  but  in  variety  of  works,  and  an  acute  under- 
standing not  discovered  but  in  variety  of  reasonings,  so  an  infinite 
goodness  is  not  so  apparent  as  in  variety  of  communications. 

1,  The  creation  proceeds  from  goodness.  It  is  the  goodness  of 
God  to  extract  such  multitutes  of  things  from  the  depths  of  nothing. 
Because  God  is  good,  things  have  a  being ;  if  he  had  not  been  good, 
nothing  could  have  been  good ;  nothing  could  have  imparted  that 
which  it  possessed  not ;  nothing  but  goodness  could  have  communi- 
cated to  things  an  excellency,  which  before  they  wanted.  Being  is 
much  more  excellent  than  nothing.  By  this  goodness,  therefore,  the 
whole  creation  was  brought  out  of  the  dark  womb  of  nothing ;  this 
formed  their  natures,  this  beautified  them  with  their  several  orna- 
ments and  perfections,  whereby  everything  was  enabled  to  act  for 
the  good  of  the  common  world.  God  did  not  create  things  because 
he  was  a  living  Being,  but  because  he  was  a  good  Being.  No  crea- 
ture brought  forth  anything  in  the  world  merely  because  it  is,  but 
because  it  is  good,  and  by  a  communicated  goodness  fitted  for  such 
a  production.  If  God  had  been  the  creating  principle  of  things  only 
as  he  was  a  living  Being,  or  as  he  was  an  understanding  Being,  then 
all  things  should  have  partaken  of  life  and  understanding,  because 
all  things  were  to  bear  some  characters  of  the  Deity  upon  them.  If 
by  understanding,  solely,  God  were  the  Creator  of  all  things,  all  things 
should  have  borne  the  mark  of  the  Deity  upon  them,  and  should 
have  been  more  or  less  understanding  ;  but  he  created  things  as  he 
was  good,  and  by  goodness  he  renders  all  things  more  or  less  like 
himself:  hence  everything  is  accounted  more  noble,  not  in  regard 
of  its  being,  but  in  regard  of  the  beneficialness  of  its  nature.  The 
being  of  things  was  not  the  end  of  God  in  creating,  but  the  goodness 
of  their  being.  God  did  not  rest  from  his  works  because  they  were 
his  works,  i.  e.  because  they  had  a  being ;  but  because  they  had  a 
good  being  (Gen.  i.) ;  because  they  were  naturally  useful  to  the  uni- 
verse :  nothing  was  more  pleasing  to  him,  than  to  behold  those  shad- 
ows and  copies  of  his  own  goodness  in  his  works. 

2.  Creation  was  the  first  act  of  goodness  without  hunself.  When 
he  was  alone  from  eternity,  he  contented  himself  with  himself, 
abounding  in  his  own  blessedness,  delighting  in  that  abundance ;  he 
was  incomprehensively  rich  in  the  possession  of  an  unstained  felicity.' 
This  creation  was  the  first  efflux  of  his  goodness  without  himself: 
for  the  work  of  creation  cannot  be  called  a  work  of  mercy."  Mercy 
supposeth  a  creature  miserable,  but  that  whicli  hath  no  being  is  suD- 

'  Cusan,  p.  228.  »   Petav.  Theolog.  Dogmat.  Toiu.  i.  o.  402. 

"  Lessius,  de  Perfect.  Div,  p.  100. 


246  CHARNOCK  ON  THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

ject  to  no  misery ;  for  to  be  miserable  supposetli  a  nature  in  being, 
and  deprived  of  tliat  good  wHch  belongs  to  the  pleasure  and  felicity 
of  nature  ;  but  since  there  was  no  being,  there  could  be  no  misery. 
The  creation,  therefore,  was  not  an  act  of  mercy,  but  an  act  of  sole 
goodness  ;  and,  therefore,  it  was  the  speech  of  an  heathen,  that  when 
God  first  set  upon  the  creation  of  the  world,-  he  transformed  himself 

into  love  and  goodness,  Eig  efjwru  ^tBiuSlr^dui  luv  Oabv  [xiXlonu  8rjUtovi))'tlr,^ 

This  led  forth,  and  animated  his  power,  the  first  moment  it  drew  the 
universe  out  of  the  womb  of  nothing.     And, 

3.  There  is  not  one  creature  but  hath  a  character  of  his  goodness. 
The  whole  world  is  a  map  to  represent,  and  a  herald  to  proclaim 
this  perfection.  It  is  as  difficult  not  to  see  something  of  it  in  every 
creature  with  the  eye  of  our  minds,  as  it  is  not  to  see  the  beams  of 
the  shining  sun  with  those  off  our  bodies.  "  He  is  good  to  all"  (Ps. 
cxlv.  9) ;  he  is,  therefore,  good  in  all ;  not  a  drop  of  the  creation,  but 
is  a  drop  of  his  goodness.  These  are  the  colors  worn  upon  the  heads 
of  every  creature.  As  in  every  spark  the  light  of  the  fire  is  mani- 
fested, so  doth  every  grain  of  the  creation  wear  the  visible  badges 
of  this  perfection.  In  all  the  lights,  the  Father  of  Lights  hath  made 
the  riches  of  goodness  apparent ;  no  creature  is  silent  in  it ;  it  is  legi- 
ble to  all  nations  in  every  work  of  his  hands.  That,  as  it  is  said  of 
Christ  (Ps.  xl.  7),  "  In  the  volume  of  thy  book  it  is  written  of  me :" 
In  the  volume  of  the  book  of  the  Scripture  it  is  written  of  me,  and 
my  goodness  in  redemption  :  so  it  may  be  said  of  God,  In  the  vol- 
ume of  the  book  of  the  creature  it  is  \\Titten  of  me,  and  my  good- 
ness in  creation.  Every  creature  is  a  page  in  this  book,  whose  "line 
is  gone  through  all  the  earth,  and  their  words  to  the  end  of  the  world" 
(Ps.  xix.  4) ;  though,  indeed,  the  less  goodness  in  some  is  obscured 
by  the  more  resplendent  goodness  he  hath  imparted  unto  others. 
What  an  admirable  piece  of  goodness  is  it  to  communicate  life  to  a 
fly  !  How  should  we  stand  gazing  upon  it,  till  we  turn  our  eye  in- 
wards, and  view  our  own  frame,  which  is  much  more  ravishing  ! 

But  let  us  see  the  goodness  of  God  in  the  creation  of  man, — in 
the  being  and  nature  of  man.  God  hath,  with  a  liberal  hand,  conferred 
upon  every  creature  the  best  being  it  was  capable  of  in  that  station 
and  order,  and  conducing  to  that  end  and  use  in  the  world  he  in- 
tended it  for.  But  when  you  have  run  over  all  the  measures  of 
goodness  God  hath  poured  forth  upon  other  creatures,  you  will  find 
a  greater  fulness  of  it  in  the  nature  of  man,  whom  he  hath  placed  in 
a  more  sublime  condition,  and  endued  with  choicer  prerogatives, 
than  other  creatures  :  he  was  made  but  little  lower  than  the  angels, 
and  much  more  loftily  crowned  with  glory  and  honor  than  other 
creatures  (Ps.  viii.  5).  Had  it  not  been  for  Divine  goodness,  that  ex- 
cellent creature  had  lain  wrapt  up  in  the  abyss  of  nothing  ;  or  if  he 
had  called  it  out  of  nothing,  there  might  have  been  less  of  skill  and 
less  of  goodness  displayed  in  the  forming  of  it,  and  a  lesser  kind  of 
being  imparted  to  it,  than  what  he  hath  conferred. 

1.  How  much  of  goodness  is  visible  in  his  body !  God  drew  out 
some  part  of  the  dust  of  the  ground,  and  copied  out  this  perfection, 
as  well  as  that  of  his  power,  on  that  mean  matter,  by  erecting  it  into 

*   Pherecydes. 


ON   THE   GOODNESS   OF   GOD.  247 

the  form  of  a  man,  quickening  that  earth  by  the  inspiration  of  a 
"  Kving  soul"  (Gren,  ii,  7) :  of  this  matter  he  composed  an  excellent 
body,  in  regard  of  the  majesty  of  the  face,  ercctness  of  its  stature, 
and  grace  of  every  part.  How  neatly  hath  he  wrought  this  "taber- 
nacle of  clay,  this  earthly  house,"  as  the  apostle  calls  it  (2  Cor.  v.  1) ! 
a  curious  wrought  piece  of  needle-work,  a  comely  artifice  (Ps.  cxxxix. 
15),  an  embroidered  case  for  an  harmonious  lute.  What  variety  of 
members,  Avith  a  due  proportion,  without  confusion,  beautiful  to 
sight,  excellent  for  use,  powerful  for  strength!  It  hath  eyes  to 
conduct  its  motion,  to  serve  in  matter  for  the  food,  and  delight  of 
the  understanding ;  ears  to  let  in  the  pleasure  of  sound,  to  convey 
intelligence  of  the  affairs  of  the  world,  and  the  counsels  of  heaven, 
to  a  more  noble  mind.  It  hath  a  tongue  to  express  and  sound  forth 
what  the  learned  inhabitant  in  it  thinks  ;  and  hands  to  act  what  the 
inward  counseller  directs ;  and  feet  to  support  the  fabric.  It  is  tem- 
pered with  a  kindly  heat,  and  an  oily  moisture  for  motion,  and  en- 
dued with  conveyances  for  air,  to  qualify  the  fury  of  the  heat,  and 
nourishment  to  supply  the  decays  of  moisture.  It  is  a  cabinet  fitted 
by  Divine  goodness  for  the  enclosing  a  rich  jewel ;  a  palace  made 
of  dust,  to  lodge  in  it  the  viceroy  of  the  world ;  an  instrument  dis- 
posed for  the  operations  of  the  nobler  soul  which  he  intended  to 
unite  to  that  refined  matter.  What  is  there  in  the  situation  of  ever}^ 
part,  in  the  proportion  of  every  member,  in  the  usefulness  of  every 
limb  and  string  to  the  offices  of  the  body,  and  service  of  the  soul ; 
what  is  there  in  the  whole  structure  that  cloth  not  inform  us  of  the 
goodness  of  God  ? 

2.  But  what  is  this  to  that  goodness  which  shines  in  the  nature  of 
the  soul  ?  Who  can  express  the  wonders  of  that  comeliness  that  is 
wrapped  up  in  this  mask  of  clay  ?  A  soul  endued  with  a  clearness 
of  understanding  and  freedom  of  will :  faculties  no  sooner  framed, 
but  they  were  able  to  produce  the  operation  they  were  intended  for ; 
a  soul  tliat  excelled  the  whole  world,  that  comprehended  the  whole 
creation;  a  soul  that  evidenced  the  extent  of  its  skill  in  giving 
names  to  all  that  variety  of  creatures  which  had  issued  out  of  the 
hand  of  Divine  Power  (Gen.  ii.  19) ;  a  soul  able  to  discover  tlie  na- 
ture of  other  creatures,  and  manage  and  conduct  their  motions.  In 
the  ruins  of  a  palace  we  may  see  the  curiosity  displayed,  and  the  cost 
expended  in  the  building  of  it ;  in  the  ruins  of  this  fallen  structure, 
we  still  find  it  capable  of  a  mighty  knowledge ;  a  reason  able  to  reg- 
ulate affairs,  govern  states,  order  more  mighty  and  massy  creatures, 
find  out  witty  inventions ;  there  is  still  an  understanding  to  irradiate 
the  other  faculties,  a  mind  to  contemplate  its  OAvn  Creator,  a  judg- 
ment to  discern  the  differences  betAveen  good  and  evil,  vice  and  vir- 
tue, Avhich  the  goodness  of  God  hath  not  granted  to  any  loAver  crea- 
ture. These  excellent  faculties,  together  A\dth  the  poAver  of  self-re- 
flection, and  the  swiftness  of  the  inind  in  running  over  the  things  of 
the  creation,  are  astonishing  gleams  of  the  vast  goodness  of  that  Di- 
vine Hand  Avhich  ennobled  this  frame.  To  the  other  creatures  of 
this  Avorld,  God  had  given  out  some  small  mites  from  his  treasury ; 
but  in  the  perfections  of  man,  he  hath  opened  the  more  secret  parts 


248  CHARNOCK   ON  THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

of  liis  exchequer,  and  liberally  bestowed  those  doles,  wliich  lie  bath 
not  expended  upon  the  other  creatures  on  earth. 

3,  Besides  this,  he  did  not  only  make  man  so  noble  a  creature  in 
his  frame,  but  "  he  made  him  after  his  own  image  in  holiness."     He 
imparted  to  him  a  spark  of  his  own  comeliness,  in  order  to  a  com- 
munion with  himself  in  happiness,  had  man  stood  his  ground  in  his 
trial,  and  used  those  faculties  well,  which  had  been  the  gift  of  his 
Bountiful  Creator:  he  "made  man  after  his  image,"  after  his  own 
image  (Gen.  i,  26,  27) ;  that  as  a  coin  bears  the  image  of  the  prince, 
so  did  the  soul  of  man  the  "  image  of  God :"  not  the  image  of  angels, 
though  the  speech  be  in  the  plural  number:   "  Let  us  make  man." 
It  is  not  to  a  creature,  but  to  a  Creator  ;  let  "  us,"  that  are  his  makers, 
make  him  in  the  image  of  his  makers.     God  created  man,  angels  did 
not  create  him ;  God  created  man  in  his  "  own"  image,  not,  there- 
fore, in  the  image  of  angels :  the  nature  of  God,  and  the  nature  of 
angels,  are  not  the  same.     Where,  in  the  whole  Scripture,  is  man 
said  to  be  made  after  the  image  of  angels?     God  made  man  not  in 
the  image  of  angels,  to  be  conformed  to  them  as  his  prototype,  but 
in  the  image  of  the  blessed  God,  to  be  conformed  to  the  Divine  na- 
ture :  that  as  he  was  conformed  to  the  image  of  his  holiness,  he 
might  also  partake  of  the  image  of  his  blessedness,  which,  without  it, 
could  not  be  attained :  for  as  the  felicity  of  God  could  not  be  clear 
without  an  unspotted  holiness,  so  neither  can  there  be  a  glorious 
happiness  without  purity  in  the  creature ;  this  God  provided  for  in 
his  creation  of  man,  giving  him  such  accomplishments  in  those  two 
excellent  pieces  of  soul  and  body,  that  nothing  was  wanting  to  him 
but  his  own  will,  to  instate  him  in  an  invariable  felicity.     He  was 
possessed  with  such  a  nature  by  the  hand  of  Divine  Goodness,  such 
a  loftiness  of  understanding,  and  purity  of  faculties,  that  he  might 
have  been  for  ever  happy  as  well  as  the  standing  angels :  and  he 
was  placed  in  such  a  condition,  that  moved  the  envy  of  fallen  spirits ; 
he  had  as  much  grace  bestowed  upon  him,  as  was  proportionable  to 
that  covenant  God  then  made  with  him  :  the  tenor  of  which  was, 
that  his  life  should  continue  so  long  as  his  obedience,  and  his  happi- 
ness endure  so  long  as  his  integrity :  and  as  God,  by  creation,  had 
given  him  an  integrity  of  nature,  so  he  had  given  him  a  power  to 
persist  in  it,  if  he  would.     Herein  is  the  goodness  of  God  displayed, 
that  he  made  man  after  his  own  image. 

4.  As  to  the  life  of  man  in  this  world,  God,  by  an  immense  good- 
ness, copied  out  in  him  the  whole  creation,  and  made  him  an  abridg- 
ment of  the  higher  and  lower  world, — a  little  world  in  a  greater  one. 
The  link  of  the  two  worlds,  of  heaven  and  earth,  as  the  spiritual  and 
corporeal  natures  are  united  in  him,  the  earth  in  the  dust  of  his  body, 
and  the  heavens  in  the  crystal  of  his  soul :  he  hath  the  upper  springs 
of  the  life  of  angels  in  his  reason,  and  the  nether  springs  of  the  life 
of  animals  in  his  sense.  God  displayed  those  virtues  in  man,  which 
he  had  discovered  in  the  rest  of  the  lower  creation ;  but,  besides  the 
communication  which  he  had  with  earth  in  his  nature,  God  gave 
him  a  participation  with  heaven  in  his  spirit.  A  mere  bodily  being 
he  hath  given  to  the  heavens,  earth,  elements ;  a  vegetative  life,  or  a 
life  of  growth,  he  hath  vouchsafed  to  the  plants  of  the  ground :  he 


0]Sr   THE   GOODNESS   OF   GOD.  249 

hatli  stretched  out  liis  liberality  more  to  animals  and  beasts,  by  giv- 
ing them  sense.  All  these  hath  his  goodness  linked  in  man,  being, 
life,  sense,  with  a  richer  dole  than  any  of  those  creatures  have  re- 
ceived in  a  rational,  intellectual  life,  whereby  he  approachcth  to  the 
nature  of  angels.  This  some  of  the  Jews  understood  (Gen.  ii.  7) : 
"  God  breathed  into  his  nostrils  the  breath  of  life,  and  man  became 
a  living  soul,"  oiin,  breath  of  lives,  in  the  Hebrew ;  not  one  sort 
of  life,  but  that  variety  of  lives  which  he  had  imparted  to  other  crea- 
tures: all  the  perfections  scattered  in  other  creatures  do  unitedly 
meet  in  man :  so  that  Philo  might  well  call  him  "every  creature,  the 
model  of  the  whole  creation  :"  his  soul  is  heaven,  and  his  body  is 
earth. y  So  that  the  immensity  of  his  goodness  to  man,  is  as  great 
as  all  that  goodness  you  behold  in  sensitive  and  intelligible  things. 

5.  All  this  was  free  goodness.  God  eternally  possessed  his  own 
felicity  in  himself,  and  had  no  need  of  the  existence  of  anything 
without  himself  for  his  satisfaction.  Man,  before  his  being,  could 
have  no  good  qualities  to  invite  God  to  make  him  so  excellent  a 
fabric :  for,  being  nothing,  he  was  as  unable  to  allure  and  merit,  as 
to  bring  himself  into  being ;  nay,  he  created  a  multitude  of  men, 
who,  he  foresaw  would  behave  themselves  in  as  ungrateful  a  manner, 
as  if  they  had  not  been  his  creatures,  but  had  bestowed  that  rich 
variety  upon  themselves  without  the  hand  of  a  superior  Benefactor. 
How  great  is  this  goodness,  that  hath  made  us  models  of  the  whole 
creation,  tied  together  heaven  and  earth  in  our  nature,  when  he 
might  have  ranked  us  among  the  lower  creatures  of  the  earth,  made 
us  mere  bodies  as  the  stones,  or  mere  animals  as  the  brutes,  and  de- 
nied us  those  capacious  souls,  whereby  avc  might  both  know  him 
and  enjoy  him  !  What  could  man  have  been  more,  unless  he  had 
been  the  original,  which  Avas  impossible?  He  could  not  be  greater 
than  to  be  an  image  of  the  Deity,  an  epitome  of  the  whole.  Well 
may  we  cry  out  with  the  Psalmist  (Ps.  viii.  1,  4),  "  O  Lord,  our 
Lord,  how  excellent  is  thy  name,"  the  name  of  thy  goodness,  "  in 
all  the  earth !"  How,  more  particularly  in  man !  "  What  is  man 
that  thou  art  mindful  of  him?"  What  is  a  little  clod  of  earth  and 
dust,  that  thou  shouldst  ennoble  him  with  so  rich  a  nature,  and  en- 
grave upon  him  such  characters  of  thy  immense  Being  ? 

6.  The  goodness  of  God  appears  in  the  conveniences  he  provided 
for,  and  gave  to  man.  As  God  gave  him  a  being  morally  perfect  in 
regard  of  righteousness,  so  he  gave  him  a  being  naturally  perfect  in 
regard  of  delightful  conveniences,  which  was  the  fruit  of  excellent 
goodness  ;  since  there  was  no  quality  in  man,  to  invite  God  to  pro- 
vide him  so  rich  a  world,  nor  to  bestow  upon  him  so  comely  a  being. 

(1).  The  world  was  made  for  man.  Since  angels  have  not  need 
of  anything  in  this  world,  and  are  above  the  conveniences  of  earth 
and  air,  it  will  follow,  that  man,  being  the  noblest  creature  on  the 
earth,  was  the  more  immediate  end  of  the  visible  creation.  All  in- 
ferior things  are  made  to  be  subservient  to  those  that  have  a  more 
excellent  prerogative  of  nature ;  and,  therefore,  all  things  for  man, 
who  exceeds  all  the  rest  in  dignity :  as  man  was  made  for  the  honor 
of  God,  so  the  world  was  made  for  the  support  and  delight  of  man, 

y  Eugubiu,  lib.  V.  cap.  9. 


250  CHARNOCK   ON  THE   ATTEIEUTES. 

in  order  to  his  performing  the  service  due  from  him  to  God,  The 
empire  God  settled  man  in  as  his  heutenant  over  the  works  of  his 
hands,  when  he  gave  him  possession  of  paradise,  is  a  clear  manifesta- 
tion of  it :  God  put  all  things  under  his  feet,  and  gave  him  a  de- 
puted dominion  over  the  rest  of  the  creatures  under  himself,  as  the 
absolute  sovereign  (Ps.  viii.  6 — 8)  ;  "  Thou  madest  him  to  have  do- 
minion over  the  works  of  thy  hands ;  thou  hast  put  all  things  under 
his  feet,  all  sheep  and  oxen  ;  yea,  and  the  beasts  of  the  field,  the  fowl 
of  the  air,  and  the  fish  of  the  sea  ;  yea,  and  whatsoever  passeth  over 
the  paths  of  the  sea."  What  less  is  witnessed  to  by  the  calamity  all 
creatures  were  subjected  to  by  the  corruption  of  man's  nature? 
Then  was  the  earth  cursed,  and  a  black  cloud  flung  upon  the  beauty 
of  the  creation,  and  the  strength  and  vigor  of  it  languisheth  to  this 
day  under  the  curse  of  God  (Gen.  ii.  17,  18),  and  groans  under  that 
vanity  the  sin  of  man  subjected  it  to  (Rom.  viii.  20,  22).  The  trea- 
sons of  man  against  God  brought  misery  upon  that  which  was  framed 
for  the  use  of  man :  as  when  the  majesty  of  a  prince  is  violated  by 
the  treason  and  rebellion  of  his  subjects,  all  that  which  belongs  to 
them,  and  was,  before  the  free  gift  of  the  prince  to  them,  is  forfeit ; 
their  habitations,  palaces,  cattle,  all  that  belongs  to  them  bear  the 
marks  of  his  sovereign  fury :  had  not  the  delicacies  of  the  earth  been 
made  for  the  use  of  man,  they  had  not  fallen  under  the  indignation 
of  God  upon  the  sin  of  man.  God  crowned  the  earth  with  his  good- 
ness to  gratify  man ;  gave  man  a  right  to  serve  himself  of  the  de- 
lightful creatures  he  had  provided  (Gen.  i.  28 — 30) ;  yea,  and  after 
man  had  forfeited  all  by  sin,  and  God  had  washed  again  the  creature 
in  a  deluge,  he  renews  the  creation,  and  delivers  it  again  into  the 
hand  of  man,  binding  all  creatures  to  pay  a  respect  to  him,  and  re- 
cognise him  as  their  Lord,  either  spontaneously,  or  by  force ;  and 
commissions  them  all  to  fill  the  heart  of  man  with  "  food  and  glad- 
ness" (Gen.  ix,  2,  8) :  and  he  loves  all  creatures  as  they  conduce  to 
the  good  of,  and  are  serviceable  to,  his  prime  creature,  which  he  set 
uj)  for  his  own  glory :  and  therefore,  when  he  loves  a  person,  he 
loves  what  belongs  to  him :  he  takes  care  of  Jacob  and  his  cattle : 
of  penitent  Nineveh  and  their  cattle  (Jonah  iv.  11) :  as  when  he 
sends  judgments  upon  men  he  destroys  their  goods. 

2.  God  richly  furnished  the  world  for  man.  He  did  not  only  erect 
a  stately  palace  for  his  habitation,  but  provided  all  kind  of  furniture 
as  a  mark  of  his  goodness,  for  the  entertainment  of  his  creature,  man : 
he  arched  over  his  habitation  with  a  bespangled  heaven,  and  floored 
it  with  a  solid  earth,  and  spread  a  curious  wrought  tapestry  upon  the 
ground  where  he  was  to  tread,  and  seemed  to  sweep  all  the  rubbish 
of  the  chaos  to  the  two  uninhabitable  poles.  When  at  the  first  crea- 
tion of  the  matter  the  waters  covered  the  earth,  and  rendered  it  un- 
inhabitable for  man,  God  drained  them  into  the  proj^er  channels  he 
had  founded  for  them,  and  set  a  bound  that  they  might  not  pass 
over,  that  they  turn  not  again  to  "  cover  the  earth"  (Gen  i.  9.)  They 
fled  and  hasted  away  to  their  proper  stations  (Ps.  civ.  7 — 9),  as  if 
they  were  ambitious  to  deny  their  own  nature,  and  content  them- 
selves with  an  imprisonment  for  the  convenient  habitation  of  Him 
who  was  to  be  appointed  Lord  of  the  world.     He  hath  set  up  stand- 


ON  THE   GOODNESS  OF  GOD,  251 

ing  lights  in  the  heaven,  to  direct  our  motion,  and  to  regulate  the 
seasons  :  the  sun  was  created,  that  man  might  see  to  "  go  forth  to  his 
labor"  (Ps.  civ.  22,  23) :  both  sun  and  moon,  though  set  in  the 
heaven,  were  formed  to  "  give  light"  on  the  earth  (Gen.  i.  15,  17). 
The  air  is  his  aviary,  the  sea  and  rivers  his  fish-ponds,  the  valle3^s 
his  granary,  the  mountains  his  magazine ;  the  first  afford  man  crea- 
tures for  nourishment,  the  other  metals  for  perfection :  the  animals 
were  created  for  the  support  of  the  life  of  man  ;  the  herbs  of  the 
ground  were  provided  for  the  maintenance  of  their  lives  ;  and  gen- 
tle dews,  and  moistening  showers,  and,  in  some  places,  slimy  floods 
appointed  to  render  the  earth  fruitful,  and  capable  to  offer  man  and 
beast  what  was  fit  for  their  nourishment.  He  hath  peopled  every 
element  with  a  variety  of  creatures  both  for  necessity  and  delight ; 
all  furnished  with  useful  qualities  for  the  service  of  man.  There  is 
not  the  most  despicable  thing  in  the  whole  creation  but  it  is  endued 
with  a  nature  to  contribute  something  for  our  welfare  :  either  as  food 
to  nourish  us  when  we  are  healthful ;  or  as  medicine  to  cure  us  when 
we  are  distempered  ;  or  as  a  garment  to  clothe  us  when  we  are  naked, 
and  arm  us  against  the  cold  of  the  season ;  or  as  a  refreshment  when 
we  are  weary ;  or  as  a  delight  when  we  are  sad  :  all  serve  for  neces- 
sity or  ornament,  either  to  spread  our  table,  beautify  our  dwellings, 
furnish  our  closets,  or  store  our  wardrobes  (Ps.  civ.  24) :  "  The  whole 
earth  is  full  of  his  riches."  Nothing  but  by  the  rich  goodness  of 
God  is  exquisitely  accommodated,  in  the  numerous  brood  of  things, 
immediately  or  mediately  for  the  use  of  man ;  all,  in  the  issue,  con- 
spire together  to  render  the  world  a  delightful  residence  for  man ; 
and,  therefore,  all  the  living  creatures  were  brought  by  God  to  at- 
tend upon  man  after  his  creation,  to  receive  a  mark  of  his  dominion 
over  them,  by  the  "imposition  of  their  names"  (Gen.  ii.  19,  20).  He 
did  not  only  give  variety  of  senses  to  man,  but  provided  variety  of 
delightful  objects  in  the  world  for  every  sense ;  the  beauties  of  light 
and  colors  for  our  eye,  the  harmony  of  sounds  for  our  ear,  the  fra- 
grancy  of  odors  for  our  nostrils,  and  a  delicious  sweetness  for  our 
palates  :  some  have  qualities  to  pleasure  ;  all,  everything,  a  quality 
to  pleasure,  one  or  other:  he  doth  not  only  present  those  things  to 
our  view,  as  rich  men  do  in  ostentation  their  goods,  he  makes  us  the 
enjoy ers  as  well  as  the  spectators,  and  gives  us  the  use  as  well  as  the 
sight  ;  and,  therefore,  he  hath  not  only  given  us  the  sight,  but  the 
knowledge  of  them  :  he  hath  set  up  a  sun  in  the  heavens,  to  expose 
their  outward  beauty  and  conveniences  to  our  sight ;  and  the  candle 
of  the  Lord  is  in  us,  to  expose  their  inward  qualities  and  conve- 
niences to  our  knowledge,  that  we  might  serve  ourselves  of,  and  re- 
joice in,  all  this  furniture  wherewith  he  hath  garnished  the  world, 
and  have  wherewithal  to  employ  the  inquisitiveness  of  our  reason, 
as  well  as  gratify  the  pleasures  of  our  sense ;  and,  particularly,  God 
provided  for  innocent  man  a  delightful  mansion-house,  a  place  of 
more  special  beauty  and  curiosity,  the  garden  of  Eden,  a  delightful 
paradise,  a  model  of  the  beauties  and  pleasures  of  another  world, 
wherein  he  had  placed  whatsoever  might  contribute  to  the  felicity  of 
a  rational  and  animal  life,  the  life  of  a  creature  composed  of  mire 
and  dust,  of  sense  and  reason  (Gen.  ii.  9).     Besides  the  other  delica- 


252  CIIARNOCK   ON  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

cies  consigned,  in  that  place,  to  the  use  of  man,  there  was  a  tree  of 
life  provided  to  maintain  his  being,  and  nothing  denied,  in  tlie  whole 
compass  of  that  territory,  but  one  tree,  that  of  the  knowledge  of 
good  and  evil,  which  was  no  mark  of  an  ill-will  in  his  Creator  to 
him,  but  a  reserve  of  God's  absolute  sovereignty,  and  a  trial  of  man's 
voluntary  obedience.  What  blur  was  it  to  the  goodness  of  God,  to 
reserve  one  tree  for  his  own  propriety,  when  he  had  given  to  man, 
in  all  the  rest,  such  numerous  marks  of  his  rich  bounty  and  good- 
ness? AVhat  Israel,  after  man's  fall,  enjoyed  sensibly,  Nehemiah 
calls  "  great  goodness"  (Neh.  ix.  25).  How  inexpressible,  then,  was 
that  goodness  manifested  to  innocent  man,  when  so  small  a  part  of 
it,  indulged  to  the  Israelites  after  the  curse  upon  the  ground,  is  call- 
ed, as  trul}^  it  merits,  such  great  goodness !  How  can  we  pass  through 
any  part  of  this  great  city,  and  cast  our  eyes  upon  the  well-furnished 
shops,  stored  with  all  kinds  of  commodities,  without  reflections  upon 
this  goodness  of  God  starting  up  before  our  eyes  in  such  varieties, 
and  plainly  telling  us  that  he  hath  accommodated  all  things  for  our 
use,  suited  things,  both  to  supply  our  need,  content  a  reasonable 
curiosity,  and  delight  us  in  our  aims  at,  and  passage  to,  our  supreme 
end! 

(3.)  The  goodness  of  God  appears  in  the  laws  he  hath  given  to 
man,  the  covenant  he  hath  made  with  him.  It  had  not  been  agree- 
al:)le  to  the  goodness  of  God  to  let  a  creature,  governable  by  a  law, 
be  without  a  law  to  regulate  him  ;  his  goodness  then  which  had 
broke  forth  in  the  creation,  had  suffered  an  eclipse  and  obscurity  in 
his  government.  As  infinite  goodness  was  the  motive  to  create,  so 
infinite  goodness  was  the  motive  of  his  government.  And  this 
appears, 

[1.]  In  the  fitting  the  law  to  the  nature  of  man.  It  was  rather 
below  than  above  his  strength  ;  he  had  an  integrity  in  his  nature  to 
answer  the  righteousness  of  the  precept.  God  created  "  man 
upright"  (Eccles.  vii.  29) ;  his  nature  was  suited  to  the  law,  and  the 
law  to  his  nature ;  it  was  not  above  his  understanding  to  know  it, 
nor  his  Avill  to  embrace  it,  nor  his  passions  to  be  regulated  by  it. 
The  law  and  his  nature  were  like  to  exact  straight  lines,  touching 
one  another  in  every  part  when  joined  together.  God  exacted  no 
more  by  his  law  than  what  was  written  by  nature  in  his  heart :  he 
had  a  knowledge  by  creation  to  observe  the  law  of  his  creation,  and 
he  fell  not  for  want  of  a  righteousness  in  his  nature  :  he  was  enabled 
for  more  than  was  commanded  him,  but  wilfully  indisposed  to  less 
than  he  was  able  to  perform.  The  precepts  were  easy,  not  only  be- 
coming the  authority  of  a  sovereign  to  exact,  but  the  goodness  of  a 
father  to  demand,  and  the  ingenuity  of  a  creature  and  a  son  to  pay. 
"  His  commands  are  not  grievous"  (1  John  v.  8) ;  the  observance  of 
them  had  filled  the  spirit  of  man  with  an  extraordinary  contentment. 
It  had  been  no  less  a  pleasure  and  a  delightful  satisfaction  to  have 
kept  the  law  in  a  created  state,  than  it  is  to  keep  it  in  some  measure 
in  a  renewed  state.  The  renewed  nature  finds  a  suitableness  in  the 
law  to  kindle  a  "  delight"  (Ps.  i.  2) :  it  could  not  then  have  anywise 
shook  the  nature  of  an  upright  creature,  nor  have  been  a  burden 
too  heavy  for  his  shoulders  to  bear.     Though  he  had  not  a  grace 


ON  THE  GOODNESS   OF   GOD.  253 

given  liim  above  nature,  yet  lie  had  not  a  law  given  liim  that  sur- 
mounted his  nature  :  it  did  not  exceed  his  created  strength,  and  was 
suited  to  the  dignity  and  nobility  of  a  rational  nature.  It  was  a 
"just  law"  (Rom.  vii.  12),  and,  therefore,  not  above  the  nature  of 
the  subject  that  was  bound  to  obey  it.  And  had  it  been  impossible 
to  be  observed,  it  had  been  unrighteous  to  be  enacted :  it  had  not 
been  a  matter  of  Divine  praise,  and  that  seven  times  a  day  ;  as  it  is, 
"  Seven  times  a  day  do  I  praise  thee,  because  of  thy  righteous  judg- 
ments" (Ps.  cxix.  164).  The  law  was  so  righteous,  that  Adam  had 
every  whit  as  much  reason  to  bless  God  in  his  innocence  for  the 
righteousness  of  it,  as  David  had  with  the  relics  of  enmity  against 
it :  his  goodness  shines  so  much  in  his  law,  as  merits  our  praise  of 
him,  as  he  is  a  sovereign  Lawgiver,  as  well  as  a  gracious  Benefactor, 
in  the  imparting  to  us  a  being. 

[2.]  In  fitting  it  for  the  happiness  of  man.  For  the  satisfaction 
of  his  soul,  which  finds  a  reward  in  the  very  act  of  keeping  it,  (Ps. 
cxix.  165),  "  Great  peace  in  the  loving  it ;"  for  the  preservation  of 
human  society,  wherein  consists  the  external  felicity  of  man.  It 
had  been  inconsistent  with  the  Divine  goodness  to  enjoin  man  any- 
thing that  should  be  oppressive  and  uncomfortable.  Bitterness  can- 
not come  from  that  which  is  altogether  sweet :  goodness  would  not 
have  obliged  the  creature  to  anything,  but  what  is  not  only  free  from 
damaging  him,  but  wholly  conducing  to  his  welfare,  and  perfective 
of  his  nature.  Inlinite  wisdom  could  not  order  anything  but  what 
was  agreeable  to  infinite  goodness.  As  his  laws  are  the  most  ration- 
al, as  being  the  contrivance  of  infinite  wisdom ;  so  they  are  the  bssr, 
as  being  the  fruit  of  infinite  goodness.  His  laws  are  not  only  the 
acts  of  his  sovereign  authority,  but  the  effluxes  of  his  loving-kind- 
ness, and  the  conductors  of  man  to  an  enjoyment  of  a  greater  bounty : 
he  minds  as  well  the  promotion  of  his  creatures'  felicity,  as  the  as- 
serting his  own  authority  ;  as  good  princes  make  laws  for  their  sub- 
jects' benefit  as  well  as  their  own  honor.  What  was  said  of  a  more 
difficult  and  burdensome  law  long  after  man's  fall,  may  much  more 
be  said  of  the  easy  law  of  nature  in  the  state  of  man's  innocence, 
that  it  was  "  for  our  good"  (Deut.  x.  12,  13).  He  never  pleaded 
with  the  Israelites  for  the  observation  of  his  commands  upon  the 
account  of  his  authority,  so  much  as  upon  the  score  of  their  benefit 
by  them  (Deut.  iv.  40 ;  xii.  28).  And  when  his  precepts  were 
broken,  he  seems  sometimes  to  be  more  grieved  for  men's  impairing 
their  own  felicity  by  it,  than  for  their  violating  his  authority  :  "  O, 
that  thou  hadst  hearkened  to  my  commandments,  then  had  thy  peace 
been  as  a  river !"  (Isa.  xlviii.  18).  Goodness  cannot  prescribe  a 
thing  prejudicial :  whatsoever  it  enjoins,  is  beneficial  to  the  spiritual 
and  eternal  happiness  of  the  rational  creature :  this  was  both  the 
design  of  the  law  given,  and  the  end  of  the  law.  Christ,  in  his  an- 
swer to  the  young  man's  question,  refers  him  to  the  moral  law, 
which  was  the  law  of  nature  in  Adam,  as  that  whereby  eternal  life 
was  to  be  gained :  which  evidenceth,  that  when  the  law  was  first 
given  as  the  covenant  of  works,  it  was  for  the  happiness  of  man ; 
and  the  end  of  giving  it  was,  that  man  might  have  eternal  life  by 
it :  there  would  else  be  no  strensrth  or  truth  in  that  answer  of  Christ 


254  CHARNOCK   ON   THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

to  that  Euler.  And,  therefore,  Stephen  calls  the  law  given  by- 
Moses,  which  was  the  same  with  the  law  of  nature  in  Adam,  "  the 
living  oracles"  (Acts  vii.  38).  He  enjoined  men's  services  to  them 
not  simply  for  his  own  glory,  but  his  glory  in  men's  welfare  :  as  if 
there  were  any  being  better  than  himself,  his  goodness  and  righteous- 
ness would  guide  him  to  love  that  better  than  himself;  because  it  is 
good  and  righteous  to  love  that  best  which  is  most  amiable  :  so,  if 
there  were  any  that  could  do  us  more  good,  and  shower  down  more 
happiness  upon  us  than  himself,  he  would  be  content  we  should 
obey  that  as  sovereign,  and  steer  our  course  according  to  his  laws  : 
"  If  God  be  God,  follow  him ;  but  if  Baal,  then  follow  him"  (1 
Kings  xviii.  21).  If  the  observance  of  the  precepts  of  Baal  be 
more  beneficial  to  you  ;  if  you  can  advance  your  nature  by  his  ser- 
vice, and  gain  a  more  mighty  crown  of  happiness  than  by  mine,  fol- 
low him  with  all  my  heart :  I  never  intended  to  enjoin  you  anything 
to  impair,  but  increase  your  happiness.  The  chief  design  of  God 
in  his  law  is  the  happiness  of  the  subject;  and  obedience  is  intended 
by  him  as  a  means  for  the  attaining  of  happiness,  as  well  as  preserv- 
ing his  own  sovereignty :  this  is  the  reason  why  he  wished  that 
Israel  had  walked  in  his  ways,  "  that  their  time  might  have  endured 
forever"  (Ps.  Ixxxi.  13,  15,  16).  And  by  the  same  reason,  this  was 
his  intendment  in  his  law  given  to  man,  and  his  covenant  made  with 
man  at  the  creation,  that  he  might  be  fed  with  the  finest  part  of  his 
bounty,  and  be  satisfied  with  honey  out  of  the  eternal  Eock  of  Ages. 
To  paraphrase  his  expression  there  : — The  goodness  of  God  appears 
further, 

[3].  In  engaging  man  to  obedience  by  promises  and  threatenings. 
A  threatening  is  only  mentioned  (Gen.  ii.  17),  but  a  promise  is  im- 
plied :  if  eternal  death  were  fixed  for  transgression,  eternal  life  was 
thereby  designed  for  obedience :  and  that  it  was  so,  the  answer  of 
Christ  to  the  Ruler  evidenceth,  that  the  first  intendment  of  the  pre- 
cept was  the  eternal  life  of  the  subject,  ordered  to  obey  it. 

1st.  God  might  have  acted,  in  settling  his  law,  only  as  a  sover- 
eign. Though  he  might  have  dealt  with  man  upon  the  score  of 
his  absolute  dominion  over  him  as  his  creature,  and  signified  his 
pleasure  upon  the  right  of  his  sovereignty,  threatening  only  a  pen- 
alty if  man  transgressed,  without  the  promising  a  bountiful  acknow- 
ledgment of  his  obedience  by  a  reward  as  a  benefactor:  yet  he 
would  treat  with  man  in  gentle  methods,  and  rule  him  in  a  track 
of  sweetness  as  well  as  sovereignty:  he  would  preserve  the  rights 
of  his  dominion  in  the  authority  of  his  commands,  and  honor  the 
condescensions  of  his  goodness  in  the  allurements  of  a  promise. 
He  that  might  have  solely  demanded  a  compliance  with  his  will, 
would  kindly  article  with  him,  to  oblige  him  to  observe  him  out 
of  love  to  himself  as  well  as  duty  to  his  Creator ;  that  he  might 
have  both  the  interest  of  avoiding  the  threatened  evil  to  affright 
him,  and  the  interest  of  attaining  the  "promised  good  to  allure  him 
to  obedience.  How  doth  he  value  the  title  of  Benefactor  above 
that  of  a  Lord,  when  he  so  kindly  solicits,  as  well  as  commands ; 
and  engageth  to  reward  that  obedience  which  he  might  have  abso- 
lutely claimed  as  his  due,  by  enforcing  fears  of  the  severest  penalty ! 


ON  THE   GOODNESS  OF  GOD.  255 

His  sovereignty  seems  to  stoop  below  itself  for  tlie  elevation  of  his 
goodness ;  and  lie  is  pleased  to  have  his  kindness  more  taken  notice 
of  than  his  authority.  Nothing  imported  more  condescension  than 
his  bringing  forth  his  law  in  the  nature  of  a  covenant,  whereby  he 
seems  to  humble  himself,  and  veil  his  superiority  to  treat  with  man 
as  his  equal,  that  the  very  manner  of  his  treatment  might  oblige 
him  in  the  richest  promises  he  made  to  draw  him,  and  the  startling 
threatenings  he  pronounced  to  link  him  to  his  obedience :  and, 
therefore,  is  it  observable,  that  when  after  the  transgression  of 
Adam  God  comes  to  deal  with  him,  he  doth  not  do  it  in  that  thun- 
dering rigor,  which  might  have  been  expected  from  an  enraged 
sovereign,  but  in  a  gentle  examination  (Cren.  iii.  11,  13)  :  "  Hast 
thou  eaten  of  the  tree  whereof  I  commanded  thee  that  thou  shouldst 
not  eat  ?"  To  the  woman,  he  said  no  more  than,  "  What  is  this 
that  thou  hast  done  ?"  And  in  the  Scripture  we  find,  when  he 
cites  the  Israelites  before  him  for  their  sin,  he  expostulates  with 
them  not  so  much  upon  the  absolute  right  he  had  to  challenge 
their  obedience,  as  upon  the  equity  and  reasonableness  of  his  law 
which  they  had  transgressed  ;  that  by  the  same  argument  of  sweet- 
ness, wherewith  he  would  attract  them  to  their  duty,  he  might 
shame  them  after  their  offence  (Isa.  i.  2  ;  Ezek.  xviii.  25). 

2d.  By  the  threatenings  he  manifests  his  goodness  as  well  as  by 
his  promises.  He  promises  that  he  might  be  a  rewarder,  and 
threatens  that  he  might  not  be  a  puuisher ;  the  one  is  to  elevate 
our  hope,  and  the  otlier  to  excite  our  fear,  the  two  passions  whereby 
the  nature  of  man  is  managed  in  the  world.  He  imprints  upon 
man  sentiments  of  a  misery  by  sin,  in  his  thundering  commination, 
that  he  might  engage  him  the  more  to  embrace  and  be  guided  by 
the  motives  of  sweetness  in  his  gracious  promises.  The  design  of 
them  was  to  preserve  man  in  his  due  bounds,  that  God  might  not 
have  occasion  to  blow  upon  him  the  flames  of  his  justice  ;  to  sup- 
press those  irregular  passions,  which  the  nature  of  man  (though 
created  without  any  disorder)  was  capable  of  entertaining  upon  the 
appearance  of  suitable  objects  ;  and  to  keep  the  waves  from  swell- 
ing upon  any  turning  wind,  that  so  man,  being  modest  in  the  use 
of  the  goodness  God  had  allowed  him,  might  still  be  capable  of 
fresh  streams  of  Divine  bounty,  without  ever  falling  under  his 
righteous  wrath  for  any  transgression.  What  a  prospect  of  good- 
ness is  in  this  proceeding,  to  disclose  man's  happiness  to  be  as  du- 
rable as  his  innocence ;  and  set  before  a  rational  creature  the  ex- 
tremest  misery  due  to  his  crime,  to  affright  him  from  neglecting  his 
Creator,  and  making  unworthy  returns  to  his  goodness!  What 
could  be  done  more  by  goodness  to  suit  that  passion  of  fear  which 
was  implanted  in  the  nature  of  man,  than  to  assure  him  he  should 
not  degenerate  from  the  righteousness  of  his  nature,  and  violate  the 
authority  of  his  Creator,  without  falling  from  his  own  hai^piuess, 
and  sinking  into  the  most  deplorable  calamity  ! 

od.  The  reward  he  promised  manifests  yet  further  his  goodnesg  to 
man.  It  was  his  goodness  to  intend  a  reward  to  man ;  no  necessity 
could  oblige  God  to  reward  man,  had  he  continued  obedient  in  his 
created   state :  for  in  all  rewards  which  are  truly  merited,  beside 


256  CHARNOCK  ON   THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

some  kind  of  equality  to  be  considered  between  the  person  doing 
service  and  the  person  rewarding,  and  also  between  the  act  per- 
formed and  the  reward  bestowed,  there  must  also  be  considered  the 
condition  of  the  person  doing  the  service,  that  he  is  not  obliged  to 
do  it  as  a  duty,  but  is  at  his  own  choice  whether  to  offer  it  or  no. 
But  man,  being  wholly  dependent  on  God  in  his  being  and  preser- 
vation, having  nothing  of  his  own,  but  what  he  had  received  from 
the  hands  of  Divine  bounty,  his  service  was  due  by  the  strongest 
obligation  to  God  (1  Cor.  iv.  7).  But  there  was  no  natural  engage- 
ment on  God  to  return  a  reward  to  him  ;  for  man  could  return  no- 
thing of  his  own  but  that  only  which  he  had  received  from  his 
Creator.  It  must  be  pure  goodness  that  gives  a  gracious  reward  for 
a  due  debt,  to  receive  his  own  from  man,  and  return  more  than  he 
had  received.  A  Divine  reward  doth  far  surmount  the  value  of  a 
rational  service.  It  was,  therefore,  a  mighty  goodness  to  stipulate 
with  man,  that  upon  his  obedience  he  should  enjoy  an  immortality 
in  that  nature.  The  article  on  man's  part  was  obedience,  which 
was  necessarily  just,  and  founded  in  the  nature  of  man;  he  had 
been  unjust,  ungrateful,  and  violated  all  laws  of  righteousness,  had 
he  committed  any  act  unworthy  of  one  that  had  been  so  great  a 
subject  of  Divine  liberality.^  But  the  article  on  God's  part,  of  giv- 
ing a  perpetual  blessedness  to  innocent  man,  was  not  founded  upon 
rules  of  strict  justice  and  righteousness,  for  that  would  have  argued 
God  to  be  a  debtor  to  man  ;  but  that  God  cannot  be  to  the  work  of 
his  hands,  that  had  received  the  materials  of  his  being  and  acting 
from  him,  as  the  vessel  doth  from  the  potter.  But  this  was  founded 
only  on  the  goodness  of  the  Divine  nature,  whereby  he  cannot  but 
be  kind  to  an  innocent  and  holy  creature.  The  nature  of  God  in- 
clined him  to  it  by  the  rules  of  goodness,  but  the  service  of  man 
could  not  claim  it  by  the  rules  of  justice  without  a  stipulation  ;  so 
that  the  covenant  whereby  God  obliged  himself  to  continue  the 
happiness  of  man  upon  the  continuance  of  his  obedience,  in  the 
original  of  it,  springs  from  pure  goodness  ;  though  the  performance 
of  it,  upon  the  fullilling  condition  required  in  the  creature,  was 
founded  upon  the  rules  of  righteousness  and  truth,  after  Divine 
goodness  had  brought  it  forth.  God  did  create  man  for  a  reward 
and  happiness  ;  now  God's  implanting  in  the  nature  of  man  a  desire 
after  happiness,  and  some  higher  happiness  than  he  had  in  creation 
invested  him  in,  doth  evidence  that  God  did  not  create  man  only 
for  his  own  service,  but  for  his  attaining  a  greater  happiness.  All 
rational  creatures  are  possessed  with  a  principle  of  seeking  after 
good,  the  highest  good,  and  God  did  not  plant  in  man  this  principle 
in  vain ;  it  had  not  been  goodness  to  put  this  principle  in  man,  if 
he  had  designed  never  to  bestow  a  happiness  on  man  for  his  obe- 
dience :  this  had  been  repugnant  to  the  goodness  and  wisdom  of 
God ;  and  the  Scripture  doth  very  emphatically  express  the  felicity 
of  man  to  be  the  design  of  God  in  the  lirst  forming  him  and  mould- 
ing him  a  creature,  as  well  as  working  him  a  new  creature ;  "  He 
that  hath  wrought  us  for  the  self-same  thing  is  God"  (2  Cor.  v.  1,  5) : 
he  framed  this  earthly  tabernacle  for  a  residence  in  an  eternal  habi- 

*  Amyral.  Dissertat.  pp.  637,  638. 


ON  THE   GOODNESS   OF  GOD,  257 

tation,  and  a  better  habitation  than  an  earthly  paradise.  What  we 
expect  in  the  resurrection,  that  very  same  thing  God  did  in  crea- 
tion intend  us  for ;  but  since  the  corruption  of  our  natures,  we  must 
undergo  a  dissolution  of  our  bodies,  and  may  have  just  reason  of  a 
despondency,  since  sin  hath  seemed  to  change  the  course  of  God's 
bounty,  and  brought  us  under  a  curse.  He  hath  given  us  the  ear- 
nest of  his  Spirit,  as  an  assurance  that  he  will  perform  that  very 
self-same  thing,  the  conferring  that  happiness  upon  renewed  crea- 
tures for  which  he  first  formed  man  in  creation,  when  he  comj^acted 
his  earthly  tabernacle  of  the  dust  of  the  ground,  and  reared  it  up 
before  him. 

4th.  It  was  a  mighty  goodness  that  God  should  give  man  an  eternal 
reward.  Tliat  an  eternity  of  reward  was  promised,  is  implied  in  the 
death  that  was  threatened  upon  transgression :  whatsoever  you  con- 
ceive the  threatened  death  to  be,  either  for  nature,  or  duration  upon 
transgression;  of  the  same  nature  and  duration  you  must  suppose 
the  life  to  be,  which  is  implied  upon  his  constancy  in  his  integrity. 
As  sin  would  render  him  an  eternal  object  of  God's  hatred,  so 
his  obedience  would  render  him  an  eternally  amiable  object  to  his 
Creator,  as  the  standing  angels  are  preserved  and  confirmed  in  an 
entire  felicity  and  glory.  Though  the  threatening  be  only  expressed 
by  God  (Gen.  ii.  17),  yet  the  other  is  implied,  and  might  easily  be 
concluded  from  it  by  Adam.  And  one  reason  why  God  only  ex- 
pressed the  threatening,  and  not  the  promise,  was,  because  man 
might  collect  some  hopes  and  expectations  of  a  perpetual  happiness 
from  that  image  of  God  which  he  beheld  in  himself,  and  from  the 
large  provision  he  had  made  for  him  in  the  world,  and  the  com- 
mission given  him  to  increase  and  multiply,  and  to  rule  as  a  lord 
over  his  other  works ;  whereas  he  could  not  so  easily  have  imagined 
himself  capable  of  being  exposed  to  such  an  extraordinary  calamity 
as  an  eternal  death,  without  some  signification  of  it  from  God.  It 
is  easily  concludable,  that  eternal  life  was  supposed  to  be  promised, 
to  be  conferred  upon  him  if  he  stood,  as  well  as  eternal  death  to  be 
inflicted  on  him  if  he  rebelled. »•  Now  this  eternal  life  was  not  due 
to  his  nature,  but  it  was  a  pure  beam,  and  gift  of  Divine  goodness  ;■ 
for  there  was  no  proportion  between  man's  service  in  his  innocent 
estate,  and  a  reward  so  great  both  for  nature  and  duration :  it  was  a 
higher  reward  than  can  be  imagined  either  due  to  the  nature  of  man, 
or  upon  any  natural  right  claimable  by  his  obedience.  All  that 
could  be  expected  by  him  was  but  a  natural  happiness,  not  a  super- 
natural: as  there  was  no  necessity  upon  the  account  of  natural 
righteousness,  so  there  was  no  necessity  upon  the  account  of  the 
goodness  of  God  to  elevate  the  nature  of  man  to  a  supernatural 
happiness,  merely  because  he  created  him :  for  though  it  be  necessary 
for  God,  when  he  would  create,  in  regard  of  his  wisdom,  to  create 
for  some  end,  yet  it  was  not  necessary  that  end  should  be  a  super- 
natural end  and  happiness,  since  a  natural  blessedness  had  been 
sufficient  for  man.  And  though  God,  in  creating  angels  and  men 
intellectual  and  rational  creatures,  did  make  them  necessary  for 
himself  and  his  own  glory,  yet  it  was  not  necessarily  for  him  to 

•  Suarez.  de  Gratia,  Vol.  I.  pp.  126,  127. 
VOL.  II. — 17 


258  CHAKNOCK   ON   THE   ATTEIBUTES. 

order  either  angels  or  men  to  sucli  a  felicity  as  consists  in  a  clear 
vision,  and  so  high  a  fruition,  of  himself:  for  all  other  things  are 
made  by  him  for  himself,  and  yet  not  for  the  vision  of  himself,  God 
might  have  created  man  only  for  a  natural  happiness,  according  to 
the  perfection  of  his  natural  faculties,  and  had  dealt  bountifully 
with  him,  if  he  had  never  intended  him  a  supernatural  blessedness 
and  an  eternal  recompense :  but  what  a  largeness  of  goodness  is 
here,  to  design  man,  in  his  creation,  for  so  rich  a  blessedness  as  an 
eternal  life,  with  the  fruition  of  himself!  He  hath  not  only  given  to 
man  all  things  which  are  necessary,  but  designed  for  man  that  which 
the  poor  creature  could  not  imagine :  he  garnished  the  earth  for  him, 
and  garnished  him  for  an  eternal  felicity,  had  he  not,  by  slighting 
the  goodness  of  God,  stripped  himself  of  the  present,  and  forfeited 
his  future  blessedness. 

Secondly^  The  manifestation  of  this  goodness  in  Redemption.  The 
whole  gospel  is  nothing  but  one  entire  mirror  of  Divine  goodness : 
the  whole  of  redemption  is  wrapped  up  in  that  one  expression  of 
the  angels'  song  (Luke  ii.  14),  "Good-will  towards  men."  The 
angels  sang  but  one  song  before,  which  is  upon  record,  but  the 
matter  of  it  seems  to  be  the  wisdom  of  God  chiefly  in  creation  (Job 
xxxviii.  7;  compare  chap.  ix.  5,  6,  8,  9).  The  angels  are  there 
meant  by  the  "  morning  stars  ;"  the  visible  stars  of  heaven  were  not 
distinctly  formed  when  the  foundations  of  the  earth  were  laid :  and 
the  title  of  the  sons  of  God  verifies  it,  since  none  but  creatures  of 
understanding  are  dignified  in  Scripture  with  that  title.  There  they 
celebrate  his  wisdom  in  creation  ;  here  his  goodness  in  redemjDtion, 
which  is  the  entire  matter  of  the  song. 

i.  Goodness  was  the  spring  of  redemption.  All  and  every  part 
of  it  owes  only  to  this  perfection  the  appearance  of  it  in  the  world. 
This  only  excited  wisdom  to  bring  forth  from  so  great  an  evil  as  the 
apostacy  of  man,  so  great  a  good  as  the  recovery  of  him.  When 
man  fell  from  his  created  goodness,  God  would  evidence  that  he 
could  not  fall  from  his  infinite  goodness :  that  the  greatest  evil  could 
not  surmount  the  ability  of  his  wisdom  to  contrive,  nor  the  riches 
of  his  bounty  to  present  us  a  remedy  for  it.  Divine  Goodness  would 
not  stand  by  a  spectator,  without  being  reliever  of  that  misery  man 
had  plunged  himself  into ;  but  by  astonishing  methods  it  would 
recover  him  to  happiness,  who  had  wrested  himself  out  of  his  hands, 
to  fling  himself  into  the  most  deplorable  calamity :  and  it  was  the 
greater,  since  it  surmounted  those  natural  inclinations,  and  those 
strong  provocations  which  he  had  to  shower  down  the  power  of  his 
wrath.  What  could  be  the  source  of  such  a  procedure,  but  this 
excellency  of  Divine  nature,  since  no  violence  could  force  him,  nor 
was  there  any  merit  to  persuade  to  such  a  restoration  ?  This,  under 
the  name  of  his  "  love,"  is  rendered  the  sole  cause  of  the  redeeming 
death  of  the  Son :  it  was  to  commend  his  love  with  the  highest 
gloss,  and  in  so  singular  a  manner  that  had  not  its  parallel  in  nature, 
nor  in  all  his  other  works,  and  reaches  in  the  brightness  of  it  beyond 
the  manifested  extent  of  any  other  attribute  (Rom.  v.  8).  It  must 
be  only  a  miraculous  goodness  that  induced  him  to  expose  the  life 
of  his  Son  to  those  difficulties  in  the  world,  and  death  upon  the  cross, 


ON  THE   GOODNESS   OF   GOD.  259 

for  the  freedom  of  sordid  rebels :  liis  great  end  was  to  give  sucli  a 
demonstration  of  the  hberahty  of  his  nature,  as  might  be  attractive 
to  his  creature,  remove  its  shakings  and  tremblings,  and  encourage 
its  approaches  to  him.  It  is  in  this  he  would  not  only  manifest  his 
love,  but  assume  the  name  of  "Love."  By  this  name  the  Holy 
Ghost  calls  him,  in  relation  to  this  good  will  manifested  in  his  Son 
(1  John  iv.  8,  9),  "  God  is  love."  In  this  is  manifested  the  love  of 
God  towards  us,  because  that  God  sent  his  only -begotten  Son  into 
the  world,  that  we  might  "live  through  him."  He  would  take  the 
name  he  never  expressed  himself  in  before.  He  was  Jehovah,  in 
regard  of  the  truth  of  his  promise ;  so  he  would  be  known  of  old : 
he  is  Goodness,  in  regard  of  the  grandeur  of  his  affection  in  the 
mission  of  his  Son  :  and,  therefore,  he  would  be  known  by  the  name 
of  Love  now,  in  the  days  of  the  gospel. 

ii.  It  was  a  pure  goodness.  He  was  under  no  obligation  to  pity 
our  misery,  and  repair  our  ruins :  he  might  have  stood  to  the  terms 
of  the  first  covenant,  and  exacted  our  eternal  death,  since  we  had 
committed  an  infinite  transgression :  he  was  under  no  tie  to  put  off 
the  robes  of  a  judge  for  the  bowels  of  a  father,  and  erect  a  mercy- 
seat  above  his  tribunal  of  justice.'*  The  reparation  of  man  had  no 
necessary  connexion  with  his  creation ;  it  follows  not,  that  because 
Goodness  had  extracted  us  from  nothing  by  a  mighty  power,  that  it 
must  lift  us  out  of  wilful  misery  by  a  mighty  grace.  Certainly  that 
God  who  had  no  need  of  creating  us,  had  far  less  need  of  redeeming 
us:  for,  since  he  created  one  world,  he  could  have  as  easily  de- 
stroyed it,  and  reared  another.  It  had  not  been  unbecoming  the 
Divine  Goodness  or  Wisdom,  to  have  let  man  perpetually  wallow  in 
that  sink  wherein  he  had  plunged  himself,  since  he  was  criminal  by 
his  own  will,  and,  therefore,  miserable  by  his  own  fault :  nothing 
could  necessitate  this  reparation.  If  Divine  Goodness  could  not  be 
obliged  by  the  angelical  dignity  to  repair  that  nature,  he  is  further 
from  any  obligation  by  the  meanness  of  man  to  repair  human  nature. 
There  was  less  necessity  to  restore  man  than  to  restore  the  fallen 
angels.  What  could  man  do  to  oblige  God  to  a  reparation  of  him, 
since  he  could  not  render  him  a  recompense  for  his  goodness  mani- 
fested in  his  creation  ?  He  must  be  much  more  impotent  to  render 
him  a  debtor  for  the  redemption  of  him  from  misery.  Could  it  be  a 
salary  for  anything  we  had  done  ?  Alas !  we  are  so  far  from  merit- 
ing it,  that  by  our  daily  demerits,  we  seem  ambitious  to  put  a  stop 
to  any  further  effusions  of  it :  we  could  not  have  complained  of  him, 
if  he  had  left  us  in  the  misery  we  had  courted,  since  he  was  bound 
by  no  law  to  bestow  upon  us  the  recovery  we  wanted.  When  the 
apostle  speaks  of  the  gospel  of  "  redemption,"  he  givetli  it  the  title 
of  the  "  gospel  of  the  blessed  God  "  (2  Tim.  i.  11).  It  was  the  gospel 
of  a  God  abounding  in  his  own  blessedness,  which  received  no 
addition  by  man's  redemption ;  if  he  had  been  blessed  by  it,  it  had 
been  a  goodness  to  himself,  as  well  as  to  the  creature :  it  was  not  an 
indigent  goodness  needing  the  receiving  anything  from  us ;  but  it 
was  a  pure  goodness,  streaming  out  of  itself,  without  bringing  any- 
thing into  itself  for  the  perfection  of  it :  there  was  no  goodness  in 

I*  Rada.  Conti-overs.  Part  III.  p.  363. 


260  CHAENOCK   ON  THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

US  to  be  the  motive  of  his  love,  but  liis  goodness  was  the  fountain 
of  our  benefit. 

iii.  It  was  a  distinct  goodness  of  the  whole  Trinity.  In  the  crea- 
tion of  man  we  find  a  general  consultation  (Gen.  i.  26),  without  those 
distinct  labors  and  offices  of  each  person,  and  without  those  raised 
expressions  and  marks  of  joy  and  triumph  as  at  man's  restoration. 
In  this  there  are  distinct  functions ;  the  grace  of  the  Father,  the 
merit  of  the  Son,  and  the  efficacy  of  the  Spirit,  The  Father  makes 
the  promise  of  redemption,  the  Son  seals  it  with  his  blood,  and  the 
Spirit  applies  it.  The  Father  adopts  us  to  be  his  children,  the  Son 
redeems  us  to  be  his  members,  and  the  Spirit  renews  us  to  be  his 
temples.  In  this  the  Father  testifies  himself  well-pleased  in  a  voice ; 
the  Son  proclaims  his  own  delight  to  do  the  will  of  God,  and  the 
Spirit  hastens,  with  the  wing  of  a  dove,  to  fit  him  for  his  work,  and 
afterwards,  in  his  apparition  in  the  likeness  of  fiery  tongues,  mani- 
fests his  zeal  for  the  propagation  of  the  redeeming  gospel. 

iv.  The  effects  of  it  proclaim  His  great  goodness.  It  is  by  this 
we  are  delivered  from  the  corruption  of  our  nature,  the  ruin  of  our 
happiness,  the  deformity  of  our  sins,  and  the  punishment  of  our 
transgressions ;  he  frees  us  from  the  ignorance  wherewith  we  were 
darkened  and  from  the  slavery  wherein  we  were  fettered.  When 
he  came  to  make  Adam's  process  after  his  crime,  instead  of  pro- 
nouncing the  sentence  of  death  he  had  merited,  he  utters  a  promise 
that  man  could  not  have  expected ;  his  kindness  swells  above  his 
provoked  justice,  and,  while  he  chaseth  him  out  of  paradise,  he  gives 
him  hopes  of  regaining  the  same,  or  a  better  habitation  ;  and  is,  in 
the  whole,  more  ready  to  prevent  him  with  the  blessings  of  his  good- 
ness, than  charge  him  with  the  horror  of  his  crimes  (Gen.  iii.  15). 
It  is  a  goodness  that  pardons  us  more  transgressions  than  there  are 
moments  in  our  lives,  and  overlooks  as  many  follies  as  there  are 
thoughts  in  our  heart :  he  doth  not  only  relieve  our  wants,  but  re- 
stores us  to  our  dignity.  It  is  a  greater  testimony  of  goodness  to 
instate  a  person  in  the  highest  honors,  than  barely  to  supply  his  pre- 
sent necessity :  it  is  an  admirable  pity  whereby  he  was  inclined  to 
redeem  us,  and  an  incomparable  affection  whereby  he  was  resolved 
to  exalt  us.  What  can  be  desired  more  of  him  than  his  goodness 
hath  granted  ?  He  hath  sought  us  out  when  we  were  lost,  and  ran- 
somed us  when  we  were  captives ;  he  hath  pardoned  us  when  we 
were  condemned,  and  raised  us  when  we  were  dead.  In  creation  he 
reared  us  from  nothing,  in  redemption  he  delivers  our  understanding 
from  ignorance  and  vanity,  and  our  wills  from  impotence  and  ob- 
stinacy, and  our  whole  man  from  a  death  worse  than  that  nothing  he 
drew  us  from  by  creation. 

V.  Hence  we  may  consider  the  height  of  this  goodness  in  redemp- 
tion to  exceed  that  in  creation.  He  gave  man  a  being  in  creation, 
but  did  not  draw  him  from  inexpressible  misery  by  that  act.  His 
liberality  in  the  gospel  doth  infinitely  surpass  what  we  admire  in  the 
works  of  nature  ;  his  goodness  in  the  latter  is  more  astonishing  to 
our  belief,  than  his  goodness  in  creation  is  visible  to  our  eye.  There 
is  more  of  his  bounty  expressed  in  that  one  verse,  "  So  God  loved 
the  world,  that  he  gave  his  only  begotten  Son"  (John  iii.  16),  than 


ON  THE   GOODNESS  OF  GOD.  261 

there  is  in  the  whole  volume  of  the  world :  it  is  an  incomprehensible 
so;  a  so  that  all  the  angels  in  heaven  cannot  analyse;  and  few  com- 
ment upon,  or  understand,  the  dimensions  of  this  so.  In  creation  ho 
formed  an  innocent  creature  of  the  dust  of  the  ground ;  in  redemp- 
tion he  restores  a  rebellious  creature  by  the  blood  of  his  Son :  it  is 
greater  than  that  goodness  manifested  in  creation. 

1st.  In  regard  of  the  difficulty  in  effecting  it.  In  creation,  mere 
nothing  was  vanquished  to  bring  us  into  being ;  in  redemption,  sul- 
len enmity  was  conquered  for  the  enjoyment  of  our  restoration  ;  in 
creation,  he  subdued  a  nullity  to  make  us  creatures ;  in  redemption, 
his  goodness  overcomes  his  omnipotent  justice  to  restore  us  to  feli- 
city. A  word  from  the  mouth  of  Goodness  inspired  the  dust  of 
men's  bodies  with  a  living  soul ;  but  the  blood  of  his  Son  must  be 
shed,  and  the  laws  of  natural  affection  seems  to  be  overturned,  to 
lay  the  foundation  of  our  renewed  happiness.  In  the  first,  heaven 
did  but  speak,  and  the  earth  was  formed ;  in  the  second,  heaven  it- 
self must  sink  to  earth,  and  be  clothed  with  dusty  earth,  to  reduce 
man's  dust  to  its  original  state. 

2d.  This  goodness  is  greater  than  that  manifested  in  creation,  in 
regard  of  its  cost.  This  was  a  more  expensive  goodness  than  what 
was  laid  out  in  creation.  "  The  redemption  of  one  soul  is  precious" 
(Ps.  xlix.  8),  much  more  costly  than  the  whole  fabric  of  the  world, 
or  as  many  worlds  as  the  understandings  of  angels  in  their  utmost 
extent  can  conceive  to  be  created.  For  the  effecting  of  this,  God 
parts  with  his  dearest  treasure,  and  his  Son  eclipses  his  choicest 
glory.  For  this,  God  must  be  made  man.  Eternity  must  suffer  death, 
the  Lord  of  angels  must  weep  in  a  cradle,  and  the  Creator  of  the 
world  must  hang  like  a  slave ;  he  must  be  in  a  manger  in  Bethlehem, 
and  die  upon  a  cross  on  Calvary  ;  unspotted  righteousness  must  be 
made  sin,  and  unblemislied  blessedness  be  made  a  curse.  He  was  at 
no  other  expense  than  the  breath  of  his  mouth  to  form  man ;  the 
fruits  of  the  earth  could  have  maintained  innocent  man  without  any 
other  cost ;  but  his  broken  nature  cannot  be  healed  without  the  in- 
valuable medicine  of  the  blood  of  God.  View  Christ  in  the  womb 
and  in  the  manger,  in  his  weary  steps  and  hungry  bowels,  in  his 
prostrations  in  the  garden,  and  in  his  clodded  drops  of  bloody 
sweat ;  view  his  head  pierced  with  a  crown  of  thorns,  and  his  face 
besmeared  with  the  soldiers'  slabber  ;  view  him  in  his  march  to  Cal- 
vary, and  his  elevation  on  the  painful  cross,  with  his  head  hanged 
down,  and  his  side  streaming  blood ;  view  him  pelted  Avith  the  scoffs 
of  the  governors,  and  the  derisions  of  the  rabble ;  and  see,  in  all 
this,  what  cost  Goodness  was  at  for  man's  redemption  !  In  creation, 
his  power  made  the  sun  to  shine  upon  us,  and,  in  redemption,  his 
bowels  sent  a  Son  to  die  for  us. 

3d.  This  goodness  of  God  in  redemption  is  greater  than  that  man- 
ifested in  creation,  in  regard  of  man's  desert  of  the  contrarv.  In 
the  creation,  as  there  was  nothing  without  him  to  allure  him'  to  the 
expressions  of  his  bounty,  so  there  was  nothing  that  did  damp  the 
inclinations  of  his  goodness :  the  nothing  from  whence  the  world 
was  drawn,  could  never  merit,  nor  demerit  a  being,  because  it  was 
nothing;  as  there  was  nothing  to  engage  him,  so  there  was  nothing 


262  CHAENOCK  ON  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

to  disoblige  him ;  as  his  favor  could  not  be  merited,  so  neither  could 
his  anger  be  deserved.  But  in  this  he  find^  ingratitude  against  the 
former  marks  of  his  goodness,  and  rebellion  against  the  sweetness 
of  his  sovereignty, — crimes  unworthy  of  the  dews  of  goodness,  and 
worthy  of  the  sharpest  strokes  of  vengeance ;  and  therefore  the 
Scripture  advanceth  the  honor  of  it  above  the  title  of  mere  good- 
ness, to  that  of  "grace"  (Rom.  i.  2;  Titus  ii.  11);  because  men  were 
not  only  unworthy  of  a  blessing,  but  worthy  of  a  curse.  An  innocent 
nothing  more  deserves  creation,  than  a  culpable  creature  deserves  an 
exemption  from  destruction.  When  man  fell,  and  gave  occasion  to 
God  to  repent  of  his  created  work,  his  ravishing  goodness  surmount- 
ed the  occasions  he  had  of  repenting,  and  the  provocations  he  had 
to  the  destruction  of  his  frame. 

4:th.  It  was  a  greater  goodness  than  was  expressed  towards  the 
angels. 

1.  A  greater  goodness  than  was  expressed  towards  the  standing 
angels.  The  Son  of  God  did  no  more  expose  his  life  for  the  con- 
firmation of  those  that  stood,  than  for  the  restoration  of  those  that 
fell ;  the  death  of  Christ  was  not  for  the  holy  angels,  but  for  simple 
man ;  they  needed  the  grace  of  God  to  confirm  them,  but  not  the 
death  of  Christ  to  restore  or  preserve  them ;  they  had  a  beloved  ho- 
liness to  be  established  by  the  powerful  grace  of  God,  but  not  any 
abominable  sin  to  be  blotted  out  by  the  blood  of  God  ;  they  had  no 
debt  to  pay  but  that  of  obedience ;  but  we  had  both  a  debt  of  obe- 
dience to  the  precepts,  and  a  debt  of  suffering  to  the  penalty,  after 
the  fall.  Whether  the  holy  angels  were  confirmed  by  Christ,  or  no, 
is  a  question :  some  think  they  were,  from  Colos.  i.  20,  where 
"  things  in  heaven"  are  said  to  be  "  reconciled ;"  but  some  think, 
that  place  signifies  no  more  than  the  reconciliation  of  things  in 
heaven,  if  meant  of  the  angels,  to  things  on  earth,  with  whom  they 
were  at  enmity  in  the  cause  of  their  Sovereign  ;  or  the  reconciliation 
of  things  in  heaven  to  God,  is  meant  the  glorified  saints,  who  were 
once  in  a  state  of  sin,  and  whom  the  death  of  Christ  upon  the  cross 
reached,  though  dead  long  before.  But  if  angels  were  confirmed  by 
Christ,  it  was  by  him  not  as  a  slain  sacrifice,  but  as  a  sovereign  Head 
of  the  whole  creation,  appointed  by  God  to  gather  all  things  into 
one ;  which  some  think  to  be  the  intendment  of  Eph.  i.  10,  where 
all  things,  as  well  those  in  heaven,  as  those  in  earth,  are  said  to  be 
"  gathered  together  in  one,  in  Christ."  Where  is  a  syllable  in  Scrip- 
ture of  his  being  crucified  for  angels,  but  only  for  sinners  ?  Not 
for  the  confirmation  of  the  one,  but  the  reconciliation  of  the  other ; 
so  that  the  goodness  whereby  God  continued  those  blessed  spirits  in 
heaven,  through  the  effusions  of  his  gi'ace,  is  a  small  thing  to  the 
restoring  us  to  our  forfeited  happiness,  through  the  streams  of  Divine 
blood.  The  preserving  a  man  in  life  is  a  little  thing,  and  a  smaller 
benefit  than  the  raising  a  man  from  death.  The  rescuing  a  man  from 
an  ignominious  punishment,  lays  a  greater  obligation  than  barely  to 
prevent  him  from  committing  a  capital  crime.  The  jjreserving  a 
man  standing  upon  the  top  of  a  steep  hill,  is  more  easy  than  to 
bring  a  crippled  and  phthisical  man,  from  the  bottom  to  the  top. 
The  continuance  God  gave  to  the  angels,  is  not  so  signal  a  mark  of 


ON  THE   GOODNESS  OF  GOD.  263 

liis  goodness  as  the  deliverance  lie  gave  to  us ;  since  they  were  not 
sunk  into  sin,  nor  by  any  crime  fallen  into  misery. 

2.  His  goodness  in  redemption  is  greater  than  any  goodness  ex- 
pressed to  the  fallen  angels.  It  is  the  wonder  of  his  goodness  to  us, 
that  he  was  mindful  of  fallen  man,  and  careless  of  fallen  angels;  that 
he  should  visit  man,  wallowing  in  death  and  blood,  with  the  day- 
spring  from  on  high,  and  never  turn  the  Egyptian  darkness  of  devils 
into  cheerful  day ;  when  they  sinned.  Divine  thunder  dashed  them 
into  hell ;  when  man  sinned.  Divine  blood  wafts  the  fallen  creature 
from  his  misery :  the  angels  wallow  in  their  own  blood  forever, 
while  Christ  is  made  partaker  of  our  blood,  and  wallows  in  his 
blood,  that  we  might  not  forever  corrupt  in  ours ;  they  tumbled 
down  from  heaven,  and  Divine  goodness  would  not  vouchsafe  to 
catch  them ;  man  tumbles  down,  and  Divine  goodness  holds  out  a 
hand  drenched  in  the  blood  of  Him,  that  was  from  the  foundations 
of  the  world,  to  lift  us  up  (Heb.  ii.  16).  He  spared  not  those  digni- 
fied spirits,  when  they  revolted ;  and  spared  not  punishing  his  Son 
for  dusty  man,  when  he  offended ;  when  he  might  as  well  forever 
have  let  man  lie  in  the  chains  wherein  he  had  entangled  himself,  as 
them.  We  were  as  fit  objects  of  justice  as  they,  and  they  as  fit  ob- 
jects of  goodness  as  we ;  they  were  not  more  wretched  by  their  fall 
than  we  ;  and  the  poverty  of  our  nature  rendered  us  more  unable  to 
recover  ourselves,  than  the  dignity  of  theirs  did  them ;  they  were 
his  Reuben,  his  first-born ;  they  were  his  might,  and  the  beginning 
of  his  strength;  yet  those  elder  sons  he  neglected,  to  prefer  the 
younger ;  they  were  the  prime  and  golden  pieces  of  creation,  not 
laden  with  gross  matter,  yet  they  lie  under  the  ruins  of  their  fall, 
while  man,  lead  in  comparison  of  them,  is  refined  for  another  world. 
They  seemed  to  be  fitter  objects  of  Divine  goodness,  in  regard  of  the 
eminency  of  their  nature  above  the  human  ;  one  angel  excelled  in 
endowments  of  mind  and  spirit,  vastness  of  understanding,  greatness 
of  power,  all  the  sons  of  men ;  they  were  more  capable  to  praise 
him,  more  capable  to  serve  him ;  and  because  of  the  acuteness  of 
their  comprehension,  more  able  to  have  a  due  estimate  of  such  a  re- 
demption, had  it  been  afforded  them ;  yet  that  goodness  which  had 
created  them  so  comely,  would  not  lay  itself  out  in  restoring  the 
beauty  they  had  defaced.  The  promise  was  of  bruising  the  serpent's 
head  for  us,  not  of  lifting  up  the  serpent's  head  with  us ;  their  nature 
was  not  assumed,  nor  any  command  given  them  to  believe  or  repent ; 
not  one  devil  spared,  not  one  apostate  spirit  recovered,  not  one  of 
those  eminent  creatures  restored ;  every  one  of  them  hath  only  a 
prospect  of  misery,  without  any  glimpse  of  recovery;  they  were 
ruined  under  one  sin,  and  we  repaired  under  many.  All  His  re- 
deeming goodness  was  laid  out  upon  man  (Ps.  cxliv.  3) ;  "  What  is 
man  that  thou  takest  knowledge  of  him;  and  the  Son  of  man,  that 
thou  makest  account  of  him?"  Making  account  of  him  above 
angels;  as  they  fell  without  any  tempting  them,  so  God  would  leave 
them  to  rise,  without  any  assisting  them.  I  know  the  schools  trouble 
themselves  to  find  out  the  reasons  of  this  peculiarity  of  grace  to  man, 
and  not  to  them ;  because  the  whole  human  nature  fell,  but  only  a 
part  of  the  angelical ;  the  one  sinned  by  a  seduction,  and  the  other 


264  CHARNOCK  ON  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

by  a  sullenncss,  without  any  tempter ;  every  angel  sinned  by  his 
own  proper  will,  whereas  Adam's  posterity  sinned  by  the  will  of  the 
first  man,  the  common  root  of  all.  God  would  deprive  the  devil  of 
any  glory  in  the  satisfaction  of  his  envious  desire  to  hinder  man  from 
attainment  and  possession  of  that  happiness  which  himself  had  lost. 
The  weakness  of  man  below  the  angelical  nature  might  excite  the 
Divine  mercy ;  and  since  all  the  things  of  the  lower  world  were 
created  for  man,  God  would  not  lose  the  honor  of  his  works,  by 
losing  the  immediate  end  for  which  he  framed  them.  And  finally, 
because  in  the  restoration  of  angels,  there  would  have  been  only  a 
restoration  of  one  nature,  that  was  not  comprehensive  of  the  nature 
of  inferior  things ;  but  after  all  such  conjectures,  man  must  sit  down, 
and  acknowledge  Divine  goodness  to  be  the  only  spring,  without 
any  other  motive.  Since  Infinite  Wisdom  could  have  contrived  a 
way  for  redemption  for  fallen  angels,  as  well  as  for  fallen  man,  and 
restored  both  tlie  one  and  the  other;  why  might  not  Christ  have  as- 
sumed their  nature  as  well  as  ours,  into  the  unity  of  the  Divine  per- 
son, and  suffered  the  wrath  of  God  in  their  nature  for  them,  as  well 
as  in  his  human  soul  for  us  ?  It  is  as  conceivable  that  two  natures 
might  have  been  assumed  by  the  Son  of  God,  as  well  as  three  souls 
be  in  man  distinct,  as  some  think  there  are. 

3.  To  enhance  this  goodness  yet  higher ;  it  was  a  greater  goodness 
to  us,  than  was  for  a  time  manifested  to  Christ  himself.  To  demon- 
strate his  goodness  to  man,  in  preventing  his  eternal  ruin,  he  would 
for  a  while  withhokl  his  goodness  from  his  Son,  by  exposing  his  life 
as  the  price  of  our  ransom  ;  not  only  subjecting  him  to  the  derisions 
of  enemies,  desertions  of  friends,  and  malice  of  devils,  but  to  the  in- 
expressible bitterness  of  his  own  wrath  in  his  soul,  as  made  an  offer- 
ing for  sin.  The  particle  so  (John  lii.  16),  seems  to  intimate  this 
supremacy  of  goodness ;  He  "  so  loved  the  world,  that  he  gave  his 
only  begotten  Son."  He  so  loved  the  world,  that  he  seemed  for  a 
time  not  to  love  his  Son  in  comparison  of  it,  or  equal  with  it.  The 
person  to  whom  a  gift  is  given  is,  in  that  regard,  accounted  more 
valuable  than  the  gift  or  present  made  to  him  :  thus  God  valued  our 
redemption  above  the  worldly  happiness  of  the  Kedeemer,  and  sen- 
tenceth  him  to  an  humiliation  on  earth,  in  order  to  our  exaltation  in 
heaven  ;  he  was  desirous  to  hear  him  groaning,  and  see  him  bleed- 
ing, that  we  might  not  groan  under  his  frowns,  and  bleed  under  his 
wrath ;  he  spared  not  him,  that  he  might  spare  us  ;  refused  not  to 
strike  him,  that  he  might  be  well  pleased  with  us ;  drenched  his 
sword  in  the  blood  of  his  Son,  that  it  might  not  forever  be  wet  with 
ours,  but  that  his  goodness  might  forever  triumph  in  our  salvation ; 
he  was  willing  to  have  his  Son  made  man,  and  die,  rather  than  man 
should  perish,  who  had  delighted  to  ruin  himself;  he  seemed  to  de- 
grade him  for  a  time  from  what  he  was.^  But  since  he  could  not  be 
united  to  any  but  to  an  intellectual  creature,  he  could  not  be  united 
to  any  viler  and  more  sordid  creature  than  the  earthly  nature  of 
man :  and  when  this  Son,  in  our  nature,  prayed  that  the  cup  might 
pass  from  him.  Goodness  would  not  suffer  it,  to  show  how  it  valued 

*  Liugeud  de  Eucharist,  pp.  84,  85. 


ON  THE   GOODNESS  OF  GOD.  265 

the  manifestation  of  itself,  in  the  salvation  of  man,  above  the  preser- 
vation of  the  life  of  so  dear  a  person. 

In  particular,  wherein  this  goodness  appears : — 

1st.  The  first  resolution  to  redeem,  and  the  means  appointed  for 
redemption,  could  have  no  other  inducement  but  Divine  goodness. 
We  cannot  too  highly  value  the  merit  of  Christ ;  but  we  must  not 
so  much  extend  the  merit  of  Christ,  as  to  draw  a  value  to  eclipse  the 
goodness  of  God ;  though  we  owe  our  redemption  and  the  fruits  of 
it  to  the  death  of  Christ,  yet  we  owe  not  the  first  resolutions  of  re- 
demption, and  assumption  of  our  nature,  the  means  of  redemption, 
to  the  merit  of  Christ.  Divine  goodness  only,  without  the  associa- 
tion of  any  merit,  not  only  of  man,  but  of  the  Redeemer  himself,  be- 
gat the  first  purpose  of  our  recovery  ;  he  was  singled  out,  and  pre- 
destinated to  be  our  Redeemer,  before  he  took  our  nature  to  merit 
our  redemption.  "  Grod  sent  his  Son,"  is  a  frequent  expression  in 
the  Gospel  of  St.  John  (John  iii,  34  ;  v.  24 ;  xvii.  3).  To  what  end 
did  God  ser^d  Christ,  but  to  redeem  ?  The  purpose  of  redemption, 
therefore,  preceded  the  pitching  upon  Christ  as  the  means  and  pro- 
curing cause  of  it,  i.  e.  of  our  actual  redemption,  but  not  of  the  re- 
deeming purpose;  the  end  is  always  in  intention  before  the  means.'^ 
"  God  so  loved  the  world,  that  he  gave  his  only  begotten  Son  ;"  the 
love  of  God  to  the  world  was  first  in  intention,  and  the  order  of 
nature,  before  the  will  of  giving  his  Son  to  the  world.  His  intention 
of  saving  was  before  the  mission  of  a  Saviour ;  so  that  this  affection 
rose,  not  from  the  merit  of  Christ,  but  the  merit  of  Christ  was  direct- 
ed by  this  affection.  It  was  the  effect  of  it,  not  the  cause.  Nor  was 
the  union  of  our  nature  with  his  merited  by  him  ;  all  his  meritorious 
acts  were  performed  in  our  nature;  the  nature,  therefore,  wherein  he 
performed  it,  was  not  merited ;  that  grace  which  was  not,  could  not 
merit  what  it  was ;  he  could  not  merit  that  humanity,  which  must 
be  assumed  before  he  could  merit  anything  for  us,  because  all  merit 
for  us  must  be  offered  in  the  nature  which  had  offended.  It  is  true 
"  Christ  gave  himself,"  but  by  the  order  of  Divine  goodness ;  he  that 
begat  him,  pitched  upon  him,  and  called  him  to  this  great  work  (Heb. 
V.  5) ;  he  is  therefore  called  "the  Lamb  of  God,"  as  being  set  apart 
by  God  to  be  a  propitiating  and  appeasing  sacrifice.  He  is  the 
"  Wisdom  of  God,"  since  from  the  Father  he  reveals  the  counsel  and 
order  of  redemption.  In  this  regard  he  calls  God  "  his  God"  in  the 
prophet  (Isa.  xlix.  4),  and  in  the  evangelist  (John  xx.  17) ;  though 
he  was  big  with  affection  for  the  accomplishment,  yet  he  came  not 
to  do  his  "  own  will,"  but  the  will  of  Divine  goodness ;  his  own  will 
it  was,  too,  but  not  principally,  as  being  the  first  wheel  in  motion, 
but  subordinate  to  the  eternal  will  of  Divine  bounty.  It  was  by  the 
will  of  God  that  he  came,  and  by  his  will  he  drank  the  dreggy  cup 
of  bitterness.  Divine  justice  laid  "  upon  him  the  iniquity  of  us  all," 
but  Divine  goodness  intended  it  for  our  rescue ;  Divine  goodness 
singled  him  out,  and  set  him  apart ;  Divine  goodness  invited  him  to 
it ;  Divine  goodness  commanded  him  to  effect  it,  and  put  a  law  into 
his  heart,  to  bias  him  in  the  performing  of  it ;  Divine  goodness  sent 
him,  and  Divine  goodness  moved  justice  to  bruise  him ;  and,  after 

^  Lessius. 


266  CHARNOCK  ON  THE  ATTEIBUTES. 

liis  sacrifice,  Divine  goodness  accepted  liim,  and  caressed  liim  for  it. 
So  earnest  was  it  for  our  redemption,  as  to  give  out  special  and  irre- 
versible orders  :  death  was  commanded  to  be  endured  by  him  for  us, 
and  life  commanded  to  be  imparted  by  him  to  us  (John  x.  16,  18). 
If  God  had  not  been  the  mover,  but  had  received  the  proposal  from 
another,  he  might  have  heard  it,  but  was  not  bound  to  grant  it ;  his 
sovereign  authority,  was  not  under  any  obligation  to  receive  another's 
sponsion  for  the  miserable  criminal.  As  Christ  is  the  head  of  man, 
so  "  God  is  the  head  of  Christ"  (1  Cor.  xi.  3);  he  did  nothing  but  by 
his  directions,  as  he  was  not  a  Mediator,  but  by  the  constitution  of 
Divine  goodness.  As  a  "  liberal  man  deviseth  liberal  things"  (Isa. 
ii.  8),  so  did  a  bountiful  God  devise  a  bountiful  act,  wherein  his  kind- 
ness and  love  as  a  Saviour  appeared  :  he  was  possessed  with  the  re- 
solutions to  manifest  his  goodness  in  Christ,  "  in  the  beginning  of 
his  way"  (Prov.  viii.  22,  23),  before  he  descended  to  the  act  of  crea- 
tion. This  intention  of  goodness  preceded  his  making  that  creature 
man,  who,  he  foresaw,  would  fall,  and,  by  his  fall,  disjoint  and  en- 
tangle the  whole  frame  of  the  world,  without  such  a  provision. 

2d.  In  God's  giving  Christ  to  be  our  Eedeemer,  he  gave  the  highest 
gift  that  it  was  possible  for  Divine  goodness  to  bestow.  As  there 
is  not  a  greater  God  than  himself  to  be  conceived,  so  there  is  not  a 
greater  gift  for  this  great  God  to  present  to  his  creatures :  never  did 
God  go  farther,  in  any  of  his  excellent  perfections,  than  this.  It  is 
such  a  dole  that  cannot  be  transcended  with  a  choicer ;  he  is,  as  it 
were,  come  to  the  last  mite  of  his  treasure ;  and  though  he  could 
create  millions  of  worlds  for  us,  he  cannot  give  a  greater  Son  to  us. 
He  could  abound  in  the  expressions  of  his  joower,  in  new  creations 
of  worlds,  Avhich  have  not  yet  been  seen,  and  in  the  lustre  of  his 
wisdom  in  more  stately  structures ;  but  if  he  should  frame  as  many 
worlds  as  there  are  mites  of  dust  and  matter  in  this,  and  make  every 
one  of  them  as  bright  and  glorious  as  the  sun,  though  his  power  and 
wisdom  would  be  more  signalized,  yet  his  goodness  could  not,  since 
he  hath  not  a  choicer  gift  to  bless  those  brighter  worlds  withal,  than  he 
hath  conferred  upon  this:  nor  can  immense  goodness  contrive  a 
richer  means  to  conduct  those  worlds  to  happiness,  than  he  hath  both 
invented  for  this  world,  and  presented  it  with.  It  cannot  be  imag- 
ined, that  it  can  extend  itself  farther  than  to  give  a  gift  equal  with 
himself;  a  gift  as  clear  to  him  as  himself.  His  wisdom,  had  it  stud- 
,ied  millions  of  eternities  (excuse  the  expression,  since  eternity  ad- 
mits of  no  millions,  it  being  an  interminable  duration),  it  could  have 
found  out  no  more  to  give;  this  goodness  could  have  bestowed 
no  more,  and  our  necessity  could  not  have  required  a  greater  of- 
fering for  our  relief  When  God  intended,  in  redemption,  the 
manifestation  of  his  highest  goodness,  it  coidd  not  be  without  the 
donation  of  the  choicest  gift ;  as,  when  he  would  insure  our  comfort, 
he  swears  "by  himself,"  because  he  cannot  swear  "by  a  greater" 
(Heb.  vi.  13) :  so,  when  we  would  insure  our  happiness,  he  gives  us 
his  Son,  because  he  cannot  give  a  greater,  being  equal  with  himself. 
Had  the  Father  given  himself  in  person,  he  had  given  one  first  in 
order,  but  not  greater  in  essence  and  glorious  perfections :  it  could 
have  been  no  more  than  the  life  of  God,  and  should  then  have  been 


ON  THE   GOODNESS  OF   GOD.  267 

laid  down  for  us ;  and  so  it  was  now,  since  tlie  human  nature  did  not 
subsist  but  in  his  Divine  person. 

1.  It  is  a  greater  gift  than  worlds,  or  all  things  purchased  by  him. 
What  was  this  gift  but  "the  image  of  his  person,  and  the  brightness 
of  his  glory"  (Heb.  i.  3)?  What  was  this  gift  but  one  as  rich  as 
eternal  blessedness  could  make  him  ?  What  was  this  gift,  but  one 
that  possessed  the  fulness  of  earth,  and  the  more  immense  riches  of 
heaven  ?  It  is  a  more  valuable  present,  than  if  he  presented  us  with 
thousands  of  worlds  of  angels  and  inferior  creatures,  because  his 
person  is  incomparably  greater,  not  only  than  all  conceivable,  but 
inconceivable,  creations ;  we  are  more  obliged  to  him  for  it,  than  if 
he  had  made  us  angels  of  the  highest  rank  in  heaven,  because  it  is  a 
gift  of  more  value  than  the  whole  angelical  nature,  because  he  is  an 
infinite  person,  and  therefore  infinitely  transcends  whatsoever  is 
finite,  though  of  the  highest  dignity.  The  Avounds  of  an  Almighty 
God  for  us  are  a  greater  testimony  of  goodness,  than  if  we  had  all 
the  other  riches  of  heaven  and  earth.  This  perfection  had  not  ap- 
peared in  such  an  astonishing  grandeur,  had  it  pardoned  us  without 
so  rich  a  satisfaction  ;  that  had  been  pardon  to  our  sin,  not  a  God  of 
our  nature.  "God  so  loved  the  world"  that  he  pardoned  it,  had  not 
sounded  so  great  and  so  good,  as  God  so  loved  the  world,  that  he 
"  gave  his  only -begotten  Son."  Est  aliquid  in  Christo  formosius  Ser- 
vaiore.  There  is  something  in  Christ  more  excellent  and  comely  than 
the  office  of  a  Saviour ;  the  greatness  of  his  person  is  more  excellent, 
than  the  salvation  procured  by  his  death  :  it  was  a  greater  gift  than 
was  bestowed  upon  innocent  Adam,  or  the  holy  angels.  In  the  cre- 
ation, his  goodness  gave  us  creatures  for  our  use :  in  our  redemp- 
tion, his  goodness  gives  us  what  was  dearest  to  him  for  our  service, 
our  Sovereign  in  office  to  benefit  us,  as  well  as  in  a  royalty  to  gov- 
ern us. 

2.  It  was  a  greater  gift,  because  it  was  his  own  Son,  not  an  angel. 
It  had  been  a  mighty  goodness  to  have  given  one  of  the  lofty  sera- 
phims ;  a  greater  goodness  to  have  given  the  whole  corporation  of 
those  glorious  spirits  f6r  us,  those  children  of  the  Most  High :  but 
he  gave  that  Son,  whom  he  commands  "  all  the  angels  to  worship" 
(Heb.  i.  6),  and  all  men  to  adore,  and  pay  the  "lowest  homage  to" 
(Ps.  ii.  12) ;  that  Son  that  is  to  be  honored  by  us,  as  we  "  honor  the 
Father"  (John  v.  23);  that  Son  which  was  his  "delight"  (Prov.  viii. 
30) ;  his  delights  in  the  Hebrew,  wherein  all  the  delights  of  the 
Father  were  gathered  in  one,  as  well  as  of  the  whole  creation  ;  and 
not  simply  a  Son,  but  an  only-begotten  Son,  upon  which  Christ  lays 
the  stress  with  an  emphasis  (1  John  iii.  16).  He  had  but  one  Son  in 
heaven  or  earth,  one  Son  from  an  unviewable  eternity,  and  that  one 
Son  he  gave  for  a  degenerate  world ;  this  son  he  consecrated  for  "  ev- 
ermore a  Priest"  (Heb.  vii.  28).  "  The  word  of  the  oath  makes  tlie 
Son ;"  the  peculiarity  of  his  Sonship  heightens  the  goodness  of  the 
Donor.  It  was  no  meaner  a  person  that  he  gave  to  empty  himself 
of  his  glory,  to  fulfil  an  obedience  for  us,  that  we  might  be  rendered 
happy  partakers  of  the  Divine  nature.  Those  that  know  the  natural 
affection  of  a  father  to  a  son,  must  judge  the  affection  of  God  the 
Father  to  the  Son  infinitely  greater,  than  the  affection  of  an  earthlj'- 


268  CHAENOCK   ON   THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

father  to  the  son  of  his  bowels.  It  must  be  an  unparalleled  goodness, 
to  give  up  a  Son  that  he  loved  with  so  ardent  an  affection,  for  the 
redemption  of  rebels :  abandon  a  glorious  Son  to  a  dishonorable 
death,  for  the  security  of  those  that  had  violated  the  laws  of  right- 
eousness, and  endeavored  to  pull  the  sovereign  crown  from  his  head. 
Besides,  being  an  only  Son,  all  those  affections  centered  in  him,  which 
in  parents  would  have  been  divided  among  a  multitude  of  children: 
so,  then,  as  it  was  a  testimony  of  the  highest  faith  and  obedience  in 
"Abraham  to  offer  up  his  only-begotten  son  to  God"  (Heb.  xi.  17) ; 
so  it  was  the  triumph  of  Divine  goodness,  to  give  so  great,  so  dear 
a  person,  for  so  little  a  thing  as  man ;  and  for  such  a  piece  of  nothing 
and  vanity,  as  a  sinful  world. 

3.  And  this  Son  given  to  rescue  us  by  his  death.  It  was  a  gift  to 
us ;  for  our  sakes  he  descended  from  his  throne,  and  dwelt  on  earth ; 
for  our  sakes  he  was  "made  flesh,"  and  infirm  flesh;  for  our  sakes 
he  was  "  made  a  curse,"  and  scorched  in  the  furnace  of  his  Father's 
wrath ;  for  our  sakes  he  went  naked,  armed  only  with  his  own 
strength,  into  the  lists  of  that  combat  with  the  devils,  that  led  us 
captive.  Had  he  given  him  to  be  a  leader  for  the  conquest  of  some 
earthly  enemies,  it  had  been  a  great  goodness  to  display  his  banners, 
and  bring  us  under  his  conduct ;  but  he  sent  him  to  lay  down  his 
life  in  the  bitterest  and  most  inglorious  manner,  and  exposed  him  to 
a  cursed  death  for  our  redemption  from  that  dreadful  curse,  which 
would  have  broken  us  to  pieces,  and  irreparably  have  crushed  us. 
He  gave  him  to  us,  to  suffer  for  us  as  a  man,  and  redeem  us  as  a 
God ;  to  be  a  sacrifice  to  expiate  our  sin  by  translating  the  punish- 
ment upon  himself,  which  was  merited  by  us.  Thus  Avas  he  made 
low  to  exalt  us,  and  debased  to  advance  us,  "  made  poor  to  enrich 
us"  (2  Cor.  viii.  9) ;  and  eclipsed  to  brighten  our  sullied  natures,  and 
wounded,  that  he  might  be  a  physician  for  our  languishments.  He 
was  ordered  to  taste  the  bitter  cup  of  death,  that  we  might  drink  of 
the  rivers  of  immortal  life  and  pleasures  :  to  submit  to  the  frailties 
of  the  human  nature,  that  we  might  possess  the  glories  of  the  divine : 
he  was  ordered  to  be  a  sufferer,  that  we  might  be  no  longer  captives  ; 
and  to  pass  through  the  fire  of  Divine  wrath,  that  he  might  purge 
our  nature  from  the  dross  it  had  contracted.  Thus  was  the  righteous 
given  for  sin,  the  innocent  for  criminals,  the  glory  of  heaven  for  the 
dregs  of  earth,  and  the  immense  riches  of  a  Deity  expended  to  re- 
stock man. 

4.  And  a  Son  that  was  exalted  for  what  he  had  done  for  us  by  the 
order  of  Divine  goodness.  The  exaltation  of  Christ  was  no  less  a 
signal  mark  of  his  miraculous  goodness  to  us,  than  of  his  affection  to 
him :  since  he  was  obedient  by  Divine  goodness  to  die  for  us,  his  ad- 
vancement was  for  his  obedience  to  those  orders.  The  name  given 
to  him  "  above  every  name"  (Phil.  ii.  8,  9),  was  a  repeated  triumph 
of  this  perfection ;  since  his  passion  was  not  for  himself,  he  was 
wholly  innocent,  but  for  us  who  were  criminal.  His  advancement 
Avas  not  only  for  himself  as  Redeemer,  but  for  us  as  redeemed : 
Divine  goodness  centered  in  him,  both  in  his  cross  and  in  his  crown ; 
for  it  was  for  the  "purging  our  sins,  he  sat  down  on  the  right  hand 
of  the  Majesty  on  high"  (Heb.  i.  8):  and  the  whole  blessed  society 


ON  THE   GOODNESS  OF  GOD.  269 

of  principalities  and  powers  in  heaven  admire  this  goodness  of  God, 
and  ascribe  to  him  "  honor,  glory,  and  power"  for  advancing  the 
"Lamb  slain"  (Rev.  v.  11-13).  Divine  goodness  did  not  only  give 
him  to  us,  but  gave  him  power,  riches,  strength,  and  honor,  for  man- 
ifesting this  goodness  to  us,  and  opening  the  passages  for  its  fuller 
conveyances  to  the  sons  of  men.  Had  not  God  had  thoughts  of  a 
perpetual  goodness,  he  would  not  have  settled  him  so  near  him,  to 
manage  our  cause,  and  testified  so  much  affection  to  him  on  our  be- 
half This  goodness  gave  him  to  be  debased  for  us,  and  ordered 
him  to  be  enthroned  for  us :  as  it  gave  him  to  us  bleeding,  so  it 
would  give  him  to  us  triumphing ;  that  as  we  have  a  share  by  grace 
in  the  merits  of  his  humiliation,  we  might  partake  also  of  the  glories 
of  his  coronation  ;  that,  from  first  to  last,  we  may  behold  nothing  but 
the  triumphs  of  Divine  goodness  to  fallen  man. 

5.  In  bestowing  this  gift  on  us.  Divine  goodness  gives  whole  God 
to  us.  Whatsoever  is  great  and  excellent  in  the  Godhead,  the  Father 
gives  us,  by  giving  us  his  Son :  the  Creator  gives  himself  to  us  in  his 
Son  Christ.  In  giving  creatures  to  us,  he  gives  the  riches  of  earth ; 
in  giving  himself  to  us,  he  gives  the  riches  of  heaven,  which  sur- 
mount all  understanding :  it  is  in  this  gift  he  becomes  our  God,  and 
passeth  over  the  title  of  all  that  he  is  for  our  use  and  benefit,  that 
every  attribute  in  the  Divine  nature  may  be  claimed  by  us ;  not  to 
be  imparted  to  us  whereby  we  may  be  deified,  but  employed  for  our 
welfare,  whereby  we  may  be  blessed.  He  gave  himself  in  creation  to 
us  in  the  image  of  his  holiness ;  but,  in  redemption,  he  gave  himself 
in  the  image  of  his  person :  he  would  not  only  communicate  the 
goodness  without  him,  but  bestow  upon  us  the  infinite  goodness  of 
his  own  nature ;  that  that  which  was  his  own  end  and  happiness 
might  be  our  end  and  happiness,  viz.  himself  By  giving  his  Son, 
he  hath  given  himself;  and  in  both  gifts  he  hath  given  all  things  to 
us.  The  Creator  of  all  things  is  eminently  all  things:  "He  hath 
given  all  things  into  the  hands  of  his  Son"  (John  iii.  35);  and,  by 
consequence,  given  all  things  into  the  hands  of  his  redeemed  crea- 
tures, by  giving  them  Him  to  whom  he  gave  all  things ;  whatsoever 
we  were  invested  in  by  creation,  whatsoever  we  were  deprived  of  by 
corruption,  and  more,  he  hath  deposited  in  safe  hands  for  our  enjoy- 
ment :  and  what  can  Divine  goodness  do  more  for  us?  What  further 
can  it  give  unto  us,  than  what  it  hath  given,  and  in  that  gift  designed 
for  us  ? 

3d,  This  goodness  is  enhanced  by  considering  the  state  of  man  in 
the  first  transgression,  and  since. 

1.  Man's  first  transgression.  If  we  should  rip  up  every  vein  of 
that  first  sin,  should  we  find  any  want  of  wickedness  to  excite  a  just 
indignation  ?  What  ^Yas  there  but  ingratitude  to  Divine  bounty, 
and  rebellion  against  Divine  sovereignty  ?  The  royalty  of  God  was 
attempted ;  the  supremacy  of  Divine  knowledge  above  man's  own 
knowledge  envied ;  the  riches  of  goodness,  whereby  he  lived  and 
breathed,  slighted.  There  is  a  discontent  with  God  upon  an  un- 
reasonable sentiment,  that  God  had  denied  a  knowledge  to  him 
which  was  his  right  and  due,  when  there  should  have  been  an  hum- 
ble acknowledgment  of  that  unmerited  goodness,  which  had  not  only 


270  CHARNOCK  ON  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

given  him  a  being  above  other  creatures,  but  placed  him  the  gover- 
nor and  lord  of  those  that  were  inferior  to  him.  What  alienation 
of  his  understanding  was  there  from  knowing  God,  and  of  his  will 
from  loving  him !  A  debauch  of  all  his  faculties ;  a  spiritual  adultery, 
in  preferring,  not  only  one  of  God's  creatures,  but  one  of  his  des- 
perate enemies,  before  him;  thinking  him  a  wiser  counsellor  than 
Infinite  Wisdom,  and  imagining  him  possessed  with  kinder  affections 
to  him  than  that  God  who  had  newly  created  him.  Thus  he  joins 
in  league  with  hell  against  heaven,  with  a  fallen  spirit  against  his 
bountiful  Benefactor,  and  enters  into  society  with  rebels  that  just 
before  commenced  a  war  against  his  and  their  common  Sovereign : 
he  did  not  only  falter  in,  but  cast  off,  the  obedience  due  to  his  Crea- 
tor ;  endeavored  to  purloin  his  glory,  and  actually  murdered  all  those 
that  were  virtually  in  his  loins.  "  Sin  entered  into  the  world"  by 
him,  "  and  death  by  sin,  and  passed  upon  all  men"  (Rom.  v.  12), 
taking  them  off  from  their  subjection  to  God,  to  be  slaves  to  the 
damned  spirits,  and  heirs  of  their  misery :  and,  after  all  this,  he  adds 
a  foul  imputation  on  God,  taxing  him  as  the  author  of  his  sin,  and 
thereby  stains  the  beauty  of  his  holiness.  But,  notwithstanding  all 
this,  God  stops  not  up  the  flood-gates  of  his  goodness,  nor  doth  he 
entertain  fiery  resolutions  against  man,  but  brings  forth  a  healing 
promise ;  and  sends  not  an  angel  upon  commission  to  reveal  it  to 
him,  but  preaches  it  himself  to  this  forlorn  and  rebellious  creature 
(Gen.  iii.  15). 

2.  Could  there  be  anything  in  this  fallen  creature  to  allure  God  to 
the  expression  of  his  goodness  ?  Was  there  an}^  good  action  in  all 
his  carriage  that  could  plead  for  a  re-admission  of  him  to  his  former 
state  ?  Was  there  one  good  quality  left,  that  could  be  an  orator  to 
persuade  Divine  goodness  to  such  a  gracious  procedure  ?  Was  there 
any  moral  goodness  in  man,  after  this  debauch,  that  might  be  an 
object  of  Divine  love?  What  was  there  in  him,  that  was  not  rather 
a  provocation  than  an  allurement  ?  Could  you  expect  that  any  per- 
fection in  God  should  find  a  motive  in  this  ungrateful  apostate  to 
open  a  mouth  for  him,  and  be  an  advocate  to  support  him,  and  bring 
him  off  from  a  just  tribunal?  or,  after  Divine  goodness  had  begun  to 
pity  and  plead  for  man,  is  it  not  wonderful  that  it  should  not  discon- 
tinue the  plea,  after  it  found  man's  excuse  to  be  as  black  as  his  crime 
(Gen.  iii.  12),  and  his  carriage,  upon  his  examination,  to  be  as  dis- 
obliging as  his  first  revolt  ?  It  might  well  be  expected,  that  all  the 
perfections  in  the  Divine  nature  would  have  entered  into  an  associa- 
tion eternally  to  treat  this  rebel  according  to  his  deserts.  What  at- 
tractives  were  there  in  a  silly  worm,  much  less  in  such  complete 
wickedness,  inexcusable  enmity,  infamous  rebellion,  to  design  a  Ee- 
deemer  for  him,  and  such  a  person  as  the  Son  of  God  to  a  fleshy 
body,  an  eclipse  of  glor}^,  and  an  ignominious  cross  ?  The  meanness 
of  man  was  further  from  alluring  God  to  it,  than  the  dignity  of 
angels. 

8.  Was  there  not  a  world  of  demerit  in  man,  to  animate  grace  as 
well  as  wrath  against  him  ?  We  were  so  far  from  deserving  the 
opening  any  streams  of  goodness,  that  we  had  merited  floods  of  de- 
vouring wrath.     What  were  all  men  but  enemies  to  God  in  a  high 


ON"  THE   GOODNESS  OF  GOD.  271 

manner  ?  Every  offence  was  infinite,  as  being  committed  against 
a  being  of  infinite  dignity ;  it  was  a  stroke  at  the  very  being  of  God, 
a  resistance  of  all  liis  attributes;  it  would  degrade  him  from  the 
height  and  perfection  of  his  nature ;  it  would  not,  by  its  good  will, 
suffer  God  to  be  God.  If  he  that  hates  his  brother  is  a  murderer  of 
his  brother  (1  John  iii.  15),  he  that  hates  his  Creator  is  a  murderer 
of  the  Deity,  and  every  "carnal  mind  is  enmity  to  God"  (Rom.  viii. 
7) :  every  sin  envies  him  his  authority,  by  breaking  his  precept ;  and 
envies  him  his  goodness,  by  defacing  the  marks  of  it :  every  sin  com- 
prehends in  it  more  than  men  or  angels  can  conceive :  that  God  who 
only  hath  the  clear  apprehensions  of  his  own  dignity,  hath  the  sole 
clear  apprehensions  of  sin's  malignity.  All  men  were  thus  by  na- 
ture :  those  that  sinned  before  the  coming  of  the  Redeemer  had  been 
in  a  state  of  sin  ;  those  that  were  to  come  after  him  would  be  in  a 
state  of  sin  by  their  birth,  and  be  criminals  as  soon  as  ever  they  were 
creatures.  AH  men,  as  well  the  glorified,  as  those  in  the  flesh  at  the 
coming  of  the  Redeemer,  and  those  that  were  to  be  born  after,  were 
considered  in  a  state  of  sin  by  God,  when  he  bruised  the  Redeemer 
for  them ;  all  were  filthy  and  unworthy  of  the  eye  of  God ;  all  had 
employed  the  faculties  of  their  souls,  and  the  members  of  their  bodies, 
which  they  enjoyed  by  his  goodness,  against  the  interest  of  his  glory. 
Every  rational  creature  had  made  himself  a  slave  to  those  creatures 
over  whom  he  had  been  appointed  a  lord,  subjected  himself  as  a 
servant  to  his  inferior,  and  strutted  as  a  superior  against  his  liberal 
Sovereign,  and  by  every  sin  rendered  himself  more  a  child  of  Satan, 
and  enemy  of  God,  and  more  worthy  of  the  curses  of  the  law,  and  the 
torments  of  hell.  Was  it  not,  now,  a  mighty  goodness  that  would 
surmount  those  high  mountains  of  demerit,  and  elevate  such  creatures 
by  the  depression  of  his  Son  ?  Had  we  been  possessed  of  the  highest 
holiness,  a  reward  had  been  the  natural  effect  of  goodness.  It  was 
not  possible  that  God  should  be  unkind  to  a  righteous  and  innocent 
creature ;  his  grace  would  have  crowned  that  which  had  been  so 
agreeable  to  him.  He  had  been  a  denier  of  himself,  had  he  num- 
bered innocent  creatures  in  the  rank  of  the  miserable ;  but  to  be  kind 
to  an  enemy,  to  run  counter  to  the  vastness  of  demerit  in  man,  was 
a  superlative  goodness,  a  goodness  triumjjhing  above  all  the  provo- 
cations of  men,  and  pleas  of  justice:  it  was  an  abounding  goodness 
of  grace ;  "  where  sin  abounded,  grace  did  much  more  abound"  (Rom. 
V.  20),  ineQenE^iaaevaev  ;  it  Swelled  abovc  the  heights  of  sin,  and  tri- 
umphed more  than  all  his  other  attributes. 

4.  Man  was  reduced  to  the  lowest  condition.  Our  crimes  had 
brought  us  to  the  lowest  calamity  ;  we  were  brought  to  the  dust,  and 
prepared  for  hell.  Adam  had  not  the  boldness  to  request,  and  there- 
fore we  may  judge  he  had  not  the  least  hopes  of  pardon ;  he  was 
sunk  under  wrath,  and  could  have  expected  no  better  an  entertain- 
ment than  the  tempter,  Avhose  solicitations  he  submitted  to.  We  had 
cast  the  diadem  from  our  heads,  and  lost  all  our  original  excellency ; 
we  were  lost  to  our  own  happiness,  and  lost  to  our  Creator's  service, 
when  he  was  so  kind  as  to  send  his  Son  to  seek  us  (Matt,  xviii.  11), 
and  so  liberal  as  to  expend  his  blood  for  our  cure  and  preservation. 
How  great  was  that  goodness  that  would  not  abandon  us  in  our  mis- 


272  CHAENOCK   ON  THE   ATTEIBUTES. 

ery,  but  remit  our  crimes,  and  rescue  our  persons,  and  ransom  our 
souls  by  so  great  a  price  from  tlie  rights  of  justice,  and  horrors  of 
hell,  we  were  so  fitted  for  ? 

5.  Every  age  multiplied  provocations ;  every  age  of  the  Avorld 
proved  more  degenerate.  The  traditions,  which  were  purer  and 
more  lively  among  Adam's  immediate  posterity,  were  more  dark 
among  his  further  descendants  ;  idolatry,  whereof  we  have  no  marks 
in  the  old  world  before  the  deluge,  was  frequent  afterwards  in  every 
nation :  not  only  the  knowledge  of  the  true  God  Avas  lost,  but  the 
natural  reverential  thoughts  of  a  Deity  were  expelled.  Hence  gods 
were  dubbed  according  to  men's  humors ;  and  not  only  human  pas- 
sions, but  brutish  vices,  ascribed  to  them :  as  by  the  fall  we  were 
become  less  than  men,  so  we  would  fancy  God  no  better  than  a 
beast,  since  beasts  were  worshipped  as  gods  (Rom.  i.  21) ;  yea,  fan- 
cied God  no  better  than  a  devil,  since  that  destroyer  was  worshipped 
instead  of  the  Creator,  and  a  homage  paid  to  the  powers  of  hell  that 
had  ruined  them,  which  was  due  to  the  goodness  of  that  Benefactor, 
who  had  made  them  and  preserved  them  in  the  world.  The  vilest 
creatures  were  deified ;  reason  was  debased  below  common  sense ; 
and  men  adored  one  end  of  a  "  log,"  while  they  "  warmed  them- 
selves with  the  other"  (Isa.  xliv.  14,  16,  17) ;  as  if  that  which  was 
ordained  for  the  kitchen  were  a  fit  representation  for  God  in  the  tem- 
ple. Thus  were  the  natural  notions  of  a  Deity  depraved  ;  the  whole 
world  drenched  in  idolatry ;  and  though  the  Jews  were  free  from 
that  gross  abuse  of  God,  yet  they  were  sunk  also  into  loathsome  su- 
perstitions, when  the  goodness  of  God  brought  in  his  designed  Ee- 
deemer  and  redemption  into  the  world. 

6.  The  impotence  of  man  enhanceth  this  goodness.  Our  own  eye 
did  scarce  pity  us,  and  it  was  impossible  for  our  own  hands  to  re- 
lieve us  ;  we  were  insensible  of  our  misery,  in  love  with  our  death  ; 
we  courted  our  chains,  and  the  noise  of  our  fettering  lusts  were  our 
music,  "  serving  divers  lusts  and  pleasures"  (Tit.  iii.  3).  Our  lusts 
were  our  pleasures  ;  Satan's  yoke  was  as  delightful  to  us  to  bear,  as 
to  him  to  impose :  instead  of  being  his  opposers  in  his  attempts 
against  us,  we  were  his  voluntary  seconds,  and  every  whit  as  wil- 
ling to  embrace,  as  he  was  to  propose,  his  ruining  temptations.  As 
no  man  can  recover  himself  from  death,  so  no  man  can  recover  him- 
self from  wrath ;  he  is  as  unable  to  redeem,  as  to  create  himself ;  he 
might  as  soon  have  stripped  himself  of  his  being,  as  put  an  end  to 
his  misery ;  his  captivity  would  have  been  endless,  and  his  chains 
remediless,  for  anything  he  could  do  to  knock  them  ofi:',  and  deliver 
himself;  he  was  too  much  in  love  with  the  sink  of  sin,  to  leave 
wallowing  in  it,  and  under  too  powerful  a  hand,  to  cease  frying  in 
the  flames  of  wrath.  As  the  law  could  not  be  obeyed  by  man,  after 
a  corrupt  principle  had  entered  into  him,  so  neither  could  justice  be 
satisfied  by  him  after  his  transgression.  The  sinner  was  indebted, 
but  bankrupt ;  as  he  was  unable  to  pay  a  mite  of  that  obedience  he 
owed  to  the  precept,  because  of  his  enmity,  so  he  was  unable  to  sat- 
isfy what  he  owed  to  the  penalty,  because  of  his  feebleness :  he  was 
as  much  without  love  to  observe  the  one,  as  "  without  strength"  to 
bear  the  other  :  he  could  not,  because  of  his  "  enmity,  be  subject  to 


ON  THE   GOODNESS   OF   GOD.  273 

the  law"  (Rom.  viii.  7),  or  compensate  for  his  sin,  because  he  was 
"  without  strength"  (Rom.  v.  6).  His  strength  to  offend  was  great ; 
but  to  deliver  himself  a  mere  nothing.  Repentance  was  not  a  thing 
known  by  man  after  the  fall,  till  he  had  hopes  of  redemption  ;  and 
if  he  had  known  and  exercised  it,  what  compensation  are  the  tears 
of  a  malefactor  for  an  injury  done  to  the  crown,  and  attempting  the 
life  of  his  prince  ?  How  great  Avas  Divine  goodness,  not  only  to 
pity  men  in  this  state,  but  to  provide  a  strong  Redeemer  for  them  ! 
"  6  Lord,  my  strength,  and  my  Redeemer !"  said  the  Psalmist  (Ps. 
xix.  14) :  when  he  found  out  a  Redeemer  for  our  misery,  he  found 
out  a  strength  for  our  impotency.  To  conclude  this :  behold  the 
*'  goodness  of  God,"  when  we  had  thus  unhandsomely  dealt  with 
him  ;  had  nothing  to  allure  his  goodness,  multitudes  of  provocations 
to  incense  him,  were  reduced  to  a  condition  as  low  as  could  be,  fit 
to  be  the  matter  of  his  scoffs,  and  the  sport  of  Divine  justice,  and  so 
weak  that  we  could  not  repair  our  own  ruins ;  then  did  he  open  a 
fountain  of  fresh  goodness  in  the  death  of  his  Son,  and  sent  forth 
such  delightful  streams,  as  in  our  original  creation  we  could  never 
have  tasted  ;  not  only  overcame  the  resentments  of  a  provoked  jus- 
tice, but  magnified  itself  by  our  lowness,  and  strengthened  itself  by 
our  weakness.  His  goodness  had  before  created  an  innocent,  but 
here  it  saves  a  malefactor ;  and  sends  his  Son  to  die  for  us,  as  if  the 
Holy  of  holies  were  the  criminal,  and  the  rebel  the  innocent.  It  had 
been  a  pompous  goodness  to  have  given  him  as  a  king ;  but  a  good- 
ness of  greater  grandeur  to  expose  him  as  a  sacrifice  for  slaves  and 
enemies.  Had  Adam  remained  innocent,  and  proved  thankftd  for 
what  he  had  received,  it  had  been  great  goodness  to  have  brought 
him  to  glory ;  but  to  bring  filthy  and  rebellious  Adam  to  it,  sur- 
mounts, by  inexpressible  degrees,  that  sort  of  goodness  he  had  ex- 
perimented before ;  since  it  was  not  from  a  light  evil,  a  tolerable 
curse  unawares  brought  upon  us,  but  from  the  yoke  we  had  willing- 
ly submitted  to,  from  the  power  of  darkness  we  had  courted,  and  the 
farnace  of  wrath  we  had  kindled  for  ourselves.  What  are  we  dead 
dogs,  that  he  should  behold  us  with  so  gracious  an  eye  ?  This  good- 
ness is  thus  enhanced,  if  you  consider  the  state  of  man  in  his  first 
transgression,  and  after. 

4th.  This  goodness  further  appears  in  the  high  advancement  of  our 
nature,  after  it  had  so  highly  offended.  By  creation,  we  had  an 
affinity  with  animals  in  our  bodies,  with  angels  in  our  spirits,  with 
God  in  his  image ;  but  not  with  God  in  our  nature,  till  the  incarna- 
tion of  the  Redeemer.  Adam,  by  creation,  was  the  son  of  God 
(Luke  iii.  38),  but  his  nature  was  not  one  with  the  person  of  God : 
he  was  his  son,  as  created  by  him,  but  had  no  affinity  to  him  by  vir- 
tue of  union  with  him  :  but  now  man  doth  not  only  see  his  nature  in 
multitudes  of  men  on  earth,  but,  by  an  astonishing  goodness,  be- 
holds his  nature  united  to  the  Deity  in  heaven  :  that  as  he  was  the 
son  of  God  by  creation,  he  is  now  the  brother  of  God  by  redemp- 
tion ;  for  with  such  a  title  doth  that  Person,  who  was  the  Son  of  God 
as  well  as  the  Son  of  man,  honor  his  disciples  (John  xx,  17) :  and 
because  he  is  of  the  same  nature  with  them,  he  "  is  not  ashamed  to 
call  them  brethren"  (Heb.  ii.  11).     Our  nature,  which  was  infinitely 

VOL.   II. — 18 


274  CHARNOCK   ON  THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

distant  from,  and  below  the  Deity,  now  makes  one  person  with  the 
Son  of  God.  What  man  sinfully  aspired  to,  God  hath  graciously 
granted,  and  more  :  man  aspired  to  a  likeness  in  knowledge,  and  God 
hath  granted  him  an  affinity  in  union.  It  had  been  astonishing  good- 
ness to  angelize  our  natures ;  but  in  redemption  Divine  goodness 
hath  acted  higher,  in  a  sort  to  deify  our  natures.  In  creation,  our 
nature  was  exalted  above  other  creatures  on  earth  ;  in  our  redemp- 
tion, our  nature  is  exalted  above  all  the  host  of  heaven :  we  were 
higher  than  the  beasts,  as  creatures,  but  •"  lower  than  the  angels" 
(Ps.  viii.  5) ;  but,  by  the  incarnation  of  the  Son  of  God,  our  na- 
ture is  elevated  many  steps  above  them.  After  it  had  sunk  itself 
by  corruption  below  the  bestial  nature,  and  as  low  as  the  dia- 
bolical, the  "  fulness  of  the  Godhead  dwells  in  our  nature  bodily" 
(Col.  ii.  9),  but  never  in  the  angels,  angelically.  The  Son  of  God 
descended  to  dignify  our  nature,  by  assuming  it;  and  ascended 
with  our  nature  to  have  it  crowned  above  those  standing  monu- 
ments of  Divine  power  and  goodness  (Eph.  i.  20,  21).  That  Per- 
son that  descended  in  our  nature  into  the  grave,  and  in  the  same 
nature  was  raised  up  again,  is,  in  that  same  nature,  set  at  the 
right  hand  of  God  in  heaven,  "  far  above  all  principality,  and 
power,  and  might,  and  dominion,  and  every  name  that  is  named." 
Our  refined  clay,  by  an  indissoluble  union  with  this  Divine  Per- 
son, is  honored  to  sit  forever  upon  a  throne  above  all  the  tribes 
of  seraphims  and  cherubims ;  and  the  Person  that  wears  it,  is  the 
head  of  the  good  angels,  and  the  conqueror  of  the  bad ;  the  one 
are  put  under  his  feet,  and  the  other  commanded  to  adore  him, 
"  that  purged  our  sins  in  our  nature"  (Heb.  i.  3,  6) :  that  Divine 
Person  in  our  nature  receives  adoration  from  the  angels ;  but  the 
nature  of  man  is  not  ordered  to  pay  any  homage  and  adorations 
to  the  angels.  How  could  Divine  goodness,  to  man,  more  mag- 
nify itself?  As  we  could  not  have  a  lower  descent  than  we  had 
by  sin,  how  could  we  have  a  higher  ascent  than  by  a  substan- 
tial participation  of  a  divine  life,  in  our  nature,  in  the  unity  of  a 
Divine  Person  ?  Our  earthly  nature  is  joined  to  a  heavenly  Person ; 
our  undone  nature  united  to  "  one  equal  with  God"  (Phil.  ii.  6).  It 
may  truly  be  said,  that  man  is  God,  which  is  infinitely  more  glori- 
ous for  us,  than  if  it  could  be  said,  man  is  an  angel.  If  it  were 
goodness  to  advance  our  innocent  nature  above  other  creatures,  the 
advancement  of  our  degenerate  nature  above  angels  deserves  a 
higher  title  than  mere  goodness.  It  is  a  more  gracious  act,  than  if 
all  men  had  been  transformed  into  the  pure  spiritual  nature  of  the 
loftiest  cherubims. 

5th.  This  goodness  is  manifest  in  the  covenant  of  grace  made 
with  us,  whereby  we  are  freed  from  the  rigor  of  that  of  works, 
God  might  have  insisted  upon  the  terms  of  the  old  covenant,  and 
required  of  man  the  improvement  of  his  original  stock ;  but  God 
hath  condescended  to  lower  terms,  and  offered  man  more  gracious 
methods,  and  mitigated  the  rigor  of  the  first,  bj  the  sweetness  of 
the  second. 

1.  It  is  goodness,  that  he  should  condescend  to  make  another 
covenant  with  man.      To   stipulate  with  innocent  and  righteous 


ON  THE   GOODNESS   OF   GOD.  275 

Adam  for  his  obedience,  was  a  stoop  of  his  sovereignty ;  though 
he  gave  the  precept  as  a  sovereign  Lord,  yet  in  his  covenanting,  he 
seems  to  descend  to  some  kind  of  equality  with  that  dust  and  ashes 
with  whom  the  treated.  Absolute  sovereigns  do  not  usually  cove- 
nant with  their  people,  but  exact  obedience  and  duty,  without 
binding  themselves  to  bestow  a  reward ;  and  if  they  intend  any, 
they  reserve  the  purpose  in  their  own  breasts,  without  treating  their 
subjects  with  a  solemn  declaration  of  it.  There  was  no  obligation 
on  God  to  enter  into  the -first  covenant,  much  less,  after  the  viola- 
tion of  the  first,  to  the  settlement  of  a  new.  If  God  seemed  in 
some  sort  to  equal  himself  to  man  in  the  first,  he  seemed  to  descend 
below  himself  in  treating  with  a  rebel  upon  more  condescending 
terms  in  the  second.  If  his  covenant  with  innocent  Adam  was  a 
stoop  of  his  sovereignty,  this  with  rebellious  Adam  seems  to  be  a 
stripping  himself  of  his  majesty  in  favor  of  his  goodness ;  as  if  his 
happiness  depended  upon  us,  and  not  ours  upon  him.  It  is  a  humilia- 
tion of  himself  to  behold  the  things  in  heaven,  the  glorious  angels,  as 
well  as  things  on  earth,  mortal  men  (Ps.  cxiii.  6) ;  much  more  to 
bind  himself  in  gracious  bonds  to  the  glorious  angels ;  and  much 
more  if  to  rebel  man.  In  the  first  covenant  there  was  much  of 
sovereignty  as  well  as  goodness ;  in  the  second  there  is  less  of  sover- 
eignty, and  more  of  grace  :  in  the  first  there  was  a  righteous  man 
for  a  holy  God ;  in  the  second  a  polluted  creature  for  a  pure  and 
provoked  God  :  in  the  first  he  holds  his  sceptre  in  his  hand,  to  rule 
his  subjects  ;  in  the  second  he  seems  to  lay  by  his  sceptre,  to  court 
and  espouse  a  beggar  (Hosea  ii.  18 — 20) :  in  the  first  he  is  a  Lord  ; 
in  the  second  a  husband ;  and  binds  himself  upon  gracious  condi- 
tions to  become  a  debtor.  How  should  this  goodness  fill  us  with  an 
humble  astonishment,  as  it  did  Abraham,  when  he  "fell  on  his 
face,"  when  he  heard  God  speaking  of  making  a  covenant  with 
him !  (Gen.  xvii.  2,  8).  And  if  God  speaking  to  Israel  out  of  the 
fire,  and  making  them  to  hear  his  voice  out  of  heaven,  that  he 
might  instruct  them,  was  a  consideration  whereby  Moses  would 
heighten  their  admiration  of  Divine  goodness,  and  engage  their 
affectionate  obedience  to  him  (Deut.  iv.  32,  36,  40),  how  much  more 
admirable  is  it  for  God  to  speak  so  kindly  to  us  through  the  pacify- 
ing blood  of  the  covenant,  that  silenced  the  terrors  of  the  old,  and 
settled  the  tenderness  of  the  new  ! 

2.  His  goodness  is  seen  in  the  nature  and  tenor  of  the  new  cove- 
nant. There  are  in  this  richer  streams  of  love  and  pity.  The  lan- 
guage of  one  was.  Die,  if  thou  sin ;  that  of  the  other.  Live,  if 
thou  belie  vest  -.^  the  old  covenant  was  founded  upon  the  obedience 
of  man  ;  the  new  one  is  not  founded  upon  the  inconstancy  of  man's 
will,  but  the  firmness  of  Divine  love,  and  the  valuable  merit  of 
Christ.  The  head  of  the  first  covenant  was  human  and  mutable ; 
the  Head  of  the  second  is  divine  and  immutable.  The  curse  due 
to  us  by  the  breach  of  the  first,  is  taken  off  by  the  indulgence  of 
the  second:  we  are  by  it  snatched  from  the  jaws  of  the  law,  to  be 
wrapped  up  in  the  bosom  of  grace  (Rom.  viii.  1).  "  For  you  are 
not  under  the  law,  but  under  grace"  (Rom.  vi.  14) ;  from  the  curse 

•  Turreti,  Ser.  p.  33. 


276  CHARNOCK   ON  THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

and  condemnation  of  the  law,  to  the  sweetness  and  forgiveness  of 
grace.  Christ  bore  the  one,  being  "made  a  curse  for  ns"  (Gal.  iii. 
13),  that  we  might  enjoy  the  sweetness  of  the  other ;  by  this  we  are 
brought  from  Mount  Sinai,  the  mount  of  terror,  to  Mount  Sion, 
the  mount  of  sacrifice,  the  type  of  the  great  Sacrifice  (Heb.  xii.  18, 
22).  That  covenant  brought  in  death  upon  one  offence,  this  cove- 
nant offers  life  after  many  offences  (Rom.  v.  16,  17):  that  involves 
us  in  a  curse,  and  this  enricheth  us  with  a  blessing ;  the  breaches 
of  that  expelled  us  out  of  Paradise,  and  the  embracing  of  this  ad- 
mits us  into  heaven.  This  covenant  demands,  and  admits  of  that 
repentance  whereof  there  was  no  mention  in  the  first;  that  de- 
manded obedience,  not  repentance  upon  a  failure ;  and  though  the 
exercise  of  it  had  been  never  so  deep  in  the  fallen  creature,  nothing 
of  the  law's  severity  had  been  remitted  by  any  virtue  of  it.  Again, 
the  first  covenant  demanded  exact  righteousness,  but  conveyed  no 
cleansing  virtue,  upon  the  contracting  any  filth.  The  first  demands 
a  continuance  in  the  righteousness  conferred  in  creation ;  the  sec- 
ond imprints  a  gracious  heart  in  regeneration.  "  I  will  pour  clean 
water  upon  you  ;  I  will  put  a  new  spirit  within  you,"  was  the  voice 
of  the  second  covenant,  not  of  the  first.  Again,  as  to  pardon : 
Adam's  covenant  was  to  punish  him,  not  to  pardon  him,  if  he  fell ; 
that  threatened  death  upon  transgression,  this  remits  it ;  that  was 
an  act  of  Divine  sovereignty,  declaring  the  will  of  God ;  this  is  an 
act  of  Divine  grace,  passing  an  act  of  oblivion  on  the  crimes  of  the 
creature :  that,  as  it  demanded  no  repentance  upon  a  failure,  so  it 
promised  no  mercy  upon  guilt ;  that  convened  our  sin,  and  con- 
demned us  for  it ;  this  clears  our  guilt,  and  comforts  us  under  it. 
The  first  covenant  related  us  to  God  as  a  Judge ;  every  transgres- 
sion against  it  forfeited  his  indulgence  as  a  Father :  the  second 
delivers  us  from  God  as  a  condemning  Judge,  to  bring  us  under 
his  wing,  as  an  affectionate  Father ;  in  the  one  there  was  a  dreadful 
frown  to  scare  us ;  in  the  other,  a  healing  wing  to  cover  and  re- 
lieve us.  Again,  in  regard  of  righteousness :  that  demanded  our 
performance  of  a  righteousness  in  and  by  ourselves,  and  our  own 
strength ;  this  demands  our  acceptance  of  a  righteousness  higher 
than  ever  the  standing  angels  had ;  the  righteousness  of  the  first 
covenant  was  the  righteousness  of  a  man,  the  righteousness  of  the 
second  is  the  righteousness  of  a  God  (2  Cor.  v.  21).  Again,  in  re- 
gard of  that  obedience  it  demands :  it  exacts  not  of  us,  as  a  ne- 
cessary condition,  the  perfection  of  obedience,  but  the  sincerity  of 
obedience  ;  an  uprightness  in  our  intention,  not  an  unspottedness  in 
our  action  ;  an  integrity  in  our  aims,  and  an  industry  in  our  com- 
pliance with  divine  precepts :  "  Walk  before  me,  and  be  thou 
perfect"  (Gen.  xvii.  1) ;  i.  e.  sincere.  "What  is  hearty  in  our  actions, 
is  accepted ;  and  what  is  defective,  is  overlooked,  and  not  charged 
upon  us,  because  of  the  obedience  and  righteousness  of  our  Surety. 
The  first  covenant  rejected  all  our  services  after  sin;  the  services  of 
a  person  under  the  sentence  of  death,  are  but  dead  services  :  this  ac- 
cepts our  imperfect  services,  after  faith  in  it ;  that  administered  no 
strength  to  obey,  but  supposed  it ;  this  supposeth  our  inability  to 
obey,  and  confers  some   strength    for  it :    "I  will  put   my   spirit 


ON  THE   GOODNESS  OF  GOD,  277 

witliin  you,  and  cause  you  to  walk  in  my  statutes"  (Ezek.  xxxvi. 
27).  Again,  in  regard  of  the  promises :  the  old  covenant  had  good, 
but  the  new  hath  "  better  promises"  (Heb.  viii.  6),  of  justification 
after  guilt  and  sanctification  after  filth,  and  glorification  at  last  of 
the  whole  man.  In  the  first,  there  was  provision  against  guilt,  but 
none  for  the  removal  of  it :  provision  against  filth,  but  none  for 
the  cleansing  of  it ;  promise  of  happiness  implied,  but  not  so  great 
a  one  as  that  "  life  and  immortality"  in  heaven,  "  brought  to  light 
by  the  gospel"  (2  Tim.  i.  10).  Why  said  to  be  "  brought  to  light 
by  the  gospel  ?"  because  it  was  not  only  buried,  upon  the  fall  of  man 
under  the  curses  of  the  law,  but  it  was  not  so  obvious  to  the  con- 
ceptions of  man  in  his  innocent  state.  Life  indeed  was  implied  to 
be  promised  upon  his  standing,  but  not  so  glorious  an  immortality 
disclosed,  to  be  reserved  for  him,  if  he  stood :  as  it  is  a  covenant  of 
better  promises,  so  a  covenant  of  sweeter  comforts  ;  comforts  more 
choice,  and  comforts  more  durable;  an  "everlasting  consolation, 
and  a  good  hope"  are  the  fruits  of  "  grace,"  i.  e.  the  covenant  of 
grace  (2  Thess.  ii.  16).  In  the  whole  there  is  such  a  love  disclosed, 
as  cannot  be  expressed  ;  the  apostle  leaves  it  to  every  man's  mind 
to  conceive  it,  if  he  could,  "  What  manner  of  love  the  Father  hath 
bestowed  upon  us,  that  we  should  be  called  the  sons  of  God" 
(1  John  iii.  1).  It  instates  us  in  such  a  manner  of  the  love  of  God 
as  he  bears  to  his  Son,  the  image  of  his  person  (John  xvii.  23) : 
"  That  the  world  may  know  that  thou  hast  loved  them,  as  thou  hast 
loved  me." 

3.  This  goodness  appears  in  the  choice  gift  of  himself  which  he 
hath  made  over  in  this  covenant  (Gen.  xvii.  7).  You  know  how  it 
runs  in  Scripture:  "I  will  be -their  God,  and  they  shall  be  my  peo- 
ple" (Jer.  xxxii.  38) :  a  propriety  in  the  Deity  is  made  over  by  it. 
As  he  gave  the  blood  of  his  Son  to  seal  the  covenant,  so  he  gave 
himself  as  the  blessing  of  the  covenant;  "  He  is  not  ashamed  to  be 
called  their  God"  (Heb.  xi.  16).  Though  he  be  environed  with  mil- 
lions of  angels,  and  presides  ov^  them  in  an  inexpressible  glory,  he 
is  not  ashamed  of  his  condescensions  to  man,  and  to  pass  over  him- 
self as  the  propriety  of  his  people,  as  well  as  to  take  them  to  be  his. 
It  is  a  diminution  of  the  sense  of  the  place,  to  understand  it  of  God, 
as  Creator ;  what  reason  was  there  for  God  to  be  ashamed  of  the  ex- 
pressions of  his  power,  wisdom,  goodness,  in  the  works  of  his  hands  ? 
But  we  might  have  reason  to  think  there  might  be  some  ground  in 
God  to  be  ashamed  of  making  himself  over  in  a  deed  of  gift  to  a 
mean  worm  and  filthy  rebel ;  this  might  seem  a  disparagement  to 
his  majesty  ;  but  God  is  not  ashamed  of  a  title  so  mean,  as  the  God 
of  his  despised  people ;  a  title  below  those  others,  of  the  "  Lord  of 
hosts,  glorious  in  holiness,  fearful  in  praises,  doing  wonders,  riding 
on  the  wings  of  the  wind,  walking  in  the  circuits  of  heaven."  He  is 
no  more  ashamed  of  this  title  of  being  our  God,  than  he  is  of  those 
other  that  sound  more  glorious  ;  he  would  rather  have  his  greatness 
veil  to  his  goodness,  than  his  goodness  be  confined  by  his  majesty ; 
he  is  not  only  our  God,  but  our  God  as  he  is  the  God  of  Christ :  he 
is  not  ashamed  to  be  our  propriety,  and  Christ  is  not  ashamed  to  own 
his  people  in  a  partnership  with  him  in  this  propriety  (John  xx. 


278  CHARNOCK  ON  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

17):  "  I  ascend  to  my  God,  and  your  God."  This  of  God's  being 
our  God,  is  tlie  quintessence  of  the  covenant,  the  soul  of  all  the 
promises :  in  this  he  hath  promised  whatsoever  is  infinite  in  him, 
whatsoever  is  the  glory  and  ornament  of  his  nature,  for  our  use ;  not 
a  part  of  him,  or  one  single  perfection,  but  the  whole  vigor  and 
strength  of  all.  As  he  is  not  a  God  without  infinite  wisdom,  and  in- 
finite power,  and  infinite  goodness,  and  infinite  blessedness,  &c.,  so 
he  passes  over,  in  this  covenant,  all  that  which  presents  him  as  the 
most  adorable  Being  to  his  creatures ;  he  will  be  to  them  as  great, 
as  wise,  as  powerful,  as  good  as  he  is  in  himself ;  and  the  assuring 
us,  in  this  covenant,  to  be  our  God,  imports  also  that  he  will  do  as 
much  for  us,  as  we  would  do  for  ourselves,  were  we  furnished  with 
the  same  goodness,  power,  and  wisdom  :  in  being  our  God,  he  testi- 
fies it  is  all  one,  as  if  we  had  the  same  perfections  in  our  own  power 
to  employ  for  our  use  ;  for  he  being  possessed  with  them,  it  is  as 
much  as  if  we  ourselves  were  possessed  with  them,  for  our  own  ad- 
vantage, according  to  the  rules  of  wisdom,  and  the  several  conditions 
we  pass  through  for  his  glory.  But  this  must  be  taken  with  a  rela- 
tion to  that  wisdom,  which  he  observes  in  his  proceedings  with  us  as 
creatures,  and  according  to  the  several  conditions  we  pass  through 
for  his  glory.  Thus  God's  being  ours  is  more  than  if  all  heaven  and 
earth  were  ours  besides  ;  it  is  more  than  if  we  were  fully  our  own, 
and  at  our  own  dispose ;  it  makes  "  all  things  that  God  hath  ours" 
(1  Cor.  iii.  22) ;  and  therefore,  not  only  all  things  he  hath  created, 
but  all  things  that  he  can  create ;  not  only  all  things  that  he  hath 
contrived,  but  all  things  that  he  can  contrive :  for  in  being  ours,  his 
power  is  ours,  his  possible  power  as  well  as  his  active  power ;  his 
power,  whereby  he  can  effect  more  than  he  hath  done,  and  his  wis- 
dom, whereby  he  can  contrive  more  than  he  hath  done ;  so  that  if 
there  were  need  of  employing  his  power  to  create  many  worlds  for 
our  good,  he  would  not  stick  at  it ;  for  if  he  did,  he  would  not  be 
our  God,  in  the  extent  of  his  nature,  as  the  promise  intimates.  What 
a  rich  goodness,  and  a  fulness  of  bounty,  is  there  in  this  short  ex- 
pression, as  full  as  the  expression  of  a  God  can  make  it,  to  be  intelli- 
gible, to  such  creatures  as  we  are  ! 

4.  This  goodness  is  further  manifest  in  the  confirmation  of  the 
covenant.  His  goodness  did  not  only  condescend  to  make  it  for  our 
happiness,  after  we  had  made  ourselves  miserable,  but  further  conde- 
scended to  ratify  it  in  the  solemnest  manner  for  our  assurance,  to 
overrule  all  the  despondencies  unbelief  could  raise  up  in  our  souls. 
The  reason  why  he  confirmed  it  by  an  oath,  was  to  show  the  immu- 
tability of  his  glorious  counsel,  not  to  tie  himself  to  keep  it,  for  his 
word  and  promise  is  in  itself  as  immutable  as  his  oath ;  they  were 
"  two  immutable  things,  his  word  and  his  oath,"  one  as  unchange- 
able as  the  other ;  but  for  the  strength  of  our  consolation,  that  it 
might  have  no  reason  to  shake  and  totter  (Ileb.  vi.  17, 18):  he  would 
condescend  as  low  as  was  possible  for  a  God  to  do  for  the  satisfaction 
of  the  dejected  creature.  When  the  first  covenant  was  bi'oken,  and 
it  was  impossible  for  man  to  fulfil  the  terms  of  it,  and  mount  to  hap- 
piness thereby,  he  makes  another ;  and,  as  if  we  had  reason  to  dis- 
trust him  in  the  first,  he  solemnly  ratifies  it  in  a  higher  manner  than 


ON  THE   GOODNESS   OF   GOD.  279 

he  had  done  the  other,  and  swears  by  himself  that  he  will  be  true  to 
it,  not  SO  much  out  of  an  election  of  himself,  as  the  object  of  the 
oath  (Heb.  vi.  13) :  "  Because  he  could  not  swear  by  a  greater,  he 
swears  by  himself;"  whereby  the  apostle  clearly  intimates,  that  Di- 
vine goodness  was  raised  to  such  a  height  for  us,  that  if  there  had 
been  anything  else  more  sacred  than  himself,  or  that  could  have 
punished  him  if  he  had  broken  it,  that  he  would  have  sworn  by,  to 
silence  any  diffidence  in  us,  and  confirm  us  in  the  reality  of  his  in- 
tentions. Now  if  it  were  a  mighty  mark  of  goodness  for  God  to  stoop 
to  a  covenanting  with  us,  it  was  more  for  a  sovereign  to  bind  him- 
self so  solemnly  to  be  our  debtor  in  a  promise,  as  well  as  he  Avas  our 
sovereign  in  the  precept,  and  stoop  so  low  in  it  to  satisfy  the  distrust 
of  that  creature,  that  deserved  for  ever  to  lie  soaking  in  his  own 
ruins,  for  not  believing  his  bare  word.  "What  absolute  prince  would 
ever  stoop  so  low  as  to  article  with  rebellious  subjects,  whom  he 
could  in  a  moment  set  his  foot  upon  and  crush  ;  much  less  counten- 
ance a  causeless  distrust  of  his  goodness  by  the  addition  of  his  oath, 
and  thereby  bind  his  own  hands,  which  were  unconfined  before,  and 
free  to  do  what  he  pleased  with  them  ? 

5.  This  goodness  of  God  is  remarkable  also  in  the  condition  of  this 
covenant  which  is  faith.  This  was  the  easiest  condition,  in  its  own 
nature,  that  could  be  imagined ;  no  difficulty  in  it  but  what  proceeds 
from  the  pride  of  man's  nature,  and  the  obstinacy  of  his  will.  It 
was  not  impossible  in  itself;  it  was  not  the  old  condition  of  perfect 
obedience.  It  had  been  mighty  goodness  to  set  us  up  again  upon  our 
old  stock,  and  restore  us  to  the  tenor  and  condition  of  the  covenant 
of  works,  or  to  have  required  the  burdensome  ceremonies  of  the  law. 
Nor  is  it  an  exact  knowledge  he  requires  of  us ;  all  men's  under- 
standings being  of  a  diflFerent  size,  they  had  not  been  capable  of  this. 
It  was  the  most  reasonable  condition,  in  regard  of  the  excellency  of 
the  things  proposed,  and  the  effects  following  upon  it ;  nay,  it  was 
necessary.  It  had  been  a  want  of  goodness  to  himself  and  his  own 
honor ;  he  had  cast  that  off,  had  he  not  insisted  on  this  condition  of 
faith,  it  being  the  lowest  he  could  condescend  to  with  a  salvo  for  his 
glory.  And  it  was  a  goodness  to  us  ;  it  is  nothing  else  he  requires, 
but  a  willingness  to  accept  what  he  hath  contrived  and  acted  for  us : 
and  no  man  can  be  happy  against  his  will ;  without  this  belief,  at 
least,  man  could  never  voluntarily  have  arrived  to  his  happiness. 
The  goodness  of  God  is  evidenced  in  that. 

[1st.]  It  is  an  easy  condition,  not  impossible.  1.  It  was  not  the 
condition  of  the  old  covenant.  The  condition  of  that  was  an  entire 
obedience  to  every  precept  with  a  man's  whole  strength,  and  with- 
out any  flaw  or  crack.  But  the  condition  of  the  evangelical  cove- 
nant is  a  sincere,  though  weak,  faith  ;  He  hath  suited  this  covenant 
to  the  misery  of  man's  fallen  condition ;  he  considers  our  weakness, 
and  that  we  are  but  dust,  and  therefore  exacts  not  of  us  an  entire, 
but  a  sincere,  obedience.  Had  God  sent  Christ  to  exjnate  the  crime 
of  Adam,  restore  him  to  his  paradise  estate,  and  repair  in  man  the 
ruined  image  of  holiness,  and  after  this  to  have  renewed  the  coven- 
ant of  works  for  the  future,  and  settled  the  same  condition  in  exact- 
ing a  complete  obedience  for  the  time  to  come  ;  Divine  goodness  had 


280  CHARNOCK  ON  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

been  above  any  accusation,  and  had  deserved  our  highest  admiration 
in  the  pardon  of  former  transgressions,  and  giving  out  to  us  our 
first  stock.  But  Divine  goodness  took  larger  strides :  he  had  tried 
our  first  condition,  and  found  his  mutable  creature  quickly  to  vio- 
late it:  had  he  demanded  the  same  now,  it  is  likely  it  had  met  with 
the  same  issue  as  before,  in  man's  disobedience  and  fall ;  we  should 
have  been  as  men,  as  Adam  (Hos.  vi.  7),  "  transgressing  the  coven- 
ant;" and  then  we  must  have  lain  groaning  under  our  disease,  and 
wallowing  in  our  blood,  unless  Christ  had  come  to  die  for  the  expi- 
ation of  our  new  crimes ;  for  every  transgression  had  been  a  viola- 
tion of  that  covenant,  and  a  forfeiture  of  our  right  to  the  benefits 
of  it.  If  we  had  broke  it  but  in  one  tittle,  we  had  rendered  our- 
selves incapable  to  fulfil  it  for  the  future ;  that  one  transgression 
had  stood  as  a  bar  against  the  pleag  of  after-obedience.  But  God 
hath  wholly  laid  that  condition  aside  as  to  us,  and  settled  that 
of  faith,  more  easy  to  be  performed,  and  to  be  renewed  by  us.  It 
is  infinite  grace  in  him,  that  he  will  accept  of  faith  in  us,  instead  of 
that  perfect  obedience  he  required  of  us  in  the  covenant  of  works. 

2.  It  is  easy,  not  like  the  burdensome  ceremonies  appointed  under 
the  law.  He  exacts  not  now  the  legal  obedience,  expensive  sacri- 
fices, troublesome  purifications,  and  abstinences,  that  "yoke  of  bon- 
dage" (Gal.  V.  1)  which  they  were  "  not  able  to  bear"  (Acts  xv.  10). 
He  treats  us  not  as  servants,  or  children,  in  their  nonage,  under  the 
elements  of  the  world,  nor  requires  those  innumerable  bodily  exer- 
cises that  he  exacted  of  them :  he  demands  not  "  a  thousand  of  lambs," 
and  "  rivers  of  oil ;"  but  he  requires  a  sincere  confession  and  repent- 
ance, in  order  to  our  absolution;  an  "unfeigned  faith,"  in  order  to 
our  blessedness,  and  elevation  to  a  glorious  life.  He  requires  only 
that  we  should  believe  what  he  saith,  and  have  so  good  an  opinion 
of  his  goodness  and  veracity,  as  to  persuade  ourselves  of  the  reality 
of  his  intentions,  confide  in  his  word,  and  rely  upon  his  promise, 
cordiall}^  embrace  his  crucified  Son,  whom  he  hath  set  forth  as  the 
means  of  our  happiness,  and  have  a  sincere  respect  to  all  the  dis- 
coveries of  his  will.  What  can  be  more  easy  than  this?  Though 
some  in  the  days  of  the  apostles,  and  others  since  have  endeavored 
to  introduce  a  multitude  of  legal  burdens,  as  if  they  envied  God  the 
expressions  of  his  goodness,  or  thought  him  guilty  of  too  much  re- 
missness, in  taking  off  the  3'oke,  and  treating  man  too  fiivorably. 

3.  Nor  is  it  a  clear  knowledge  of  every  revelation,  that  is  the  condition 
of  this  covenant.  God  in  his  kindness  to  man  hath  made  revelations 
of  himself,  but  his  goodness  is  manifested  in  obliging  us  to  believe 
him,  not  fully  to  understand  him.  He  hath  made  them,  by  sufficient 
testimonies,  as  clear  to  our  faith,  as  they  are  incomprehensible  to  our 
reason :  he  hath  revealed  a  Trinity  of  Persons,  in  their  distinct  offices, 
in  the  business  of  redemption,  without  which  revelation  of  a  Trinity 
we  could  not  have  a  right  notion  and  scheme  of  redeeming  grace. 
But  since  the  clearness  of  men's  understanding  is  sullied  by  the  fall, 
and  hath  lost  its  wings  to  fly  up  to  a  knowledge  of  such  sublime 
things  as  that  of  the  Trinity,  and  other  mysteries  of  the  Christian 
religion,  God  hath  manifested  his  goodness  in  not  obliging  us  to  un- 
derstand them  but  to  believe  them ;  and  hath  given  us  reason  enough 


ON"  THE  GOODNESS   OF  GOD.  281 

to  believe  it  to  be  his  revelation,  (both  from  the  nature  of  the  reve- 
lation itself,  and  the  way  and  manner  of  propagating  it,  which  is 
wholly  divine,  exceeding  all  the  methods  of  human  art,)  though  he 
hath  not  extended  our  understandings  to  a  capacity  to  know  them, 
and  render  a  reason  of  every  mystery.  He  did  not  require  of  every 
Israelite,  or  of  any  of  them  that  were  stung  by  the  fiery  serpents, 
that  they  should  understand,  or  be  able  to  discourse  of  the  nature 
and  qualities  of  that  brass  of  which  the  serpent  upon  the  pole  was 
made,  or  by  what  art  that  serpent  was  formed,  or  in  what  manner 
the  sight  of  it  did  operate  in  them  for  their  cure ;  it  was  enough  that 
they  did  believe  the  institution  and  precept  of  God,  and  that  their 
own  cure  was  assured  by  it :  it  was  enough  if  they  cast  their  eyes 
upon  it  according  to  the  direction.  The  understandings  of  men  are 
of  several  sizes  and  elevations,  one  higher  than  another :  if  the  con- 
dition of  this  covenant  had  been  a  greatness  of  knowledge,  the  most 
acute  men  had  only  enjoyed  the  benefits  of  it.  But  it  is  "  faith," 
which  is  as  easy  to  be  performed  by  the  ignorant  and  simple,  as  by 
the  strongest  and  most  towering  mind :  it  is  that  which  is  within  the 
compass  of  every  man's  understanding.  God  did  not  require  that 
every  one  within  the  verge  of  the  covenant  should  be  able  to  dis- 
course of  it  to  the  reasons  of  men ;  he  required  not  that  every  man 
should  be  a  philosopher,  or  an  orator,  but  a  believer.  What  could 
be  more  easy  than  to  lift  up  the  eye  to  the  brazen  serpent,  to  be 
cured  of  a  fiery  sting  ?  What  could  be  more  facile  than  a  glance, 
which  is  done  without  any  pain,  and  in  a  moment?  It  is  a  condition 
may  be  performed  by  the  weakest  as  well  as  the  strongest :  could 
those  that  were  bitten  in  the  most  vital  part  cast  up  their  eyes,  though 
at  the  last  gasp,  they  would  arise  to  health  by  the  expulsion  of  the 
venom. 

[2d.]  As  it  is  easy,  so  it  is  reasonable.  Eepent  and  believe,  is 
that  which  is  required  by  Christ  and  the  apostles  for  the  enjoyment 
of  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  It  is  very  reasonable  that  things  so  great 
and  glorious,  so  beneficial  to  men,  and  revealed  to  them  by  so  sound 
an  authority,  and  an  unerring  truth,  should  be  believed.  The  ex- 
cellency of  the  thing  disclosed  could  admit  of  no  lower  a  condition 
than  to  be  believed  and  embraced.  There  is  a  sort  of  faith,  that  is 
a  natural  condition  in  everything :  all  religion  in  the  world,  though 
never  so  false,  depends  upon  a  sort  of  it ;  for  unless  there  be  a  be- 
lief of  future  things,  there  would  never  be  a  hope  of  good,  or  a  fear 
of  evil,  the  two  great  hinges  upon  which  religion  moves.  In  all 
kinds  of  learning,  many  things  must  be  believed  before  a  progress 
can  be  made.  Belief  of  one  another  is  necessary  in  all  acts  of  hu- 
man life  ;  without  which  human  society  would  be  unlinked  and  dis- 
solved. What  is  that  faith  that  God  requires  of  us  in  this  covenant, 
but  a  willingness  of  soul  to  take  God  for  our  God,  Christ  for  our 
Mediator,  and  the  procurer  of  our  happiness  (Rev.  xxii.  17)  ?  What 
prince  could  require  less  upon  any  promise  he  makes  his  subjects, 
than  to  be  believed  as  true,  and  depended  on  as  good ;  that  they 
should  accept  his  pardon,  and  other  gracious  offers,  and  be  sincere 
in  their  allegiance  to  him,  avoiding  all  things  that  may  offend  him, 
and  pursuing  all  things  that  may  please  him  ?     Thus  God,  by  so 


282  CHARNOCK  ON  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

small  and  reasonable  a  condition  as  faith,  lets  in  the  fruits  of  Christ's 
death  into  our  soul,  and  wraps  us  up  in  the  fruition  of  all  the  privi- 
leges purchased  by  it.  So  much  he  hath  condescended  in  his  good- 
ness, that  upon  so  slight  a  condition  we  may  plead  his  promise,  and 
humbly  challenge,  by  virtue  of  the  covenant,  those  good  things  he 
hath  promised  in  his  word.  It  is  so  reasonable  a  condition,  that  if 
God  did  not  require  it  in  the  covenant  of  grace,  the  creature  Avere 
obliged  to  perform  it :  for  the  publishing  any  truth  from  God,  natu- 
rally calls  for  credit  to  be  given  it  by  the  creature,  and  an  entertain- 
ment of  it  in  practice.  Could  you  offer  a  more  reasonable  condi- 
tion yourselves,  had  it  been  left  to  your  choice  ?  Should  a  prince 
proclaim  a  pardon  to  a  profligate  wretch,  would  not  all  the  world  cry 
shame  of  hnn,  if  he  did  not  believe  it  u^jon  the  highest  assurances  ? 
and  if  ingenuity  did  not  make  him  sorry  for  his  crimes,  and  careful 
in  the  duty  of  a  subject,  surely  the  world  would  cry  shame  of  such 
a  person. 

[3d.]  It  is  a  necessary  condition.  1.  Necessary  for  the  honor  of 
God,  A  prince  is  disparaged  if  his  authority  in  his  law,  and  if  his 
graciousness  in  his  promises,  be  not  accepted  and  believed.  What 
physician  would  undertake  a  cure,  if  his  precepts  may  not  be  cred- 
ited ?  It  is  the  first  thing  in  the  order  of  nature,  that  the  revelation 
of  God  should  be  believed,  that  the  reality  of  his  intentions  in  in- 
viting man  to  the  acceptance  of  those  methods  he  hath  prescribed 
for  their  attaining  their  chief  happiness,  should  be  acknowledged. 
It  is  a  debasing  notion  of  God,  that  he  should  give  a  happiness, 
purchased  by  Divine  blood,  to  a  person  that  hath  no  value  for  it,  nor 
any  abhorrency  of  those  sins  that  occasioned  so  great  a  suffering,  nor 
any  will  to  avoid  them :  should  he  not  vilify  himself,  to  bestow  a 
heaven  upon  that  man  that  will  not  believe  the  offers  of  it,  nor  walk 
in  those  ways  that  lead  to  it  ?  that  walks  so,  as  if  he  would  declare 
there  was  no  truth  in  his  word,  nor  holiness  in  his  nature  ?  Would 
not  God  by  such  an  act  verify  a  truth  in  the  language  of  their  prac- 
tice, viz.  that  he  were  both  false  and  impure,  careless  of  his  word, 
and  negligent  of  his  holiness  ?  As  God  was  so  desirous  to  ensure 
the  consolation  of  believers,  that  if  there  had  been  a  greater  Being 
than  himself  to  attest,  and  for  him  to  be  responsible  to,  for  the  con- 
firmation of  his  promise,  he  would  willingly  have  submitted  to  him, 
and  have  made  him  the  umpire,  "  He  swore  by  himself,  because  he 
could  not  swear  by  a  greater"  (II eb.  vi.  19) ;  by  the  same  reason, 
had  it  stood  with  the  majesty  and  wisdom  of  God  to  stoop  to  lower 
conditions  in  this  covenant,  for  the  reducing  of  man  to  his  duty  and 
happiness,  he  would  have  done  it ;  but  his  goodness  could  not  take 
lower  steps,  with  the  preservation  of  the  rights  of  his  majesty,  and 
the  honor  of  his  wisdom.  Would  you  have  had  him  wholly  sub- 
mitted to  the  obstinate  will  of  a  rebellious  creature,  and  be  ruled 
only  by  his  terms  ?  Would  you  have  had  him  received  men  to  hap- 
piness, after  they  had  heightened  their  crimes  by  a  contempt  of  his 
grace,  as  well  as  of  his  creating  goodness,  and  have  made  them 
blessed  under  the  guilt  of  their  crimes  without  an  acknowledgment  ? 
Should  he  glorify  one  that  will  not  believe  what  he  hath  revealed, 
nor  repent  of  what  himself  hath  committed ;  and  so  save  a  man  after 


ON  THE   GOODNESS  OF  GOD.  283 

a  repeated  unthankfulness  to  the  most  immense  grace  that  ever  was, 
or  can  be,  discovered  and  offered,  without  a  detestation  of  his  ingrat- 
itude, and  a  voluntary  acceptance  of  his  offers  ?  It  is  necessary,  for 
the  honor  of  God,  that  man  should  accept  of  his  terms,  and  not  give 
laws  to  him  to  whom  he  is  obnoxious  as  a  guilty  person,  as  well  as 
subject  as  a  creature.  Again,  it  was  very  equitable  and  necessary 
for  the  honor  of  God,  that  since  man  fell  by  an  unbelief  of  his  pre- 
cept and  threatening,  he  should  not  rise  again  without  a  belief  of  his 
promise,  and  casting  himself  upon  his  truth  in  that :  since  he  had 
vilified  the  honor  of  his  truth  in  the  threatening ;  since  man  in  his 
fall  would  lean  to  his  own  understanding  against  God,  it  is  fit  that, 
in  his  recovery,  the  highest  powers  of  his  soul,  his  understanding 
and  will,  should  be  subjected  to  him  in  an  entire  resignation.  Now, 
whereas  knowledge  seems  to  have  a  power  over  its  object,  faith  is  a 
full  submission  to  that  which  is  the  object  of  it.  Since  man  intended 
a  glorying  in  himself,  the  evangelical  covenant  directs  its  whole  bat- 
tery against  it,  that  men  may  "  glory  in  nothing  but  Divine  good- 
ness" (1  Cor.  i.  29 — 31).  Had  man  performed  exact  obedience  by  his 
own  strength,  he  had  had  something  in  himself  as  the  matter  of  his 
glory.  And  though,  after  the  fall,  grace  had  made  itself  illustrious  in 
setting  him  up  upon  a  new  stock,  yet  had  the  same  condition  of  exact 
obedience  been  settled  in  the  same  manner,  man  would  have  had 
something  to  glory  in,  which  is  struck  off  wholly  by  faith  ;  whereby 
man  in  every  act  must  go  out  of  himself  for  a  supply,  to  that  Medi- 
ator which  Divine  goodness  and  grace  hath  appointed.  2.  It  is  ne- 
cessary for  the  happiness  of  man.  That  can  be  no  contenting  con- 
dition wherein  the  will  of  man  doth  not  concur.  He  that  is  forced 
to  the  most  delicious  diet,  or  to  wear  the  bravest  apparel,  or  to  be 
stored  with  abundance  of  treasure,  cannot  be  happy  in  those  things 
without  an  esteem  of  them,  and  delight  in  them  :  if  they  be  nau- 
seous to  him,  the  indisposition  of  his  mind  is  a  dead  fly  in  those 
boxes  of  precious  ointment.  Now,  faith  being  a  sincere  willingness 
to  accept  of  Christ,  and  to  come  to  God  by  him,  and  repentance  be- 
ing a  detestation  of  that  which  made  man's  separation  from  God,  it 
is  impossible  he  could  be  voluntarily  happy  without  it :  man  cannot 
attain  and  enjoy  a  true  happiness  without  an  operation  of  his  under- 
standing about  the  object  proposed,  and  the  means  appointed  to  en- 
joy it.  There  must  be  a  knowledge  of  what  is  offered,  and  of  the 
way  of  it,  and  such  a  knowledge  as  may  determine  the  will  to  affect 
that  end,  and  embrace  those  means ;  which  the  will  can  never  do, 
till  the  understanding  be  fully  persuaded  of  the  truth  of  the  offerer, 
and  the  goodness  of  the  proposal  itself,  and  the  conveniency  of  the 
means  for  the  attaining  of  it.  It  is  necessary,  in  the  nature  of  the 
thing,  that  what  is  revealed  should  be  believed  to  be  a  Divine  reve- 
lation. God  must  be  judged  true  in  the  promising  justification  and 
sanctification,  the  means  of  happiness  ;  and  if  any  man  desires  to  be 
partaker  of  those  promises,  he  must  desire  to  be  sanctified  ;  and  how 
can  he  desire  that  which  is  the  matter  of  those  promises,  if  he  wal- 
low in  his  own  lusts,  and  desire  to  do  so,  a  thing  repugnant  to  the 
promise  itself?  Would  you  have  God  force  man  to  be  happy  against 
his  will  ?     Is  it  not  very  reasonable  he  should  demand  the  consent 


284  CHARNOCK  ON   THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

of  his  reasonable  creature  to  that  blessedness  he  oifers  him  ?  The 
new  covenant  is  a  "  marriage  covenant"  (Hos.  ii.  16,  19,  20),  which 
implies  a  consent  on  our  parts,  as  well  as  a  consent  on  God's  part ; 
that  is  no  marriage  that  hath  not  the  consent  of  both  parties.  Now 
faith  is  our  actual  consent,  and  repentance  and  sincere  obedience  are 
the  testimonies  of  the  truth  and  reality  of  this  consent. 

6th.  Divine  goodness  is  eminent  in  his  methods  of  treating  with 
men  to  embrace  this  covenant.  They  are  methods  of  gentleness  and 
sweetness :  it  is  a  wooing  goodness,  and  a  bewailing  goodness  ;  his 
expressions  are  with  strong  motions  of  affection :  he  carrieth  not  on 
the  gospel  by  force  of  arms  :  he  doth  not  solely  menace  men  into  it, 
as  worldly  conquerors  have  done ;  he  doth  not,  as  Mahomet,  plunder 
men's  estates,  and  wound  their  bodies,  to  imprint  a  religion  on  their 
souls :  he  doth  not  erect  gibbets,  and  kindle  faggots,  to  scare  men 
to  an  entering  into  covenant  with  him.  What  multitudes  might  he 
have  raised  by  his  power,  as  well  as  others !  What  legions  of  angels 
might  he  have  rendezvoused  from  heaven,  to  have  beaten  men  into 
a  profession  of  the  gospel !  Nor  doth  he  only  interpose  his  sove- 
reign authority  in  the  precept  of  faith,  but  useth  rational  expostula- 
tions, to  move  men  voluntarily  to  comply  with  his  proposals  (Isa.  i.  18), 
"  Come  now,  and  let  us  reason  together,"  saith  the  Lord.  He  seems 
to  call  heaven  and  earth  to  be  judge,  whether  he  had  been  wanting 
in  any  reasonable  ways  of  goodness,  to  overcome  the  perversity  of 
the  creature ;  (Isa.  i.  2),  "  Hear,  O  heavens,  and  give  ear,  O  earth,  I 
have  nourished  and  brought  up  children."  What  various  en- 
couragements doth  he  use  agreeable  to  the  nature  of  men,  endeavor- 
ing to  persuade  them  with  all  tenderness,  not  to  despise  their  own 
mercies,  and  be  enemies  to  their  own  happiness  !  He  would  allure 
us  by  his  beauty,  and  win  us  by  his  mercy.  He  uses  the  arms  of 
his  own  excellency  and  our  necessity  to  prevail  upon  us,  and  this 
after  the  highest  provocations.  When  Adam  had  trampled  upon 
his  creating  goodness,  it  was  not  crushed  ;  and  when  man  had  cast 
it  from  him,  it  took  the  higher  rebound  :  when  the  rebel's  provoca- 
tion was  fresh  in  his  mind,  he  sought  him  out  with  a  promise  in  his 
hand,  though  Adam  fled  from  him  out  of  enmity  as  well  as  fear 
(Gen.  iii).  And  when  the  Jews  had  outraged  his  Son,  whom  he 
loved  from  eternity,  and  made  the  Lord  of  heaven  and  earth  bow 
down  his  head  like  a  slave  on  the  cross,  yet  in  that  place,  where  the 
most  horrible  wickedness  had  been  committed,  must  the  gospel  be 
preached  :  the  law  must  go  forth  out  of  that  Sion,  and  the  apostles 
must  not  stir  from  thence  till  they  had  received  the  promise  of  the 
Spirit,  and  published  the  Avord  of  grace  in  that  ungrateful  city, 
whose  inhabitants  yet  swelled  with  indignation  against  the  Lord  of 
Life,  and  the  doctrine  he  had  preached  among  them  (Luke  xxiv. 
47  ;  Acts  i.  4,  5).  He  would  overlook  their  indignities  out  of  ten- 
derness to  their  souls,  and  expose  the  apostles  to  the  peril  of  their 
lives,  rather  than  expose  his  enemies  to  the  fury  of  the  devil. 

1.  How  affectionately  doth  he  invite  men !  What  multitudes  of 
alluring  promises  and  pressing  exhortations  are  there  everywhere 
sprinkled  in  the  Scripture,  and  in  such  a  passionate  manner,  as  if 
God  were  solely  concerned  in  our  good,  without  a  glance  on  his  own 


ON  THE   GOODNESS   OF   GOD.  285 

glory  !  How  tenderly  doth  he  woo  flinty  hearts,  and  express  more 
pity  to  them  than  they  do  to  themselves !  With  what  alfection  do 
his  bowels  rise  up  to  his  lips  in  his  speech  in  the  prophet,  Isa.  li.  4, 
"  Hearken  to  me,  O  my  people,  and  give  ear  unto  me,  O  my  nation !" 
"My  people,"  "my  nation  !" — melting  expressions  of  a  tender  God 
soliciting  a  rebellious  people  to  make  their  retreat  to  him.  He  never 
emptied  his  hand  of  his  bounty,  nor  divested  his  lips  of  those  chari- 
table expressions.  He  sent  Noah  to  move  the  wicked  of  the  old 
world  to  an  embracing  of  his  goodness,  and  frequent  prophets  to  the 
provoking  Jews ;  and  as  the  world  continued,  and  grew  up  to  a 
taller  stature  in  sin,  he  stoops  more  in  the  manner  of  his  expres- 
sions. Never  was  the  world  at  a  higher  pitch  of  idolatry  than  at 
the  first  publishing  the  gospel ;  yet,  when  we  should  have  expected 
him  to  be  a  punishing,  he  is  a  beseeching  God.  The  apostle  fears 
not  to  use  the  expression  for  the  glory  of  .  ivine  goodness  ;  "  We 
are  ambassadors  for  Christ,  as  though  God  did  beseech  you  by  us" 
(2  Cor.  V.  20).  The  beseeching  voice  of  God  is  in  the  voice  of  the 
ministry,  as  the  voice  of  the  prince  is  in  that  of  the  herald:  it  is  as 
if  Divine  goodness  did  kneel  down  to  a  sinner  with  ringed  hands 
and  blubbered  cheeks,  entreating  him  not  to  force  him  to  re-assume 
a  tribunal  of  justice  in  the  nature  of  a  Judge,  since  he  would  treat 
with  man  upon  a  throne  of  grace  in  the  nature  of  a  Father ;  yea,  he 
seems  to  put  himself  into  the  posture  of  the  criminal,  that  the  offend- 
ing creature  might  not  feel  the  punishment  due  to  a  rebel.  It  is  not 
the  condescension,  but  the  interest,  of  a  traitor  to  creep  upon  his 
knees  in  sackcloth  to  his  sovereign,  to  beg  his  life ;  but  it  is  a  mirac- 
ulous goodness  in  the  sovereign  to  creep  in  the  lowest  posture  to  the 
rebel,  to  importune  him,  not  only  for  an  amity  to  him,  but  a  love  for 
his  own  life  and  happiness:  this  He  doth,  not  only  in  his  general 
proclamations,  but  in  his  particular  wooings,  those  inward  courtings 
of  his  Spirits,  soliciting  them  with  more  diligence  (if  they  would  ob- 
serve it)  to  their  happiness,  than  the  devil  tempts  them  to  the  ways 
of  their  misery :  as  he  Avas  first  in  Christ,  reconciling  the  world, 
when  the  world  looked  not  after  him,  so  he  is  first  in  his  Spirit, 
wooing  the  world  to  accept  of  that  reconciliation,  when  the  world 
will  not  listen  to  him.  How  often  doth  he  flash  up  the  light  of  na- 
ture and  the  light  of  the  Avord  in  men's  hearts,  to  move  them  not  to 
lie  down  in  sparks  of  their  own  kindling,  but  to  aspire  to  a  better 
happiness,  and  prepare  them  to  be  subject  to  a  higher  mercy,  if  they 
would  improve  his  present  entreaties  to  such  an  end  I  And  what 
are  his  threatenings  designed  for,  but  to  move  the  wheel  of  our 
fears,  that  the  wheel  of  our  desire  and  love  might  be  set  on  motion 
for  the  embracing  his  promise  ?  They  are  not  so  much  the  thun- 
ders of  his  justice,  as  the  loud  rhetoric  of  his  good  will,  to  prevent 
men's  misery  under  the  vials  of  wrath :  it  is  his  kindness  to  scare 
men  by  threatenings,  that  justice  might  not  strike  them  with  the 
sword :  it  is  not  tlie  destruction,  but  the  preserving  reformation,  that 
he  aims  at :  he  hath  no  pleasure  in  the  death  of  the  wicked ;  this  he 
confirms  by  his  oath.  His  threatenings  are  gracious  expostulations 
with  them :  "  Why  will  ye  die,  0  house  of  Israel"  (Ezek.  xxxiii. 
11)  ?    They  are  like  the  noise  a  favorable  ofiicer  makes  in  the  street, 


286  CHARNOCK  ON  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

to  warn  the  criminal  he  comes  to  seize  upon,  to  make  his  escape  :  he 
never  used  his  justice  to  crush  men,  till  he  had  used  his  kindness  to 
allure  them.  All  the  dreadful  descriptions  of  a  future  wrath,  as  well 
as  the  lively  descriptions  of  the  happiness  of  another  world,  are  de- 
signed to  persuade  men  ;  the  honey  of  his  goodness  is  in  the  bowels 
of  those  roaring  lions :  such  pains  doth  Goodness  take  with  men,  to 
make  them  candidates  for  heaven. 

2.  How  readily  doth  he  receive  men  when  they  do  return  !  We 
have  David's  experience  for  it  (Ps.  xxxii.  5) ;  "I  said,  I  will  confess 
my  transgressions  unto  the  Lord ;  and  thou  forgavest  the  iniquity 
of  my  sin.  Selah."  A  sincere  look  from  the  creature  draws  out  his 
arms,  and  opens  his  bosom  ;  he  is  ready  with  his  physic  to  heal  us, 
upon  a  resolution  to  acquaint  him  with  our  disease,  and  by  his  med- 
icines prevents  the  putting  our  resolution  into  a  petition.  The 
Psalmist  adds  a  "  Selah"  to  it,  as  a  special  note  of  thankfulness  for 
Divine  goodness.  He  doth  not  only  stand  ready  to  receive  our  pe- 
titions while  we  are  speaking,  but  answers  us  before  we  call  (Isa. 
Ixv.  24) ;  listening  to  the  motions  of  our  heart,  as  well  as  to  the  sup- 
plications of  our  lips.  He  is  the  true  Father,  that  hath  a  quicker 
pace  in  meeting,  than  the  prodigal  hath  in  returning ;  who  would 
not  have  his  embraces  and  caresses  interrupted  by  his  confession 
(Luke  XV.  20 — 22) ;  the  confession  follows,  doth  not  precede,  the 
Father's  compassion.  How  doth  he  rejoice  in  having  an  opportu- 
nity to  express  his  grace,  when  he  hath  prevailed  with  a  rebel  to 
throw  down  his  arms,  and  lie  at  his  feet;  and  this  because  "he  de- 
lights in  mercy"  (Micah.  vii.  18)  !  He  delights  in  the  expressions  of 
it  from  himself,  and  the  acceptance  of  it  by  his  creature. 

3.  How  meltingly  doth  he  bewail  man's  wilful  refusal  of  his  good- 
ness !  It  is  a  mighty  goodness  to  offer  grace  to  a  rebel ;  a  mighty 
goodness  to  give  it  him  after  he  hath  a  while  stood  off  from  the 
terms ;  an  astonishing  goodness  to  regret  and  lament  his  wilful  per- 
dition. He  seems  to  utter  those  words  in  a  sigh,  "  O  that  my  people 
had  hearkened  unto  me,  and  Israel  had  walked  in  my  way"  (Ps. 
Ixxxi.  13) !  It  is  true,  God  hath  not  human  passions,  but  his  affec- 
tions cannot  be  expressed  otherwise  in  a  way  intelligible  to  us  ;  the 
excellency  of  his  nature  is  above  the  passions  of  men ;  but  such  ex- 
pressions of  himself  manifest  to  us  the  sincerity  of  his  goodness :  and 
that,  were  he  capable  of  our  passions,  he  would  express  himself  in 
such  a  manner  as  we  do  :  and  we  find  incarnate  Goodness  bewailing 
Avith  tears  and  sighs  the  ruin  of  Jerusalem  (Luke  xix.  42).  By  the 
same  reason  that  when  a  sinner  returns  there  is  joy  in  heaven,  upon 
his  obstinacy  there  is  sorrow  in  earth.  The  one  is,  as  if  a  prince 
should  clothe  all  his  court  in  triumphant  scarlet,  upon  a  rebel's  re- 
pentance ;  and  the  other,  as  if  a  prince  put  himself  and  his  court  in 
mourning  for  a  rebel's  obstinate  refusal  of  a  pardon,  when  he  lies  at 
his  mercy.  Are  not  now  these  affectionate  invitations,  and  deep  be- 
wailings  of  their  perversity,  high  testimonies  of  Divine  goodness  ? 
Do  not  the  unwearied  repetitions  of  gracious  encouragements  deserve 
a  higher  name  than  that  of  mere  goodness?  What  can  be  a  stronger 
evidence  of  the  sincerity  of  it,  than  the  sound  of  his  saving  voice  in 
our  enjoyments,  the  motion  of  his  Spirit  in  our  hearts,  and  his  grief 


ON  THE   GOODNESS   OF   GOD.  287 

for  tlie  neglect  of  all  ?  These  are  not  testimonies  of  any  want  of 
goodness  in  his  nature  to  answer  us,  or  unwillingness  to  express  it  to 
his  creature.  Hath  he  any  mind  to  deceive  us,  tiiat  thus  intreats  us  ? 
The  majesty  of  his  nature  is  too  great  for  such  shifts  ;  or,  if  it  were 
not,  the  despicableness  of  our  condition  would  render  him  above  the 
using  any.  Who  would  charge  that  physician  with  want  of  kind- 
ness, that  freely  offers  his  sovereign  medicine,  importunes  men,  by 
the  love  they  have  to  their  health,  to  take  it,  and  is  dissolved  into 
tears  and  sorrow  when  he  finds  it  rejected  by  their  peevish  and  con- 
ceited humor? 

7th.  Divine  goodness  is  eminent  in  the  sacraments  he  hath  affixed 
to  this  covenant,  especially  the  Lord's  supper.  As  he  gave  himself 
in  his  Son,  so  he  gives  his  Son  in  the  sacrament ;  he  doth  not  only 
give  him  as  a  sacrifice  upon  the  cross  for  the  expiation  of  our  crimes, 
but  as  a  feast  upon  the  table  for  the  nourishment  of  our  souls  :  in 
the  one  he  was  given  to  be  offered ;  in  this  he  gives  him  to  be  par- 
taken of,  with  all  the  fruits  of  his  death ;  under  the  image  of  the 
sacramental  signs,  every  believer  doth  eat  the  flesh,  and  drink  the 
blood  of  the  great  Mediator  of  the  covenant.  The  words  of  Christ, 
"  This  is  my  body,  and  this  is  my  blood,"  are  true  to  the  end  of  the 
world  (Matt.  xxvi.  26,  28).  This  is  the  most  delicious  viand  of 
heaven,  the  most  exquisite  dainty  food  God  can  feed  us  with  :  the 
delight  of  the  Deity,  the  admiration  of  angels ;  a  feast  with  God  is 
great,  but  a  feast  on  God  is  greater.  Under  those  signs  that  body  is 
presented ;  that  which  was  conceived  by  the  Spirit,  inhabited  by  the 
Godhead,  bruised  by  the  Father  to  be  our  food,  as  well  as  our  pro- 
pitiation, is  presented  to  us  on  the  table.  That  blood  which  satisfied 
justice,  washed  away  our  guilt  on  the  cross,  and  pleads  for  our  per- 
sons at  the  throne  of  grace ;  that  blood  which  silenced  the  curse, 
pacified  heaven,  and  purged  earth,  is  given  to  us  for  our  refreshment. 
This  is  the  bread  sent  from  heaven,  the  true  manna  ;  the  cup  is  "the 
cup  of  blessing,"  and,  therefore,  a  cup  of  goodness  (1  Cor.  x.  15). 
It  is  true,  bread  doth  not  cease  to  be  bread,  nor  the  wine  cease  to  be 
wine ;  neither  of  them  lose  their  substance,  but  both  acquire  a  sanc- 
tification,  by  the  relation  they  have  to  that  which  they  represent, 
and  give  a  nourishment  to  that  faith  that  receives  them.  In  those 
God  offers  us  a  remedy  for  the  sting  of  sin,  and  troubles  of  con- 
science ;  he  gives  us  not  the  blood  of  a  mere  man,  or  the  blood  of 
an  incarnate  angel,  but  of  God  blessed  forever ;  a  blood  that  can  se- 
cure us  against  the  wrath  of  heaven,  and  the  tumults  of  our  con- 
sciences ;  a  blood  that  can  wash  away  our  sins,  and  beautify  our 
souls ;  a  blood  that  hath  more  strength  than  our  filth,  and  more  prev- 
alency  than  our  accuser ;  a  blood  that  secures  us  against  the  terrors 
of  death,  and  purifies  us  for  the  blessedness  of  heaven.  The  goodness 
of  God  complies  with  our  senses,  and  condescends  to  our  weakness  ; 
he  instructs  us  by  the  eye,  as  well  as  by  the  ear ;  he  lets  us  see,  and 
taste,  and  feel  him,  as  well  as  hear  him ;  he  veils  his  glory  under 
earthly  elements,  and  informs  our  understanding  in  the  mysteries  of 
salvation  by  signs  familiar  to  our  senses ;  and  because  we  cannot 
with  our  bodily  eyes  behold  him  in  his  glory,  he  presents  him  to  the 
eyes  of  our  minds  in  elements,  to  affect  our  understandings  in  the 


288  CHAENOCK   ON  THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

representations  of  his  death.  The  body  of  Christ  crucified  is  more 
visible  to  our  spiritual  sense,  than  the  invisible  Deity  could  be  visible 
in  his  flesh  upon  earth  ;  and  the  power  of  his  body  and  blood  is  as 
well  experimented  in  our  souls,  as  the  power  of  his  Divinity  was 
seen  by  the  Jews  in  his  miraculous  actions  in  his  body  in  the  world. 
It  is  the  goodness  of  God,  to  mind  us  frequently  of  the  great  things 
Christ  hath  purchased ;  that  as  himself  would  not  let  them  be  out 
of  his  mind,  to  communicate  them  to  us,  so  he  would  give  us  means 
to  preserve  them  in  our  minds,  to  adore  him  for  them,  and  request 
them  of  him ;  whereby  he  doth  evidence  his  own  solicitousness,  that 
we  should  not  be  deprived  by  our  own  forgetfulness  of  that  grace 
Christ  hath  purchased  for  us ;  it  was  to  remember  the  Redeemer, 
"  and  show  his  death  till  he  came"  (1  Cor.  xi.  25,  26). 

1.  His  goodness  is  seen  in  the  end  of  it,  which  is  a  sealing  the  cov- 
enant of  grace.  The  common  nature  and  end  of  sacraments  is  to 
seal  the  covenant  they  belong  to,  and  the  truths  of  the  promises  of 
it.f  The  legal  sacraments  of  circumcision  and  the  passover  sealed  the 
legal  promises  and  the  covenant  in  the  Judicial  administration  of  it ; 
and  the  evangelical  sacraments  seal  the  evangelical  promises,  as  a 
ring  confirms  a  contract  of  marriage,  and  a  seal  the  articles  of  a 
compact;  by  the  same  reason,  circumcision  is  called  a  "seal  of  the 
righteousness  of  faith"  (Rom.  iv.  11) ;  other  sacraments  may  have 
the  same  title ;  God  doth  attest,  that  he  will  remain  firm  in  his  prom- 
ise, and  the  receiver  attests  he  will  remain  firm  in  his  faith.  In  all 
reciprocal  covenants,  there  are  mutual  engagements,  and  that  which 
serves  for  a  seal  on  the  part  of  the  one,  serves  for  a  seal  also  on  the 
part  of  the  other ;  God  obligeth  himself  to  the  performance  of  the 
promise,  and  man  engageth  himself  to  the  performance  of  his  duty. 
The  thing  confirmed  by  this  sacrament  is  the  perpetuity  of  this  cov- 
enant in  the  blood  of  Christ,  whence  it  is  called  "  the  New  Testa- 
ment," or  covenant  "  in  the  blood  of  Christ"  (Luke  xxii.  20).  In 
every  repetition  of  it,  God,  by  presenting,  confirms  his  resolution  to 
us,  of  sticking  to  this  covenant  for  the  merit  of  Christ's  blood ;  and 
the  receiver,  by  eating  the  body  and  drinking  the  blood,  engageth 
himself  to  keep  close  to  the  condition  of  faith,  expecting  a  full  sal- 
vation and  a  blessed  immortality  upon  the  merit  of  the  same  blood 
alone.  This  sacrament  could  not  be  called  the  "  New  Testament,  or 
Covenant,"  if  it  had  not  some  relation  to  the  covenant ;  and  what  it 
can  be  but  this,  I  do  not  understand.  The  covenant  itself  was  con- 
firmed "  by  the  death  of  Christ"  (Heb.  ix.  15),  and  thereby  made  un- 
changeable both  in  the  benefits  to  us,  and  the  condition  required  of 
us  ;  but  he  seals  it  to  our  sense  in  a  sacrament,  to  give  us  strong  con- 
solation ;  or,  rather,  the  articles  of  the  covenant  of  redemption  be- 
tween the  Father  and  the  Son,  agreed  on  from  eternity,  were  accom- 
plished on  Christ's  part  by  his  death,  on  the  Father's  part  by  his 
resurrection ;  Christ  performed  what  he  promised  in  the  one,  and  God 
acknowledgeth  the  validity  of  it,  and  performs  what  he  had  promised 
in  the  other.  The  covenant  of  grace,  founded  upon  this  covenant  of 
redemption,  is  sealed  in  the  sacrament ;  God  owns  his  standing  to  the 
terms  of  it,  as  sealed  by  the  blood  of  the  Mediator,  by  presenting 

'  Amyral.  Irenicum.  pp.  16,  17. 


ON  THE   GOODNESS   OF   GOD.  289 

him  to  us  under  those  signs,  and  gives  us  a  right  upon  faith  to  the 
enjoyment  of  the  fruits  of  it.  As  tlie  right  of  a  house  is  made  over 
by  the  delivery  of  the  key,  and  the  right  of  land  translated  by  the 
delivery  of  a  turf ;  whereby  he  gives  us  assurance  of  his  reality,  and 
a  strong  support  to  our  confidence  in  him ;  not  that  there  is  any 
virtue  and  power  of  sealing  in  the  elements  themselves,  no  more 
than  there  is  in  a  turf  to  give  an  enfeoffment  in  a  parcel  of  land ;  but 
as  the  power  of  one  is  derived  from  the  order  of  the  law,  so  the  con- 
firming power  of  the  sacrament  is  derived  from  the  institution  of 
God  ;  as  the  oil  wherewith  kings  were  annointed,  did  not  of  itself 
confer  upon  them  that  royal  dignity,  but  it  was  a  sign  of  their  inves- 
titure into  ofl&ce,  ordered  by  Divine  institution.  We  can  with  no 
reason  imagine,  that  God  intended  them  as  naked  signs  or  pictures,  to 
please  our  eyes  with  the  image  of  them,  to  represent  their  own  fig- 
ures to  our  eyes,  but  to  confirm  something  to  our  understanding  by 
the  efficacy  of  the  Spirit  accompanying  them:?  they  convey  to  the 
believing  receiver  what  they  represent,  as  the  great  seal  of  a  prince, 
fixed  to  the  parchment,  doth  the  pardon  of  a  rebel  as  well  as  its  own 
figure.  Christ's  death,  and  the  grace  of  the  covenant  is  not  only  sig- 
nified, but  the  fruits  and  merit  of  that  death  communicated  also. 
Thus  doth  Divine  goodness  evidence  itself,  not  only  in  making  a 
gracious  covenant  with  us,  but  fixing  seals  to  it ;  not  to  strengthen 
his  own  obligation,  which  stood  stronger  than  the  foundations  of 
heaven  and  earth,  upon  the  credit  of  his  word,  but  to  strengthen  our 
weakness,  and  support  our  security,  by  something  which  might  ap- 
pear more  formal  and  solemn  than  a  bare  word.  By  this,  the  Divine 
goodness  provides  against  our  spiritual  faintings,  and  shows  us  by  real 
signs  as  well  as  verbal  declarations,  that  the  covenant  sealed  by  the 
blood  of  Christ,  is  unalterable  ;  and  thereby  would  fortify  and  mount 
our  hopes  to  degrees  in  some  measure  suitable  to  the  kindness  of  the 
covenant,  and  the  dignity  of  the  Eedeemer's  blood.  And  it  is  yet  a 
further  degree  of  this  goodness,  that  he  hath  appointed  us  so  often 
to  celebrate  it,  whereby  he  shows  how  careful  he  is  to  keep  up  our 
tottering  faith,  and  preserve  us  constant  in  our  obedience ;  obliging 
himself  to  the  performance  of  his  promise,  and  obliging  us  to  the  pay- 
ment of  our  duty. 

2.  His  goodness  is  seen  in  the  sacrament  in  giving  us  in  it  an 
union  and  communion  with  Clirist.  There  is  not  only  a  commemo- 
ration of  Christ  dying,  but  a  communication  of  Christ  living.  The 
apostle  strongly  asserts  it  by  way  of  interrogation  (1  Cor.  x.  16), 
"  The  cup  of  blessing  which  we  bless,  is  it  not  the  communion  of 
the  blood  of  Christ  ?  the  bread  which  we  break,  is  it  not  the  com- 
munion of  the  body  of  Christ  ?"  In  the  cup  there  is  a  communica- 
tion of  the  blood  of  Christ,  a  conveyance  of  a  right  to  the  merits  of 
his  death,  and  the  blessedness  of  his  life :  we  are  not  less  by  this 
made  one  body  with  Christ  than  we  are  by  baptism  (1  Cor.  xii.  13) : 
and  "  put  on  'Christ"  living  in  this,  as  well  as  in  baptism  (Gal.  iii. 
27) ;  that  as  his  taking  our  infirm  flesh  was  a  real  incarnation,  so  the 
giving  us  his  flesh  to  eat  is  a  mystical  incarnation  in  believers,  where- 
by they  become  one  body  with  him  as  crucified,  and  one  body  with 

e  Daille,  Mclang.  Part  I,  p.  253. 
VOL.  II. — 19 


290  CHARNOCK   ON   THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

him  as  risen  ;  for  if  Christ  himself  be  received  by  faith  in  the  word 
(Col.  ii.  6),  he  is  no  less  received  by  faith  in  the  sacrament.  When 
the  Holy  Ghost  is  said  to  be  received,  the  graces  or  gifts  of  the  Holy 
Ghost  are  received ;  so  when  Christ  is  received,  the  fruits  of  his 
death  are  really  partaken  of.  The  Israelites  that  ate  of  the  sacrifices, 
did  "partake  of  the  altar"  (1  Cor.  x.  18),  i.  e.  had  a  communion  with 
the  God  of  Israel,  to  whom  they  had  been  sacrificed ;  and  those  that 
"  ate  of  the  sacrifices"  ofi:ered  to  idols,  had  a  "  fellowship  with  devils," 
to  whom  those  sacrifices  were  offered  (ver.  20).  Those  that  partake 
of  the  sacraments  in  a  due  manner,  have  a  communion  Avith  that 
God  to  whom  it  was  sacrificed,  and  a  communion  with  that  body 
which  was  sacrificed  to  God ;  not  that  the  substance  of  that  body 
and  blood  is  wrapped  up  in  the  elements,  or  that  the  bread  and  wine 
are  transformed  into  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ,  but  as  they  re- 
present him,  and  by  virtue  of  the  institution  are,  in  estimation  him- 
self, his  own  body  and  blood ;  by  the  same  reason  as  he  is  called 
"  Christ  our  passover,"  he  may  be  called  "  Christ  our  supper"  (1  Cor. 
V.  7) :  for  as  they  are  so  reckoned  to  an  unworthy  receiver,  as  if 
they  were  the  real  body  and  blood  of  Christ,  because  by  his  not  dis- 
cerning the  Lord's  body  in  it,  or  making  light  of  it  as  common  bread, 
he  is  judged  "  guilty  of  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ,"  guilty  of  treat- 
ing him  in  as  base  a  manner  as  the  Jews  did  when  they  crowned  him 
with  thorns  (1  Cor.  xi.  27,  29) :  by  the  same  reason  they  must  be 
reckoned  to  a  worthy  receiver,  as  the  very  body  and  blood  of  Christ : 
so  that  as  the  unworthy  receiver  "eats  and  drinks  damnation,"  the 
worthy  receiver  "  eats  and  drinks"  salvation.  It  would  be  an  empty 
mystery,  and  unworthy  of  an  institution  by  Divine  goodness,  if  there 
v/ere  not  some  communion  with  Christ  in  it :  there  would  be  som.e 
kind  of  deceit  in  the  precept,  "  Take,  eat,  and  drink,  this  is  my  body 
and  blood,"  if  there  were  not  a  conveyance  of  spiritual  vital  influ- 
ences to  our  souls :  for  the  natural  end  of  eating  and  drinking  is  the 
nourishment  and  increase  of  the  body,  and  preservation  of  life,  by 
that  which  we  eat  and  drink.  The  infinite  Avise,  gracious,  and  true 
God,  would  never  give  us  empty  figures  without  accomplishing  that 
which  is  signified  by  them,  and  suitable  to  them.  How  great  is  this 
goodness  of  God !  he  would  have  his  Son  in  us,  one  with  us,  straitly 
joined  to  us,  as  if  we  were  his  proper  flesh  and  blood :  in  the  incar- 
nation Divine  goodness  united  him  to  our  nature ;  in  the  sacrament, 
it  doth  in  a  sort  unite  him  with  his  purchased  privileges  to  our  per- 
sons ;  we  have  not  a  communion  with  a  part  or  a  member  of  his 
body,  or  a  drop  of  his  blood,  but  with  his  Avhole  body  and  blood,  re- 
presented in  every  part  of  the  elements.  The  angels  in  the  heaven 
enjoy  not  so  great  a  privilege  ;  they  have  the  honor  to  be  under  him 
as  their  Head,  but  not  that  of  having  him  for  their  food ;  they  be- 
hold him,  but  they  do  not  taste  him.  And,  certainly,  that  goodness 
that  hath  condescended  so  much  to  our  weakness,  would  impart  it  to 
us  in  a  very  glorious  manner,  were  we  capable  of  it.  But,  because 
a  man  cannot  behold  the  light  of  the  sun  in  its  full  splendor  by  rea- 
son of  the  infirmities  of  his  eyes,  he  must  behold  it  by  the  help  of  a 
glass,  and  such  a  communication  through  a  colored  and  opaque  glass, 
is  as  real  from  the  sun  itself,  though  not  so  glorious,  but  more  shrouded 


ON  THE   GOODNESS   OF   GOD.  291 

and  obscure ;  it  is  the  same  light  that  shines  through  that  medium, 
as  spreads  itself  gloriously  in  the  open  air,  though  the  one  be  masked, 
and  the  other  open-faced.  To  conclude  this,  by  the  way,  we  may 
take  notice  of  the  neglect  of  this  ordinance :  if  it  be  a  token  of 
Divine  goodness  to  appoint  it,  it  is  no  sign  of  our  estimation  of 
Divine  goodness  to  neglect  it.  He  that  values  the  kindness  of  his 
friend,  will  accept  of  his  invitation,  if  there  be  not  some  strong  im- 
pediments in  the  way,  or  so  much  familiarity  with  him  that  his  re- 
fusal upon  a  light  occasion  would  not  be  unkindly  taken.  But 
though  God  put  on  the  disposition  of  a  friend  to  us,  yet  he  looseth 
not  the  authority  of  a  sovereign ;  and  the  humble  familiarity  he  in- 
vites us  to,  doth  not  diminish  the  condition  and  duty  of  a  subject. 
A  sovereign  prince  would  not  take  it  well,  if  a  favorite  should  refuse 
the  offered  honor  of  his  table.  The  viands  of  God  are  not  to  be 
slighted.  Can  we  live  better  upon  our  poor  pittance  than  upon  his 
dainties  ?  Did  not  Divine  goodness  condescend  in  it  to  the  weak- 
ness of  our  faith,  and  shall  we  conceit  our  faith  stronger  than  God 
thinks  it  ?  If  he  thought  fit  by  those  seals  to  make  a  deed  of  gift  to 
us,  shall  we  be  so  unmannerly  to  him,  and  such  enemies  to  the  se- 
curity he  offers  us  over  and  above  his  word,  as  not  to  accept  it  ? 
Are  we  unwilling  to  have  our  souls  inflamed  with  love,  our  hearts 
filled  with  comfort,  and  armed  against  the  attempts  of  our  enemies  ? 
It  is  true,  there  is  a  guilt  of  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ  contracted 
by  a  slightness  in  the  manner  of  attending ;  is  it  not  also  contracted 
by  a  refusal  and  neglect?  What  is  the  language  of  it  ?  If  it  speaks 
not  the  death  of  Christ  in  vain,  it  speaks  the  institution  of  this  ordi- 
nance as  a  remembrance  of  his  death,  to  be  a  vanity,  and  no  mark  of 
Divine  goodness.  Let  us,  therefore,  put  such  a  value  upon  Divine 
goodness  in  this  affair,  as  to  be  willing  to  receive  the  conveyances 
of  his  love,  and  fresh  engagements  of  our  duty  ;  the  one  is  due  from 
us  to  the  kindness  of  our  friend,  and  the  other  belongs  to  our  duty 
as  his  subjects. 

vi.  By  this  redemption  God  restores  us  to  a  more  excellent  condi- 
tion than  Adam  had  in  innocence.  Christ  was  sent  by  Divine  good- 
ness, not  only  to  restore  the  life  Adam's  sin  had  stripped  us  of,  but 
to  give  it  more  abundantly  than  Adam's  standing  could  have  con- 
veyed it  to  us  (John  x.  10),  "  I  am  come  that  they  might  have  life, 
and  that  they  might  have  it  more  abundantly."  More  abundantly 
for  strength,  more  abundantly  for  duration,  a  life  abounding  with 
greater  felicity  and  glory  :  the  substance  of  those  better  promises  of 
the  new  covenant  than  what  attended  the  old.  There  are  fuller 
streams  of  grace  by  Christ  than  flowed  to  Adam,  or  could  flow  from 
Adam.  As  Christ  never  restored  any  to  health  and  strength  while 
he  was  in  the  world,  but  he  gave  them  a  greater  measure  of  both 
than  they  had  before ;  so  there  is  the  same  kindness,  no  question, 
manifested  in  our  spiritual  condition.  Adam's  life  might  have  pre- 
served us,  but  Adam's  death  could  not  have  rescuedeither  himself  or 
his  posterity;  but,  in  our  redemption,  we  have  a  Redeemer,  who 
hath  "  died  to  expiate  our  sins,"  and  so  crowned  with  life  to  save, 
and  forever  preserve  our  persons  (Rom.  v.  10),  "  Because  I  live,  ye 
shall  live  also :"  so  that  by  redeeming  goodness  the  life  of  a  believer 


292  CHARNOCK   ON  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

is  as  perpetual  as  the  life  of  the  Redeemer  Christ  (John  xiv.  19). 
Adam,  though  innocent,  was  under  the  danger  of  perishing ;  a  be- 
liever, though  culpable,  is  above  the  fears  of  mutability.  Adam  had 
a  holiness  in  his  nature,  but  capable  of  being  lost ;  by  Christ  be- 
lievers have  a  holiness  bestowed,  not  capable  of  being  rifled,  but 
which  will  remain  till  it  be  at  last  fully  perfected  :  though  they  have 
a  power  to  change  in  their  nature,  yet  they  are  above  an  actual  final 
change  by  the  indulgence  of  Divine  grace.  Adam  stood  by  himself; 
believers  stand  in  a  root,  impossible  to  be  shaken  or  corrupted :  by 
this  means  the  "promise  is  sure  to  all  the  seed"  (Rom.  iv.  16). 
Christ  is  a  stronger  person  than  Adam,  who  can  never  break  cove- 
nant with  God,  and  the  truth  of  God  will  never  break  covenant  with 
him.  We  are  united  to  a  more  excellent  Head  than  Adam :  instead 
of  a  root  merely  human,  we  have  a  root  Divine  as  well  as  human. 
In  him  we  had  the  righteousness  of  a  creature  merely  human ;  in 
this  we  have  a  righteousness  divine,  the  righteousness  of  God-man ; 
the  stock  is  no  longer  in  our  own  hands,  but  in  the  hands  of  One 
that  cannot  embezzle  it,  or  forfeit  it :  Divine  goodness  hath  deposit- 
ed it  strongly  for  our  security.  The  stamp  we  receive,  by  the  Divine 
goodness,  from  the  second  Adam,  is  more  noble  than  that  we  should 
have  received  from  the  first,  had  he  remained  in  his  created  state  : 
Adam  was  formed  of  the  dust  of  the  earth,  and  the  new  man  is  form- 
ed by  the  incorruptible  seed  of  the  word ;  and  at  the  resurrection, 
the  body  of  man  shall  be  endued  with  better  qualities  than  Adam 
had  at  creation  :  they  shall  be  like  that  glorious  Body  which  is  in 
heaven,  in  union  with  the  person  of  the  "  Son  of  God"  (Phil,  iii,  21). 
Adam,  at  the  best,  had  but  an  earthly  body,  but  the  Lord  from 
heaven  hath  a  "heavenly  body,"  the  image  of  which  shall  be  borne 
by  the  redeemed  ones,  as  they  have  borne  the  image  of  the  earthly 
(1  Cor.  XV.  47 — 49).  Adam  had  the  society  of  beasts ;  redeemed 
ones  expect,  by  Divine  goodness  in  redemption,  a  commerce  with 
angels  ;  as  they  are  reconciled  to  them  by  his  death,  they  shall  cer- 
tainly come  to  converse  with  them  at  the  consummation  of  their  hap- 
piness ;  as  they  are  made  of  one  family,  so  they  will  have  a  peculiar 
intimacy :  Adam  had  a  paradise,  and  redeemed  ones  a  heaven  pro- 
vided for  them ;  a  happier  place  with  a  richer  furniture.  It  is  much 
to  give  so  complete  a  paradise  to  innocent  Adam ;  but  more  to  give 
heaven  to  an  ungrateful  Adam,  and  his  rebellious  posterity  :  it  had 
been  abundant  goodness  to  have  restored  us  to  the  same  condition 
in  that  paradise  from  whence  we  were  ejected ;  but  a  superabundant 
goodness  to  bestow  upon  us  a  better  habitation  in  heaven,  which  we 
could  never  have  expected.  How  great  is  that  goodness,  when  by 
sin  we  were  fiillen  to  be  worse  than  nothing,  that  He  should  raise  us 
to  be  more  than  what  we  were  ;  that  restored  us,  not  to  the  first  step 
of  our  creation,  but  to  many  degrees  of  elevation  beyond  it !  not  only 
restores  us,  but  prefers  us ;  not  only  striking  off  our  chains,  to  set 
us  free,  but  clothing  us  with  a  robe  of  righteousness,  to  render  us 
honorable ;  not  only  quenching  our  hell,  but  preparing  a  heaven ; 
not  re-garnishing  an  earthly,  but  providing  a  richer  palace :  his  good- 
ness was  so  great,  that,  after  it  had  rescued  us,  it  would  not  content 
itself  with  the  old  furniture,  but  makes  all  new  for  us  in  another 


ON  THE  GOODNESS  OF  GOD.  293 

world ;  a  new  wine  to  drink ;  a  new  heaven  to  dwell  in ;  a  more 
magnilicent  structure  for  our  habitation :  thus  hath  Goodness  pre- 
pared for  us  a  straiter  union,  a  stronger  life,  a  purer  righteousness, 
an  unshaken  standing,  and  a  fuller  glory ;  all  more  excellent  than 
was  within  the  compass  of  innocent  Adam's  possession. 

vii.  This  goodness  in  redemption  extends  itself  to  the  lower  crea- 
tion. It  takes  in,  not  only  man,  but  the  whole  creation,  except  the 
fallen  angels,  and  gives  a  joarticipation  of  it  to  insensible  creatures; 
upon  the  account  of  this  redemption  the  sun,  and  all  kind  of  crea- 
tures, were  preserved,  which  otherwise  had  sunk  into  destruction 
upon  the  sin  of  man,  and  ceased  from  their  being,  as  man  had  utterly 
ceased  from  his  happiness  (Colos.  i.  17) :  "  By  him  all  things  con- 
sist." The  fall  of  man  brought,  not  only  a  misery  upon  himself, 
but  a  vanity  upon  the  creature ;  the  earth  groaned  under  a  curse  for 
his  sake.  They  were  all  created  for  the  glory  of  God,  and  the  sup- 
port of  man  in  the  performance  of  his  duty,  who  was  obliged  to  use 
them  for  the  honor  of  Him  that  created  them  both.  Had  man  been 
true  to  his  obligations,  and  used  the  creatures  for  that  end  to  which 
they  were  dedicated  by  the  Creator ;  as  God  would  have  then  re- 
joiced in  his  works,  so  his  works  would  have  rejoiced  in  the  honor 
of  answering  so  excellent  an  end  :  but  when  man  lost  his  integrity, 
the  creatures  lost  their  perfection ;  the  honor  of  them  was  stained 
when  they  were  debased  to  serve  the  lusts  of  a  traitor,  instead  of 
supporting  the  duty  of  a  subject,  and  employed  in  the  defence  of 
the  vices  of  men  against  the  precepts  and  authority  of  their  common 
Sovereign.  This  was  a  vilifying  the  creature,  as  it  would  be  a  vili- 
fying the  sword  of  a  prince,  which  is,  for  the  maintenance  of  justice, 
to  be  used  for  the  murder  of  an  innocent ;  and  a  dishonoring  a  royal 
mansion,  to  make  it  a  storehouse  for  a  dunghill.  Had  those  things 
the  benefit  of  sense,  they  would  groan  under  this  disgrace,  and  rise 
up  in  indignation  against  them  that  offered  them  this  affront,  and 
turned  them  from  their  proper  end.  When  sin  entered,  the  heavens 
that  were  made  to  shine  upon  man,  and  the  earth  that  was  made  to 
bear  and  nourish  an  innocent  creature,  were  now  subjected  to  serve 
a  rebellious  creature ;  and  as  man  turned  against  God,  so  he  made 
those  instruments  against  God,  to  serve  his  enmity,  luxury,  sensual- 
ity. Hence  the  creatures  are  said  to  groan  (Rom.  viii.  22)  ;  "  The 
whole  creation  groans  and  travails  in  pain  together  until  now."  They 
would  really  groan,  had  they  understanding  to  be  sensible  of  the 
outrage  done  them.  "  The  whole  creation." — It  is  the  pang  of  uni- 
versal nature,  the  agony  of  the  whole  creation,  to  be  alienated  from 
the  original  use  for  which  they  were  intended,  and  be  disjointed  from 
their  end  to  serve  the  disloyalty  of  a  rebel.  The  drunkard's  cup, 
and  the  glutton's  table,  the  adulterer's  bed,  and  the  proud  man's 
purple,  would  groan  against  the  abuser  of  them.  But  when  all  the 
fruits  of  redemption  shall  be  completed,  the  goodness  of  God  shall 
pour  itself  upon  the  creatures,  deliver  them  from  the  "bondage  of 
corruption  into  the  glorious  liberty  of  the  children  of  God"  (Rom. 
viii.  21) ;  they  shall  be  reduced  to  their  true  end,  and  returned  in 
their  original  harmony.  As  the  creation  doth  passionately  groan 
under  its  vanity,  so  it  doth  "  earnestly  expect  and  wait  for  its  de- 


294  CHAENOCK  ON  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

liverance  at  the  time  of  the  manifestation  of  the  sons  of  God"  (ver. 
19).  The  manifestation  of  the  sons  of  God  is  the  attainment  of  the 
liberty  of  the  creature.  Thej  shall  be  freed  from  the  vanity  under 
which  they  are  enslaved ;  as  it  entered  by  sin,  it  shall  vanish  upon 
the  total  removal  of  sin.  What  use  they  were  designed  for  in  para- 
dise they  will  have  afterwards,  except  that  of  the  nourishment  of 
men,  who  shall  be  as  "  angels,  neither  eating  nor  drinking :"  the 
glory  of  God  shall  be  seen  and  contemplated  in  them.  It  can  hardly 
be  thought  that  God  made  the  world  to  be  little  a  moment  after  he 
had  reared  it,  sullied  by  the  sin  of  man,  and  turned  from  its  original 
end,  without  thoughts  of  a  restoration  of  it  to  its  true  end,  as  well  as 
man  to  his  lost  happiness.  The  world  was  made  for  man  :  man  hath 
not  yet  enjoyed  the  creature  in  the  first  intention  of  them ;  sin  made 
an  interruption  in  that  fruition.  As  redemption  restores  man  to  his 
true  end,  so  it  restores  the  creatures  to  their  true  use.  The  restora- 
tion of  the  world  to  its  beauty  and  order  was  the  design  of  the 
Divine  goodness  in  the  coming  of  Christ,  as  it  is  intimated  in  Isa.  xi. 
6-9  ;  as  he  "  came  not  to  destroy  the  law,  but  to  fulfil  it,"  so  he 
came  not  to  destroy  the  creatures,  but  to  repair  them  :  to  restore  to 
God  the  honor  and  pleasure  of  the  creation,  and  restore  to  the  crea- 
tures their  felicity  in  restoring  their  order  :  the  fall  corrupted  it,  and 
the  full  redemption  of  men  restores  it.  The  last  time  is  called,  not 
a  time  of  destruction,  but  a  "time  of  restitution,"  and  that  "of  all 
things"  (Acts  iii.  21)  of  universal  nature,  the  main  part  of  the  crea- 
tion at  least.  All  those  things  which  were  the  effects  of  sin  will  be 
abolished  ;  the  removal  of  the  cause  beats  down  the  effect.  The  dis- 
order and  unruliness  of  the  creature,  arising  from  the  venom  of 
man's  transgression,  all  the  fierceness  of  one  creature  against  another 
shall  vanish.  The  world  shall  be  nothing  but  an  universal  smile  ; 
nature  shall  put  on  triumphant  vestments  :  there  shall  be  no  affright- 
ing thunders,  choking  mists,  venomous  vapors,  or  poisonous  plants. 
It  would  not  else  be  a  restitution  of  all  things.  They  are  now  sub- 
ject to  be  wasted  by  judgments  for  the  sin  of  their  possessor,  but  the 
perfection  of  man's  redemptions  shall  free  them  from  every  misery. 
They  have  an  advancement  at  the  present,  for  they  are  under  a  more 
glorious  Head,  as  being  the  possession  of  Christ,  the  heavenly  Adam, 
much  superior  to  the  first :  as  it  is  the  glory  of  a  person  to  be  a  ser- 
vant to  a  prince,  rather  than  a  peasant.  And  afterwards,  they  shall 
be  elevated  to  a  better  state,  sharing  in  man's  happiness,  as  well  as 
they  did  in  his  misery  :  as  servants  are  interested  in  the  good  fortune 
of  their  master,  and  bettered  by  his  advance  in  his  prince's  favor. 
As  man  in  his  first  creation  was  mutable  and  liable  to  sin,  so  the 
creatures  were  liable  to  vanity  ;  but  as  man  by  grace  shall  be  freed 
from  the  mutability,  so  shall  the  creatures  be  freed  from  the  fears^  of 
an  invasion,  by  the  vanity  that  sullied  them  before.  The  condition 
of  the  servants  shall  be  suited  to  that  of  their  Lord,  for  whom  they 
were  designed  :  hence,  all  creatures  are  called  upon  to  rejoice  upon 
the  perfection  of  salvation,  and  the  appearance  of  Christ's  royal  au- 
thority in  the  world.  If  they  were  to  be  destroyed,  there  would  be  no 
ground  to  invite  them  to  triumph  (Ps.  xcvi.  11, 12  ;  cxviii.  7,  8).  Thus 
doth  Divine  goodness  spread  its  kind  arms  over  the  whole  creation. 


ON  THE  GOODNESS   OF   GOD.  295 

Thirdly.  The  tliird.  tiling  is  the  goodness  of  God  in  his  Government. 
That  goodness  that  despised  not  their  creation,  doth  not  despise  their 
conduct.  The  same  goodness  that  was  the  head  that  framed  them, 
is  the  helm  that  guides  them  ;  his  goodness  hovers  over  the  whole 
frame,  cither  to  prevent  any  wild  disorders  unsuitable  to  his  creating 
end,  or  to  conduct  them  to  those  ends  which  might  illustrate  his 
wisdom  and  goodness  to  his  creatures.  His  goodness  doth  no  less 
incline  him  to  provide  for  them,  than  to  frame  them.  It  is  the 
natural  inclination  of  man  to  love  what  is  purely  the  birth  of  his 
own  strength  or  skill.  He  is  fond  of  preserving  his  own  inventions, 
as  well  as  laborious  in  inventing  them.  It  is  the  glory  of  a  man  to 
preserve  them,  as  well  as  to  produce  them,  God  loves  everything 
which  he  hath  made,  which  love  could  not  be  without  a  continued 
diffusiveness  to  them,  suitable  to  the  end  for  which  he  made  them. 
It  would  be  a  vain  goodness,  if  it  did  not  interest  itself  in  managing 
the  world,  as  Avell  as  erecting  it :  without  his  go  vernment  everything 
in  the  world  would  jostle  against  one  another  :  the  beauty  of  it  would 
be  more  defaced,  it  would  be  an  unruly  mass,  a  confused  chaos  rather 
than  a  K6<ffio;^  a  comely  world.  If  Divine  goodness  respected  it  when 
it  was  nothing,  it  would  much  more  respect  it  when  it  was  something, 
by  the  sole  virtue  of  his  power  and  good-will  to  it,  without  any  mo- 
tive from  anything  else  than  himself,  because  there  was  nothing  else 
but  himself.  But  since  he  sees  his  own  stamp  in  things  without  him- 
self in  the  creature,  which  is  a  kind  of  motive  or  moving  object  to 
Divine  goodness  to  preserve  it,  when  there  was  nothing  without  him- 
self that  could  be  any  motive  to  Him  to  create  it :  as  when  God 
hath  created  a  creature,  and  it  falls  into  misery,  that  misery  of  the 
creature,  though  it  doth  not  necessitate  his  mercy,  yet  meeting  with 
such  an  affection  as  mercy  in  his  nature,  is  amoving  object  to  excite 
it ;  as  the  repentance  of  Nineveh  drew  forth  the  exercise  of  his  pity 
and  preserving  goodness.  Certainly,  since  God  is  good,  he  is  bounti- 
ful ;  and  if  bountiful,  he  is  provident.  He  would  seem  to  envy  and 
malign  his  creatures,  if  he  did  not  provide  for  them,  while  he  intends 
to  use  them  :  but  infinite  goodness  cannot  be  effected  with  envy ; 
for  all  envy  implies  a  want  of  that  good  in  ourselves,  which  we  re- 
gard with  so  evil  an  eye  in  another.  But  God,  being  infinitely 
blessed,  hath  not  the  want  of  any  good  that  can  be  a  rise  to  such  an 
uncomely  disposition.  The  Jews  thought  that  Divine  goodness  ex- 
tended only  to  them  in  an  immediate  and  particular  care,  and  left 
all  other  nations  and  things  to  the  guidance  of  angels.  But  the 
Psalmist  (Ps.  cvii.  a  psalm  calculated  for  the  celebration  of  this  per- 
fection, in  the  continued  course  of  his  providence  throughout  all 
ages  of  the  world)  ascribes  to  Divine  goodness  immediately  all  the 
advantages  men  meet  with.  He  helps  them  in  their  actions,  presides 
over  their  motions,  inspects  their  several  conditions,  labors  day  and 
night  in  a  perpetual  care  of  them.  The  whole  life  of  the  world  is 
linked  together  by  Divine  goodness.  Everything  is  ordered  by  him 
in  the  place  where  he  hath  set  it,  without  which  the  world  would 
be  stripped  of  that  excellency  it  hath  by  creation. 

1st.  This  goodness  is  evident  in  the  care  he  hath  of  all  creatures. 
There  is  a  peculiar  goodness  to  his  people  ;  but  this  takes  not  away 


296  CHARNOCK  ON  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

his  general  goodness  to  the  world  :  though  a  master  of  a  family  hath 
a  choicer  affection  to  those  that  have  an  affinity  to  him  in  nature, 
and  stand  in  a  nearer  relation,  as  his  wife,  children,  servants ;  yet 
lie  hath  a  regard  to  his  cattle,  and  other  creatures  he  nourisheth 
in  his  house.  All  things  are  not  only  before  his  eyes,  but  in  his 
bosom ;  he  is  the  nurse  of  all  creatures,  suppljang  their  wants,  and 
sustaining  them  from  that  nothing  they  tend  to.  The  "  earth  is 
full  of  his  riches"  (Ps.  civ  24) ;  not  a  creek  or  cranny  but  partakes 
of  it.  Abundant  goodness  daily  hovers  over  it,  as  well  as  hatched 
it.  The  whole  world  swims  in  the  rich  bounty  of  the  Creator,  as 
the  fish  do  in  the  largeness  of  the  sea,  and  birds  in  the  spaciousness 
of  the  air.h  The  goodness  of  God  is  the  river  that  waters  the  whole 
earth.  As  a  lifeless  picture  casts  its  eye  upon  every  one  in  the 
room,  so  doth  a  living  God  upon  everything  in  tlie  world.  And  as 
the  sun  illuminates  all  things  which  are  capable  of  ^Dartaking  of  its 
light,  and  diffuseth  its  beams  to  all  things  which  are  capable  of  re- 
ceiving them,  so  doth  God  spread  his  wings  over  the  whole  crea- 
tion, and  neglects  nothing,  wherein  he  sees  a  mark  of  his  first 
creating  goodness. 

1.  His  goodness  is  seen,  in  ]3reserving  all  things.  "  O  Lord,  thou 
preservest  man  and  beast"  (Ps.  xxxvi.  6).  Not  only  man,  but  beasts, 
and  beasts  as  well  as  men ;  man,  as  the  most  excellent  creature,  and 
beasts  as  being  serviceable  to  man,  and  instruments  of  his  worldly 
happiness.  He  continues  the  species  of  all  things,  concurs  with 
them  in  their  distinct  offices,  and  quickens  the  womb  of  nature. 
He  visits  man  every  day,  and  makes  him  feel  the  effects  of  his  pro- 
vidence, in  giving  him  "fruitful  seasons,  and  filling  his  heart  with 
food  and  gladness"  (Acts  xiv.  17),  as  witnesses  of  his  liberality  and 
kindness  to  man.  "  The  earth  is  visited  and  watered  by  the  river 
of  God.  He  settles  the  furrows  of  the  earth,  and  makes  it  soft  with 
showers,"  that  the  corn  may  be  nourished  in  its  womb,  and  spring 
up  to  maturity.  "  He  crowns  the  year  with  his  goodness,  and  his 
paths  drop  fatness.  The  little  hills  rejoice  on  every  side ;  the  pas- 
tures are  clothed  with  flocks,  and  the  valleys  are  covered  over  with 
corn,"  as  the  Psalmist  elegantly  says  (Ps.  Ixv.  9,  10 ;  cvii.  35,  36). 
He  waters  the  ground  by  his  showers,  and  preserves  the  little  seed 
from  the  rapine  of  animals.  "  He  draws  not  out  the  evil  arrows  of 
famine,"  as  the  expression  is  (Ezek.  v.  16).  Every  day  shines  with 
new  beams  of  his  Divine  goodness.  The  vastness  of  this  city,  and 
the  multitudes  of  living  souls  in  it,  is  an  astonishing  argument. 
What  streams  of  nourishing  necessaries  are  daily  conveyed  to  it ! 
Every  mouth  hath  bread  to  sustain  it ;  and  among  all  the  number 
of  poor  in  the  bowels  and  skirts  of  it,  how  rare  is  it  to  hear  of  any 
starved  to  death  for  want  of  it !  Every  day  he  "  spreads  a  table" 
for  us,  and  that  with  varieties,  and  "  fills  our  cups"  (Ps.  xxiii.  5).  He 
shortens  not  his  hand,  nor  withdraws  his  bounty  :  the  increase  of 
one  year  by  his  blessing,  restores  Avhat  was  spent  by  the  former. 
He  is  the  "strength  of  our  life"  (Ps.  xxvii.  1),  continuing  the  vigor 
of  our  limbs,  and  the  health  of  our  bodies ;  secures  us  from  "  terrors 
by  night,  and  the  arrows  of  diseases  that  fly  by  day"  (Ps.  xci.  5) ; 

^  Gulielmus  Parasien.  p.  184. 


ON  THE   GOODNESS  OF  GOD.  297 

"  sets  a  hedge  about  our  estates"  (Job  i.  10),  and  defends  tbem  against 
the  attempts  of  violence ;  preserves  our  houses  from  flames  that 
might  consume  them,  and  our  persons  from  the  dangers  that  he  in 
wait  for  them ;  watcheth  over  us  "  in  our  goings  out,  and  our  com- 
ings in"  (Ps.  cxxi.  8),  and  way-lays  a  thousand  dangers  we  know 
not  of:  and  employs  the  most  glorious  creatures  in  heaven  in  the 
service  of  mean  "  men  upon  earth"  (Ps.  xci.  11) :  not  by  a  faint 
order,  but  a  pressing  charge  over  them,  to  "  keep  them  in  all  his 
ways."  Those  that  are  his  immediate  servants  before  his  throne, 
he  sends  to  minister  to  them  that  were  once  his  rebels.  By  an 
angel  he  conducted  the  affairs  of  Abraham  (Gren.  xxiv.  7) :  and  by 
an  angel  secured  the  life  of  Ishmael  (Gen.  xxi.  17) :  glorious  angels 
for  mean  man,  holy  angels  for  impure  man,  powerful  angels  for 
weak  man.  How  in  the  midst  of  great  dangers,  doth  his  sudden 
light  dissipate  our  great  darkness,  and  create  a  deliverance  out  of 
nothing!  How  often  is  he  found  a  present  help  in  time  of  trouble ! 
When  all  other  assistance  seems  to  stand  at  a  distance,  he  flies  to  us 
beyond  our  expectations,  and  raises  us  up  on  the  sudden  from  the 
pit  of  our  dejectedness,  as  well  as  that  of  our  danger,  exceeding  our 
wishes,  and  shooting  beyond  our  desires  as  well  as  our  deserts.  How 
often,  in  the  time  of  confusion,  doth  he  preserve  an  indefensible 
place  from  the  attacks  of  enemies,  like  a  bark  in  the  midst  of  a  tem- 
pestuous sea !  the  rage  falls  upon  other  places  round  about  them, 
and,  by  a  secret  efficacy  of  Divine  goodness,  is  not  able  to  touch 
them.  He  hath  peculiar  preservations  for  his  Israel  in  Egypt,  and 
his  Lots  in  Sodom,  his  Daniels  in  the  lions'  dens,  and  his  children 
in  a  fiery  furnace.  He  hath  a  tenderness  for  all,  but  a  peculiar 
affection  to  those  that  are  in  covenant  with  him. 

2.  The  goodness  of  God  is  seen  in  taking  care  of  the  animals  and 
and  inanimate  things.  Divine  goodness  embraceth  in  its  arms  the 
lowest  worm  as  well  as  the  loftiest  cherubim  :  he  provides  food  for 
the  "  crying  ravens"  (Ps.  cxlvii.  9),  and  a  prey  for  the  appetite  of 
the  "  hungry  lion"  (Ps.  civ.  21) :  "  He  opens  his  hand,  and  fills 
with  good  those  innumerable  creeping  things,  both  small  and  great 
beasts ;  they  are  all  waiters  upon  him,  and  all  are  satisfied  by  their 
bountiful  Master"  (Ps.  civ.  25 — 28).  They  are  better  provided  for 
by  the  hand  of  heaven,  than  the  best  favorite  is  by  an  earthly 
prince  :  for  "  they  are  filled  with  good."  He  hath  made  channels 
in  the  wildest  deserts,  for  the  watering  of  beasts,  and  trees  for  the 
nests  and  "  habitation  of  birds"  (Ps.  civ.  10,  12,  17).  As  a  Law- 
giver to  the  Jews,  he  took  care  that  the  poor  beast  should  not  be 
abused  by  the  cruelty  of  man :  he  provided  for  the  ease  of  the 
laboring  beast  in  that  command  of  the  Sabbath,  wherein  he  pro- 
vided for  his  own  service :  the  cattle  was  to  do  "  no  work"  on  it 
(Exod.  XX.  10).  He  ordered  that  the  mouth  of  the  ox  should  not  be 
muzzled  while  it  trod  out  the  corn  (Deut.  xxv.  4,  it  being  the  man- 
ner of  those  countries  to  separate  the  corn  from  the  stalk  by  that 
means,  as  we  do  in  this  by  thrashing),  regarding  it  as  a  part  of 
cruelty  to  deprive  the  poor  beast  of  tasting,  and  satisfying  itself 
with  tliat  which  he  was  so  officious  by  his  labor  to  prepare  for  the 
use  of  man.     And  when  any  met  with  a  nest  of  young  birds,  though 


298  CHARNOCK  ON   THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

they  miglit  take  tlie  young  to  tlieir  use,  they  were  forbidden  to  seize 
upon  the  dam,  that  she  might  not  lose  the  objects  of  her  affection 
and  her  own  liberty  in  one  day  (Deut.  xxii.  6), 

And  see  how  God  enforceth  this  precept  with  a  threatening  of  a 
shortness  of  life,  if  they  transgressed  it  (Deut.  xxii.  7) !  "  Thou  shalt 
let  the  dam  go,  that  it  may  be  well  with  thee,  and  that  thou  mayest 
prolong  thy  days."  He  would  revenge  the  cruelty  to  dumb  crea- 
tures with  the  shortness  of  the  oppressor's  life :  nor  would  he  have 
cruelty  used  to  creatures  that  were  separated  for  his  worship :  he 
therefore  provides  that  a  cow,  or  an  ewe,  and  their  young  ones,  should 
"  not  be  killed  for  sacrifice  in  one  day"  (Lev.  xxii.  28).  All  which 
precepts,  say  the  Jews,  are  to  teach  men  mercifulness  to  their  beasts; 
so  much  doth  Divine  goodness  bow  down  itself,  to  take  notice  of 
those  mean  creatures,  which  men  have  so  little  regard  to,  but  for 
their  own  advantage ;  yea,  he  is  so  good,  that  he  would  have  worship 
declined  for  a  time  in  favor  of  a  distressed  beast;  the  "helping  a 
sheep,  or  an  ox,  or  an  ass,  out  of  a  pit,"  was  indulged  them  even 
"  on  the  Sabbath-day,"  a  day  God  had  peculiarly  sanctified  and  or- 
dered for  his  service  (Matt.  xii.  11;  Luke  xiv.  5):  in  this  case  he 
seems  to  remit  for  a  time  the  rights  of  the  Deity  for  the  rescue  of  a 
mere  animal.  His  goodness  extends  not  only  to  those  kind  of  crea- 
tures that  have  life,  but  to  the  insensible  ones ;  he  clothes  the  grass, 
and  "  arrays  the  lilies  of  the  field"  with  a  greater  glory  than  Solomon 
had  upon  his  throne  (Matt.  vi.  28,  29) ;  and  such  care  he  had  of  those 
trees  which  bore  fruit  for  the  maintenance  of  man  or  beast,  that  he 
forbids  any  injury  to  be  offered  to  them,  and  bars  the  rapine  and 
violence,  which  by  soldiers  used  to  be  practised  (Deut.  xx.  19), 
though  it  were  to  promote  the  conquest  of  their  enemy.  How  much 
goodness  is  it,  that  he  should  think  of  so  small  a  thing  as  man ! 
How  much  more  that  he  should  concern  himself  in  things  that  seem 
so  petty  as  beasts  and  trees !  Persons  seated  in  a  sovereign  throne, 
think  it  a  debasing  of  their  dignity  to  regard  little  things :  but  God, 
who  is  infinitely  greater  in  majesty  above  the  mightiest  potentate, 
and  the  highest  angel,  yet  is  so  infinitely  good,  as  to  employ  his 
divine  thoughts  about  the  meanest  things.  He  who  possesses  the 
praises  of  angels,  leaves  not  off  the  care  of  the  meanest  creatures : 
and  that  majesty  that  dwells  in  a  pure  heaven,  and  an  inconceivable 
light,  stoops  to  provide  for  the  ease  of  those  creatures  that  lie  and 
lodge  in  the  dirt  and  dung  of  the  earth.  How  should  we  be  careful 
not  to  use  those  unmercifully,  which  God  takes  such  care  of  in  his 
law,  and  not  to  distrust  that  goodness,  that  opens  his  hand  so  liber- 
ally to  creatures  of  another  rank ! 

3.  The  goodness  of  God  is  seen  in  taking  care  of  the  meanest 
rational  creatures ;  as  servants  and  criminals.  He  provided  for  the 
liberty  of  slaves,  and  would  not  have  their  chains  continue  longer 
than  the  seventh  year,  unless  they  would  voluntarily  continue  under 
the  power  of  their  masters ;  and  that  upon  pain  of  his  displeasure, 
and  the  withdrawing  his  blessing  (Deut.  xv.  18).  And  though,  by 
the  laws  of  many  nations,  masters  had  an  absolute  power  of  life  and 
death  over  their  servants,  yet  God  provided  that  no  member  should 
be  lamed,  not  an  eye,  no,  nor  a  tooth,  struck  out,  but  the  master  was 


ON  THE   GOODNESS  OF   GOD.  299 

to  pay  for  his  folly  and  fury  the  price  of  the  "  liberty  of  his  servant" 
(Exod.  xxi.  26,  27):  he  would  not  suffer  the  abused  servant  to  be 
any  longer  under  the  power  of  that  man  that  had  not  humanity  to 
use  him  as  one  of  the  same  kindred  and  blood  with  himself  Ami 
though  those  servants  might  be  never  so  wicked,  yet,  when  unjustly 
afflicted,  God  would  interest  himself  as  their  guardian  in  their  pro- 
tection and  delivery.  And  when  a  poor  slave  had  been  provoked, 
by  the  severity  of  his  master's  fury,  to  turn  fugitive  from  him,  he 
was,  by  Divine  order,  not  to  be  delivered  up  again  to  his  master's 
fury,  but  dwell  in  that  city,  and  with  that  person,  to  whom  he  had 
"  fled  for  refuge"  (Deut.  xxiii.  15,  16).  And  when  public  justice 
was  to  be  admininistered  upon  the  lesser  sort  of  criminals,  the  good- 
ness of  God  ordered  the  "  number  of  blows"  not  to  exceed  forty,  and 
left  not  the  fury  of  man  to  measure  out  the  punishment  to  excess 
(Deut.  XXV.  3).  And  in  any  just  quarrel  against  a  provoking  and 
injuring  enemy,  he  ordered  them  not  to  ravage  with  the  sword  till 
they  had  summoned  a  rendition  of  the  place  (Deut.  xx.  10).  And 
as  great  a  care  he  took  of  the  poor,  that  they  should  have  the  glean- 
ings both  of  the  vineyard  and  field  (Lev.  xix.  10 ;  xxiii.  22),  and  not 
be  forced  to  pay  "  usury  for  the  money  lent  them  (Exod.  xxii.  25). 

4.  His  goodness  is  seen  in  taking  care  of  the  wickedest  persons. 
"  The  earth  is  full  of  his  goodness"  (Ps.  xxxvii.  5).  The  wicked  as 
well  as  the  good  enjoy  it;  they  that  dare  lift  up  their  hands  against 
heaven  in  the  posture  of  rebels,  as  well  as  those  that  lift  up  their 
eyes  in  the  condition  of  suppliants.  To  do  good  to  a  criminal,  far 
surmounts  that  goodness  that  flows  down  upon  an  innocent  object : 
now  God  is  not  only  good  to  those  that  have  some  degrees  of  good- 
ness, but  to  those  that  have  the  greatest  degrees  of  wickedness,  to 
men  that  turn  his  liberality  into  affronts  of  him,  and  have  scarce  an 
appetite  to  anything  but  the  violation  of  his  authority  and  goodness. 
Though,  upon  the  fall  of  Adam,  we  have  lost  the  pleasant  habitation 
of  paradise,  and  the  creatures  made  for  our  use  are  fallen  from  their 
original  excellency  and  sweetness ;  yet  he  hath  not  left  the  world 
utterly  incommodious  for  us,  but  yet  stores  it  with  things  not  only 
for  the  preservation,  but  delight  of  those  that  make  their  whole  lives 
invectives  against  this  good  God.  Manna  fell  from  heaven  for  the 
rebellious  as  well  as  for  the  obedient  Israelites.  Cain  as  well  as 
Abel,  and  Esau  as  well  as  Jacob,  had  the  influences  of  his  sun,  and 
the  benefits  of  his  showers.  The  world  is  yet  a  kind  of  paradise  to 
the  veriest  beasts  among  mankind ;  the  earth  affords  its  riches,  the 
heavens  its  showers,  and  the  sun  its  light,  to  those  that  injure  and 
blaspheme  him :  "He  makes  his  sun  to  rise  on  the  evil  and  on  the 
good,  and  sends  rain  on  the  just  and  on  the  unjust"  (Matt.  v.  45),  The 
wickedest  breathe  in  his  air,  walk  upon  his  earth,  and  drink  of  his 
water,  as  well  as  the  best.  The  sun  looks  with  as  pleasant  and  bright 
an  eye  upon  a  rebellious  Absalom,  as  a  righteous  David ;  the  earth 
yields  its  plants  and  medicines  to  one  as  well  as  to  the  other ;  it  is  sel- 
dom that  He  deprives  any  of  the  faculties  of  their  souls,  or  any  mem- 
bers of  their  bodies.  God  distributes  his  blessings  where  he  might 
shoot  his  thunders ;  and  darts  his  light  on  those  who  deserve  an 
eternal  darkness ;  and  presents  the  good  tilings  of  the  earth  to  those 


300  CHARNOCK  ON  THE  ATTEIBUTES. 

that  merit  the  miseries  of  hell;  for  *'  the  earth,  and  the  fulness  there- 
of, is  the  Lord's"  (Ps.  xxiv.  1);  everything  in  it  is  his  in  propriety, 
ours  in  trust ;  it  is  his  corn,  his  wine  (Hos.  ii.  8) ;  he  never  divested 
himself  of  the  propriety,  though  he  grants  us  the  use ;  and  by  those 
good  things  he  supports  multitudes  of  wicked  men,  not  one  or  two, 
but  the  whole  shoal  of  them  in  the  world ;  for  he  is  "  the  Saviour  of 
all  men,"  i.  e.  is  the  preserver  of  all  men  (1  Tim.  iv.  10).  And  as 
he  created  them,  when  he  foresaw  they  would  be  wicked ;  so  he  pro- 
vides for  them,  when  he  beholds  them  in  their  ungodliness.  The 
ingratitude  of  men  stops  not  the  current  of  his  bounty,  nor  tires  his 
liberal  hand ;  howsoever  unprofitable  and  injurious  men  are  to  him, 
he  is  liberal  to  them ;  and  his  goodness  is  the  more  admirable,  by 
how  much  the  more  the  unthankfulness  of  men  is  provoking :  he 
sometimes  affords  to  the  worst  a  greater  portion  of  these  earthly 
goods ;  they  often  swim  in  wealth,  when  others  pine  away  their  lives 
in  poverty.  And  the  silk- worm  yields  its  bowels  to  make  purple 
for  tyrants,  while  the  oppressed  scarce  have  from  the  sheep  wool 
enough  to  cover  their  nakedness ;  and  though  he  furnish  men  witli 
those  good  things,  upon  no  other  account  than  what  princes  do, 
when  they  nourish  criminals  in  a  prison  till  the  time  of  their  execu- 
tion, it  is  a  mark  of  his  goodness.  Is  it  not  the  kindness  of  a  prince 
to  treat  his  rebels  deliciously?  to  give  them  the  liberty  of  the  prison, 
and  the  enjoyments  of  the  delights  of  the  place,  rather  than  to  load 
their  legs  with  fetters,  and  lodge  them  in  a  dark  and  loathsome  dun- 
geon, till  he  orders  them,  for  their  crime,  to  be  conducted  to  the  scaffold 
or  gibbet  ?  Since  God  is  thus  kind  to  the  vilest  men,  whose  mean- 
ness, by  reason  of  sin,  is  beyond  that  of  any  other  creature,  as  to 
shoot  such  rays  of  goodness  upon  them ;  how  inexpressible  Avould  be 
the  expressions  of  his  goodness,  if  the  Divine  image  were  as  pure 
and  bright  upon  them  as  it  was  upon  innocent  Adam ! 

2d.  His  goodness  is  evident  in  the  preservation  of  human  society. 
It  belongs  to  his  power  that  he  is  able  to  do  it,  but  to  his  goodness 
that  he  is  willing  to  do  it. 

1.  This  goodness  appears  in  prescribing  rules  for  it.  The  moral  law 
consists  but  of  ten  precepts,  and  there  are  more  of  them  ordered  for 
the  support  of  human  society,  than  for  the  adoration  and  honor  of 
himself  (Exod.  xx.  1,  2);  four  for  the  rights  of  God,  and  six  for  the 
rights  of  man,  and  his  security  in  his  authority,  relations,  life,  goods, 
and  reputation ;  superiors  not  to  be  dishonored,  life  not  to  be  invaded, 
chastity  not  to  be  stained,  goods  not  to  be  filched,  good  name  not  to  be 
cracked  by  false  witness,  nor  anything  belonging  to  our  neighbor  to 
be  coveted ;  and  in  the  whole  Scripture,  not  only  that  which  was 
calculated  for  the  Jews,  but  compiled  for  the  whole  world ;  he  hath 
fixed  rules  for  the  ordering  all  relations,  magistrates,  and  subjects ; 
parents  and  children ;  husbands  and  wives ;  masters  and  servants ; 
rich  and  poor,  find  their  distinct  qualifications  and  duties.  There 
would  be  a  paradisiacal  state,  if  men  had  a  goodness  to  observe  what 
God  hath  had  a  goodness  to  order  for  the  strengthening  the  sinews  of 
human  societ}^ ;  the  world  would  not  groan  under  oppressing  tyrants, 
nor  princes  tremble  under  discontented  subjects,  or  mighty  rebels; 
children  would  not  be  provoked  to  anger  by  the  unreasonableness 


ON  THE   GOODNESS  OF  GOD.  801 

of  their  parents,  nor  parents  sink  under  grief  by  the  rebellion  of  their 
children ;  masters  would  not  tyrannize  over  the  meanest  of  their  ser- 
vants, nor  servants  invade  the  authority  of  their  masters. 

2.  The  goodness  of  God  in  the  preserving  human  society,  is  seen 
in  setting  a  magistracy  to  preserve  it.  Magistracy  is  from  God  in 
its  original ;  the  charter  was  drawn  up  in  paradise  ;  civil  subordina- 
tion must  have  been  had  man  remained  in  innocence;  but  the  charter 
was  more  explicitly  renewed  and  enlarged  at  the  restoration  of  the 
world  after  the  deluge,  and  given  out  to  man  under  the  broad  seal 
of  heaven  ;  "  Whoso  sheds  man's  blood,  by  man  shall  his  blood  be 
shed"  (Gen.  ix.  6).  The  command  of  shedding  the  blood  of  a  mur- 
derer was  a  part  of  his  goodness,  to  secure  the  lives  of  those  tliat 
bore  his  image.  Magistrates  are  "  the  shields  of  the  earth,"  but 
they  "  belong  to  God"  (Ps.  xlvii.  9).  They  are  fruits  of  his  good- 
ness in  their  original,  and  authority  ;  were  there  no  magistracy,  there 
would  be  government,  no  security  to  any  man  under  his  own  vine 
and  fig  tree ;  the  world  would  be  a  den  of  wild  beasts  preying  upon 
one  another ;  every  one  would  do  what  seems  good  in  his  eyes  ;  the 
loss  of  government  is  a  judgment  God  brings  upon  a  nation  when 
men  become  "  as  the  fishes  of  the  sea,"  to  devour  one  another,  be- 
cause they  "  have  no  ruler  over  them"  (Hab.  i.  14).  Private  dissen- 
sions will  break  out  into  public  disorders  and  combustions. 

8.  The  goodness  of  God  in  the  preservation  of  human  society,  is 
seen  in  the  restraints  of  tlie  passions  of  men.  He  sets  bounds  to  the 
passions  of  men  as  well  as  to  the  rollings  of  the  sea  ;  "  He  stilleth 
the  noise  of  the  waves,  and  the  tumults  of  the  people"  (Ps.  Ixv.  7). 
Though  God  hath  erected  a  magistracy  to  stop  the  breaking  out  of 
those  floods  of  licentiousness,  Avliich  swell  in  the  hearts  of  men ;  ^^et, 
if  God  should  not  hold  stiff  reins  on  the  necks  of  those  tumultuous 
and  foaming  passions,  the  world  would  be  a  place  of  unruly  confusion, 
and  hell  triumph  upon  earth ;  a  crazy  state  would  be  quickly  broke  in 
pieces  by  boisterous  nature.  The  tumults  of  a  people  could  no  more 
be  quelled  by  the  force  of  man,  than  the  rage  of  the  sea  by  a  puff 
of  breath  ;  without  Divine  goodness,  neither  the  wisdom  nor  watch- 
fulness of  the  magistrates,  nor  the  industry  of  officers,  could  preserve 
a  state.  The  laws  of  men  would  be  too  slight  to  curb  the  lusts  of 
men,  if  the  goodness  of  God  did  not  restrain  them  by  a  secret  hand, 
and  interweave  their  temporal  security  with  observance  of  those 
laws.  The  sons  of  Belial  did  murmur  when  Saul  was  chosen  king ; 
and  that  they  did  no  more  was  the  goodness  of  God,  for  the  preser- 
vation of  human  society.  If  God  did  not  restrain  the  impetuousness 
of  men's  lusts,  they  would  be  the  entire  ruin  of  human  society ;  their 
lusts  would  render  them  as  bad  as  beasts,  and  change  the  world  into 
a  savage  wilderness. 

4.  The  goodness  of  God  is  seen  in  the  preservation  of  human  so- 
ciety, in  giving  various  inclinations  to  men  for  public  advantage.  If 
all  men  had  an  inclination  to  one  science  or  art,  they  would  all  stand 
idle  spectators  of  one  another ;  but  God  hath  bestowed  various  dis- 
positions and  gifts  upon  men,  for  the  promoting  the  common  good, 
that  they  may  not  only  be  useful  to  themselves,  but  to  society.     He 


302  CHARNOCK  ON  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

will  have  none  idle,  none  unuseful,  but  every  one  acting  in  a  due 
place,  according  to  their  measures,  for  tlie  good  of  others. 

o.  The  goodness  of  God  is  seen  in  the  witness  he  bears  against 
those  sins  that  disturb  human  society.  In  those  cases  he  is  pleased 
to  interest  himself  in  a  more  signal  manner,  to  cool  those  that  make 
it  their  business  to  overturn  the  order  he  hath  established  for  the 
good  of  the  earth.  He  doth  not  so  often  in  this  world  punish  those 
faults  committed  immediately  against  his  own  honor,  as  those  that 
put  the  world  into  a  hurry  and  confusion :  as  a  good  governor  is 
more  merciful  to  crimes  against  himself,  than  those  against  his  com- 
munity. It  is  observed  that  the  most  turbulent  seditious  persons  in 
a  state  come  to  most  violent  ends,  as  Corah,  Adonijah,  Zimri : 
Ahithopel  draws  Absalom's  sword  against  David  and  Israel,  and  the 
next  is,  he  twists  a  halter  for  himself:  Absalom  heads  a  party  against 
his  father,  and  God,  by  a  goodness  to  Israel,  hangs  him  up,  and  pre- 
vents not  its  safety  by  David's  indulgence,  and  a  future  rebellion,  had 
life  been  spared  by  the  fondness  of  his  father.  His  providence  is 
more  evident  in  discovering  disturbers,  and  the  causes  that  move 
them,  in  defeating  their  enterprises,  and  digging  the  contrivers  out 
of  their  caverns  and  lurking  holes  :  in  such  cases,  God  doth  so  act, 
and  use  such  methods,  that  he  silenceth  any  creature  from  challeng- 
ing any  partnership  with  him  in  the  discovery.  He  doth  more  se- 
verely in  this  world  correct  those  actions  that  unlink  the  mutual  as- 
sistance between  man  and  man,  and  the  charitable  and  kind  corre- 
spondence he  would  have  kept  up.  The  sins  for  which  the  "  wrath 
of  God  comes  upon  the  children  of  disobedience"  (Col.  iii.  5,  6)  in 
this  world  are  of  this  sort ;  and  when  princes  will  be  oppressing  the 
people,  God  will  be  "pouring  contempt  on  the  princes,  and  set  the 
poor  on  high  from  affliction"  (Ps.  cvii.  40,  41).  An  evidence  of 
God's  care  and  kindness  in  the  preserving  human  society,  is  those 
strange  discoveries  of  murders,  though  never  so  clandestine  and 
subtiily  committed,  more  than  of  any  other  crime  among  men  : 
Divine  care  never  appears  more  than  in  bringing  those  hidden  and 
injurious  works  of  darkness  to  light,  and  a  due  punishment. 

6.  His  goodness  is  seen  in  ordering  mutual  offices  to  one  another 
against  the  current  of  men's  passions.  Upon  this  account  he  ordered, 
in  his  laws  for  the  government  of  the  Israelites,  that  a  man  should 
reduce  the  wandering  beast  of  his  enemy  to  the  hand  of  his  right- 
ful proprietor,  though  he  were  a  provoking  enemy  ;  and  also  "  help 
the  poor  beast  that  belonged  to  one  that  hated  him,  when  he  saw  him 
sink  under  his  burden"  (Exod.  xxiii.  4,  5).  When  mutual  assistance 
was  necessary,  he  would  not  have  men  considered  as  enemies,  or 
considered  as'  wicked,  but  as  of  the  same  blood  with  ourselves,  that 
we  might  be  serviceable  to  one  another  for  the  preservation  of  life 
and  goods. 

7.  His  goodness  is  seen  in  remitting  something  of  his  own  right, 
for  the  preserving  a  due  dependence  and  subjection.  He  declines 
the  right  he  had  to  the  vows  of  a  minor,  or  one  under  the  power  of 
another,  waving  what  he  might  challenge  by  the  voluntary  obliga- 
tion of  his  creature,  to  keep  up  the  due  order  between  parents  and 
children,  husbands  and  wives,  superiors  and  inferiors ;  those  that 


ON   THE   GOODNESS   OF   GOD.  803 

were  under  tlie  power  of  another,  as  a  child  under  his  parents,  or  a 
wife  under  her  husband,  if  they  had  "  vowed  a  vow  unto  the  Lord," 
which  concerned  his  honor  and  worship,  it  was  void  without  the  ap- 
probation of  that  person  under  whose  charge  they  were  (Num.  xxx. 
o,  4,  &c.).  Though  God  was  the  Lord  of  every  man's  goods,  and 
men  but  his  stewards  ;  and  though  he  might  have  taken  to  himself 
what  another  had  offered  by  a  vow,  since  whatsoever  could  be 
offered  was  God's  own,  though  it  was  not  the  parties'  own  who 
offered  it ;  yet  God  would  not  have  himself  adored  by  his  creature 
to  the  prejudice  of  the  necessary  ties  of  human  society;  he  lays 
aside  what  he  might  challenge  by  his  sovereign  dominion,  that  there 
might  not  be  any  breach  of  that  regular  order  which  was  necessary 
for  the  preservation  of  the  world.  If  Divine  goodness  did  not  thus 
order  things,  he  would  not  do  the  part  of  a  Kector  of  the  world ; 
the  beauty  of  the  world  would  be  much  defaced,  it  would  be  a  con- 
fused mass  of  men  and  women,  or  rather,  beasts  and  bedlams.  Order 
renders  every  city,  every  nation,  yea,  the  whole  earth,  beautiful : 
this  is  an  effect  of  Divine  goodness. 

8d.  His  goodness  is  evident  in  encouraging  anything  of  moral  good- 
ness in  the  world.  Though  moral  goodness  cannot  claim  an  eternal 
reward,  yet  it  hath  been  many  times  rewarded  with  a  temporal  hap- 
piness ;  he  hath  often  siganlly  rewarded  acts  of  honesty,  justice, 
and  fidelity,  and  punished  the  contrary  by  his  judgments,  to  deter 
man  from  such  an  unworthy  practice,  and  encourage  others  to  what 
was  comely,  and  of  a  general  good  report  in  the  world.  Ahab's 
humiliation  put  a  demurrer  to  God's  judgments  intended  against 
him  ;  and  some  ascribe  the  great  victories  and  success  of  the  Romans 
to  that  justice  which  was  observed  among  themselves.  Baruch  was 
but  an  amanuensis  to  the  Prophet  Jeremy  to  write  his  prophecy,  and 
very  despondent  of  his  own  welfare  (Jer.  xlv.  13) ;  God  upon  that 
account  provides  for  his  safety,  and  rewards  the  industry  of  his  ser- 
vice with  tlie  security  of  his  person  ;  he  was  not  a  statesman,  to  de- 
clare against  the  corrupt  counsels  of  them  that  sat  at  the  helm,  nor 
a  prophet,  to  declare  against  their  profane  practices,  but  the  prophet's 
scribe  ;  and  as  he  writes  in  God's  service  the  prophecies  revealed  to 
the  prophet,  God  writes  his  name  in  the  roll  of  those  that  were  de- 
signed for  preservation  in  that  deluge  of  judgments  which  were  to 
come  upon  that  nation.  Epicurus  complained  of  the  administration 
of  God,  that  the  virtuous  moralist  had  not  sufficient  smiles  of  Divine 
favor,  nor  the  swinish  sensualist  frowns  of  Divine  indignation.  But 
what  if  they  have  not  always  that  confluence  of  outward  wealth  and 
pleasures,  but  remain  in  the  common  level  ?  yet  they  have  the  hap- 
piness and  satisfaction  of  a  clear  reputation,  the  esteem  of  men,  and 
the  secret  applauses  of  their  very  enemies,  besides  the  inward  ravish- 
ments upon  an  exercise  of  virtue,  and  the  commendatory  subscrip- 
tion of  their  own  hearts,  a  dainty  the  vicious  man  knows  not  of; 
they  have  an  inward  applause  from  God  as  a  reward  of  Divine 
goodness,  instead  of  those  racks  of  conscience  upon  whicli  the  pro- 
fane are  sometimes  stretched.  He  will  not  let  the  worst  men  do  him 
any  service  (though  they  never  intended  in  the  act  of  service  him, 
but  themselves)  without  giving  them  their  wages :  he  will  not  let 


304  CHARNOCK  ON  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

tliem  hit  bim  in  tlie  teeth  as  if  he  were  beholden  to  them.  If  Kebu- 
chadnezzar  be  the  instrument  of  God's  judgments  against  Tyrus  and 
Israel,  he  will  not  only  give  him  that  rich  city,  but  a  richer  country, 
Egypt,  the  granary  for  her  neighbors,  a  wages  above  his  work.  In 
this  is  Divine  goodness  eminent,  since,  in  the  most  moral  actions,  as 
there  is  something  beautifal,  so  there  is  something  mixed,  hateful  to 
the  infinitely  exact  holiness  of  the  Divine  nature  ;  yet  he  will  not 
let  that  which  is  pleasing  to  him  go  unrewarded,  and  defeat  the  ex- 
pectations of  men,  as  men  do  with  those  they  employ,  when,  for  one 
Haw  in  an  action,  they  deny  them  the  reward  due  for  the  other  part. 
God  encouraged  and  kept  up  morality  in  the  cities  of  the  Gentiles 
for  the  entertainment  of  a  further  goodness  in  the  doctrine  of  the 
gospel  when  it  should  be  published  among  them. 

4th.  Divine  goodness  is  eminent  in  providing  a  Scripture  as  a  rule 
to  guide  us,  and  continuing  it  in  the  world.  If  man  be  a  rational 
creature,  governable  by  a  law,  can  it  be  imagined  there  should  be  no 
revelation  of  that  law  to  him  ?  Man,  by  the  light  of  reason,  must 
needs  confess  himself  to  be  in  another  condition  than  he  was  by  cre- 
ation, when  he  came  first  out  of  the  hands  of  God ;  and  can  it  be 
thought,  that  God  should  keep  up  the  world  under  so  many  sins 
against  the  light  of  nature,  and  bestow  so  many  providential  influ- 
ences, to  invite  men  to  return  to  him,  and  acquaint  no  men  in  the 
world  with  the  means  of  that  return  ?  Would  he  exact  an  obedi- 
ence of  men,  as  their  consciences  witness  he  doth,  and  furnish  them 
with  no  rules  to  guide  them  in  the  darkness  they  cannot  but  acknowl- 
edge that  they  have  contracted  ?  No  ;  Divine  goodness  hath  other- 
wise provided :  this  Bible  we  have  is  his  word  and  rule.  Had  it 
been  a  falsity  and  imposture,  would  that  goodness,  that  watches  over 
the  world,  have  continued  it  so  long  ?  That  goodness  that  overthrew 
the  burdensome  rites  of  Moses,  and  expelled  the  foolish  idolatry  of 
the  Pagans,  would  have  discovered  the  imposture  of  this,  had  it  not 
been  a  transcript  of  his  own  will.  Whatever  mistakes  he  suffers  to 
remain  in  the  world,  what  goodness  had  there  been  to  suffer  this  an- 
ciently amongst  the  Jews,  and  afterwards  to  open  it  to  the  whole 
world,  to  abuse  men  in  religion  and  worship,  which  so  nearly  con- 
cerned himself  and  his  own  honor,  that  the  world  should  be  deceived 
by  the  devil  without  a  remedy  in  the  morning  of  its  appearance  ? 
It  hath  been  honored  and  admired  by  some  heathens,  when  they 
have  cast  their  eyes  upon  it,  and  their  natural  light  made  them  be- 
hold some  footsteps  of  a  Divinity  in  it.  If  this,  therefore,  be  not  a 
Divine  prescript,  let  any  that  deny  it,  bring  as  good  arguments  for 
any  book  else,  as  can  be  brought  for  this.  Now,  the  publishing  this 
is  an  argument  of  Divine  goodness  :  it  is  designed  to  win  the  affec- 
tions of  beggarly  man,  to  be  espoused  to  a  God  of  eternal  blessed- 
ness and  immense  riches.  It  speaks  words  in  season  :  no  doubts  but 
it  resolves  ;  no  spiritual  distemper  but  it  cures  ;  no  condition  but  it 
hath  a  comfort  to  suit  it.  It  is  a  garden  which  the  hand  of  Divine 
bounty  hath  planted  for  us  ;  in  it  he  condescends  to  shadow  himself 
in  those  expressions  that  render  him  in  some  manner  intelligible  to 
us.  Had  God  wrote  in  a  loftiness  of  style  suitable  to  the  greatness 
of  his  majesty,  his  writing  had  been  as  little  understood  by  us,  as  the 


ON  THE   GOODNESS  OF   GOD.  305 

brightness  of  his  glory  can  be  beheld  by  us.  But  he  draws  phrases 
from  our  affairs,  to  express  his  mind  to  us ;  he  incarnates  himself  in 
his  word  to  our  minds,  before  his  Son  was  incarnate  in  the  flesh  to 
the  eyes  of  men  :  he  ascribes  to  himself  eyes,  ears,  hands,  that  we 
might  have,  from  the  consideration  of  ourselves,  and  the  whole  hu- 
man nature,  a  conception  of  his  perfections  :  he  assumes  to  himself 
the  members  of  our  bodies,  to  direct  our  understandings  in  the  knowl- 
edge of  his  Deity ;  this  is  his  goodness.  Again,  though  the  Scrip- 
ture was  written  upon  several  occasions,  yet  in  the  dictating  of  it, 
the  goodness  of  God  cast  his  eye  upon  the  last  ages  of  the  world 
(1  Cor,  X,  11) :  "  They  are  written  for  our  admonition,  upon  whom 
the  ends  of  the  world  are  come."  It  was  given  to  the  Israelites,  but 
Divine  goodness  intended  it  for  the  future  Gentiles.  The  old  writ- 
ings of  the  prophets  were  thus  designed,  much  more  the  later  writ- 
ings of  the  apostles.  Thus  did  Divine  goodness  think  of  us,  and 
prepare  his  records  for  us,  before  we  were  in  the  world :  these  he 
hath  written  plain  for  our  instruction,  and  wrapped  up  in  them  what 
is  necessary  for  our  salvation  :  it  is  clear  to  inform  our  understand- 
ing, and  rich  to  comfort  us  in  our  misery  ;  it  is  a  light  to  guide  us, 
and  a  cordial  to  refresh  us ;  it  is  a  lamp  to  our  feet,  and  a  medicine 
for  our  diseases ;  a  purifier  of  our  filth,  and  a  restorer  of  us  in  our 
faintings.  He  hath  by  his  goodness  sealed  the  truth  of  it,  by  his 
efficacy  on  multitudes  of  men  :  he  hath  made  it  the  "  word  of  regen- 
eration" (James  i,  18).  Men,  wilder  and  more  monstrous  than  beasts, 
have  been  tamed  and  changed  by  the  power  of  it :  it  hath  raised 
multitudes  of  dead  men  from  a  grave  fuller  of  horror  than  any  earthly 
one.  Again,  Goodness  was  in  all  ages  sending  his  letters  of  advice 
and  counsel  from  heaven,  till  the  canon  of  the  Scripture  was  closed ; 
sometimes  he  wrote  to  chide  a  froward  people,  sometimes  to  cheer 
up  an  oppressed  and  disconsolate  people,  according  to  the  state 
wherein  they  were ;  as  we  may  observe  by  the  several  seasons 
wherein  parts  of  Scripture  were  written.  It  was  His  goodness  that 
he  first  revealed  anything  of  his  will  after  the  fall ;  it  was  a  further 
degree  of  goodness,  that  he  would  add  more  cubits  to  its  stature ;  be- 
fore he  would  lay  aside  his  pencil,  it  grew  up  to  that  bulk  wherein 
we  have  it.  And  his  goodness  is  further  seen  in  the  preserving  it ; 
he  hath  triumphed  over  the  powers  that  opposed  it,  and  showed  him- 
self good  to  the  instruments  that  propagated  it :  he  hath  maintained 
it  against  the  blasts  of  hell,  and  spread  it  in  all  languages  against 
the  obstructions  of  men  and  devils.  The  sun  of  his  word  is  by  his 
kindness  preserved  in  our  horizon,  as  well  as  the  sun  in  the  heavens. 
How  admirable  is  Divine  goodness !  He  hath  sent  his  Son  to  die  for 
us,  and  his  written  word  to  instruct  us,  and  his  Spirit  to  edge  it  for 
an  entrance  into  our  souls :  he  hath  opened  the  womb  of  the  earth 
to  nourish  us,  and  sent  down  the  records  of  heaven  to  direct  us  in 
our  pilgrimage :  he  hath  provided  the  earth  for  our  habitation,  while 
we  are  travellers,  and  sent  his  word  to  acquaint  us  with  a  felicity  at 
the  end  of  our  journey,  and  the  way  to  attain  in  another  world  what 
we  want  in  this,  viz.  a  happy  immortality. 

5th.  His  goodness  in  Ins  government  is  evident,  in  conversions  of 
men.     Though  this  work  be  wrought  by  his  power,  yet  his  power 

VOL,  II.— 20 


306  CHARNOCK   ON   THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

was  first  solicited  by  liis  goodness.  It  was  liis  ricli  goodness  that  he 
would  employ  his  power  to  pierce  the  scaler  of  a  heart  as  hard  as 
those  of  the  "leviathan."  It  was  this  that  opened  the  ears  of  men 
to  hear  him,  and  draws  them  from  the  hurry  of  worldly  cares,  and 
the  charms  of  sensual  pleasures,  and,  which  is  the  top  of  all,  the  im- 
postures and  cheats  of  their  own  hearts.  It  is  this  that  sends  a  spark 
of  his  wrath  into  men's  consciences,  to  put  them  to  a  stand  in  sin, 
that  he  might  not  send  down  a  shower  of  brimstone  eternally  to  con- 
sume their  persons.  This  it  was  that  first  showed  you  the  excellency 
of  the  .Redeemer,  and  brought  you  to  taste  the  sweetness  of  his  blood, 
and  find  your  security  in  the  agonies  of  his  death.  It  is  his  good- 
ness to  call  one  man  and  not  another,  to  turn  Paul  in  his  course,  and 
lay  hold  of  no  other  of  his  companions.  It  is  his  goodness  to  call 
any,  when  he  is  not  bound  to  call  one. 

1.  It  is  his  goodness  to  pitch  upon  mean  and  despicable  men  in 
the  eye  of  the  world  ;  to  call  this  poor  publican,  and  overlook  that 
proud  Pharisee,  this  man  that  sits  upon  a  dunghill,  and  neglect  him 
that  glisters  in  his  purple.  His  majesty  is  not  enticed  by  the  lofty 
titles  of  men,  nor,  which  is  more  worth,  by  the  learning  and  knowl- 
edge of  men.  "  Not  many  wise,  not  many  mighty,"  not  many  doc- 
tors, not  many  lords,  though  some  of  them ;  but  his  goodness  con- 
descends to  the  "  base  things"  of  the  world,  and  things  which  are 
"despised"  (1  Cor.  i.  26-28).  "  The  poor  receive  the  gospel"  (Matt. 
xi,  5),  when  those  that  are  more  acute,  and  furnished  with  a  more 
apprehensive  reason,  are  not  touched  by  it. 

2.  The  worst  men.  He  seizeth  sometimes  upon  men  most  soiled, 
and  neglects  others  that  seem  more  clean  and  less  polluted.  He  turns 
men  in  their  course  in  sin,  that,  by  their  infernal  practices,  have 
seemed  to  have  gone  to  school  to  hell,  and  to  have  sucked  in  the  sole 
instructions  of  the  devil.  He  lays  hold  upon  some  Avhen  they  are 
most  under  actual  demerit,  and  snatches  them  as  fire-brands  out  of 
the  fire,  as  upon  Paul  when  fullest  of  rage  against  him  ;  and  shoots 
a  beam  of  grace,  where  nothing  could  be  justly  expected  but  a  thun- 
derbolt of  wrath.  It  is  his  goodness  to  visit  any,  when  they  lie  pu- 
trefying in  their  loathsome  lusts ;  to  draw  near  to  them  who  have 
been  guilty  of  the  greatest  contempt  of  God,  and  the  light  of  nature ; 
the  murdering  Manassehs,  the  persecuting  Sauls,  the  Christ-crucify- 
ing Jews, — persons  in  whom  lusts  had  had  a  peaceable  possession 
and  empire  for  many  years. 

3.  His  goodness  appears  in  converting  men  possessed  with  the 
greatest  enmity  against  him,  while  he  was  dealing  with  them.  All 
were  in  such  a  state,  and  framing  contrivances  against  him,  when 
Divine  goodness  knocked  at  the  door  (Col.  i.  21).  He  looked  after 
us  when  our  backs  were  turned  upon  him,  and  sought  us  when  we 
slighted  him,  and  were  a  "  gainsaying  people"  (Rom.  x.  21) ;  when  we 
had  shaken  off  his  convictions,  and  contended  with  our  Maker,  and 
mustered  up  the  powers  of  nature  against  the  alarms  of  conscience  ; 
struggled  like  wild  bulls  in  a  net,  and  blunted  those  darts  that  stuck 
in  our  souls.  Not  a  man  that  is  turned  to  him,  but  had  lifted  up 
the  heel  against  his  gospel  grace,  as  well  as  made  light  of  his  creating 
goodness.      Yet  it  hath   employed    itself   about  such  ungrateful 


ON  THE   GOODNESS   OF  GOD.  807 

wretches,  to  polish  those  knotty  and  rugged  pieces  for  heaven  ;  and 
so  invincibly,  that  he  would  not  have  his  goodness  defeated  by  the 
fierceness  and  rebellion  of  the  flesh.  Though  the  thing  was  more 
difficult  in  itself  (if  anything  may  be  said  to  have  a  difficulty  to 
omnipotency)  than  to  make  a  stone  live,  or  to  turn  a  straw  into  a 
marble  pillar.  The  malice  of  the  flesh  makes  a  man  more  unfit  for 
the  one,  than  the  nature  of  the  straw  unfits  it  for  the  other. 

4.  His  goodness  appears  in  turning  men,  when  they  were  pleased 
with  their  own  misery,  and  unable  to  deliver  themselves ;  when  they 
preferred  a  hell  before  him,  and  were  in  love  with  their  own  vileness ; 
when  his  call  was  our  torment,  and  his  neglect  of  us  had  been  ac- 
counted our  felicity.  Was  it  not  a  mighty  goodness  to  keep  the 
light  close  to  our  eyes,  when  we  endeavored  to  blow  it  out ;  and  the 
corrosive  near  to  our  hearts,  when  we  endeavored  to  tear  it  off,  being 
more  fond  of  our  disease  than  the  remedy  ?  We  should  have  been 
scalded  to  death  with  the  Sodomite,  had  not  God  laid  his  good  hand 
upon  us,  and  drawn  us  from  the  approaching  ruin  we  affected,  and 
were  loath  to  be  freed  from.  And  had  we  been  displeased  with  our 
state,  yet  we  had  been  as  unable  spiritually  to  raise  ourselves 
from  sin  to  grace,  as  to  raise  ourselves  naturally  from  nothing  to  be- 
ing. In  this  state  we  were  when  his  goodness  triumphed  over  us ; 
when  he  j)ut  a  hook  into  our  nostrils,  to  turn  us  in  order  to  our  sal- 
vation ;  and  drew  us  out  of  the  pit  which  we  had  digged,  when  he 
might  have  left  us  to  sink  under  the  rigors  of  his  justice  we  had 
merited.  Now  this  goodness  in  conversion  is  greater  than  that  in 
creation ;  as  in  creation  there  is  nothing  to  oppose  him,  so  there  was 
nothing  to  disoblige  him ;  creation  was  terminated  to  the  good  of  a 
mutable  nature,  and  conversion  tends  to  a  supernatural  good.  God 
pronounced  all  creatures  good  at  first,  and  man  among  the  rest,  but 
did  not  pronounce  any  of  them,  or  man  himself,  his  "portion,"  his 
*'  inheritance,"  his  "  segullah^^''  his  "  house,"  his  "  diadem."  He 
speaks  slightly  of  all  those  things  which  he  made,  the  noblest 
heavens,  as  well  as  the  lowest  earth,  in  comparison  of  a  true  con- 
vert: "  All  those  things  hath  mine  hand  made,  and  all  those  things 
have  been  :  but  to  this  man  will  I  look,  to  him  that  is  of  a  contrite 
spirit"  (Isa.  Ixvi.  1,  2).  It  is  more  goodness  to  give  the  espousing 
grace  of  the  covenant,  than  the  completing  glory  of  heaven ;  as  it  is 
more  for  a  prince  to  marry  a  beggar,  than  only  to  bring  her  to  live 
deliciously  in  his  courts.  All  other  benefits  are  of  a  meaner  strain, 
if  compared  with  this ;  there  is  little  less  of  goodness  in  imparting 
the  holiness  of  his  nature,  than  imputing  the  righteousness  of  his 
Son. 

6th.  The  Divine  goodness  doth  appear  in  answering  prayers.  He 
delights  to  be  familiarly  acquainted  with  his  people,  and  to  hear 
them  call  upon  him.  He  indulgeth  them  a  free  access  to  him,  and 
delights  in  every  address  of  an  "  upright  man"  (Pro v.  xv.  8).  The 
wonderful  efficacy  of  prayer  depends  not  upon  the  nature  of  our  pe- 
titions or  the  temper  of  our  soul,  but  the  goodness  of  God  to  whom 
we  address.  Christ  establisheth  it  upon  this  bottom :  when  he  ex- 
horts to  ask  in  his  name,  he  tells  them  the  spring  of  all  their  grants 
is  the  Father's  love  :    "I  say  not,  I  will  pray  the  Father  for  you,  for 

VOL.  II.— 20 


308  CHARNOCK  ON  THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

the  Father  himself  loves  you"  (John  xvi.  26,  27).  And  since  it  is 
of  itself  incredible,  that  a  Majesty,  exalted  above  the  cherubims, 
should  stoop  so  low  as  to  give  a  miserable  and  rebellious  creature 
admittance  to  him,  and  afford  him  a  gracious  hearing,  and  a  quick 
supply,  Christ  ushers  in  the  promise  of  answering  prayer  with  a  note 
of  great  assurance :  "  I  say  unto  you.  Ask,  and  it  shall  be  given  you" 
(Luke  xi.  9,  10).  I,  that  know  the  mind  of  my  Father,  and  his  good 
disposition,  assure  you  your  prayer  shall  not  be  in  vain.  Perhaps 
you  will  not  be  so  ready  of  yourselves  to  imagine  so  great  a  liber- 
ality ;  but  take  it  upon  my  word,  it  is  true,  and  so  you  will  find  it. 
And  his  bounty  travels,  as  it  were,  in  birth,  to  give  the  greatest 
blessings,  upon  our  asking,  rather  than  the  smallest :  "  your  heavenly 
Father  shall  give  his  Holy  Spirit  to  them  that  ask  him"  (ver.  13) : 
which  in  Matt.  vii.  11,  is  called,  "  good  things."  Of  all  the  good 
and  rich  things  Divine  goodness  hath  in  his  treasury,  he  delights  to 
give  the  best  upon  asking,  because  God  doth  act  so  as  to  manifest 
the  greatness  of  his  bounty  and  magnificence  to  men ;  and,  therefore, 
is  delighted  when  men,  by  their  petitioning  him,  own  such  a  liberal 
disposition  in  him,  and  put  him  upon  the  manifesting  it.  He  would 
rather  you  should  ask  the  greatest  things  heaven  can  aftbrd,  than 
the  trifles  of  this  world ;  because  his  bounty  is  not  discovered  in 
meaner  gifts  :  he  loves  to  have  an  opportunity  to  manifest  his  affec- 
tion above  the  liberality  and  tenderness  of  worldly  fathers.  He  doth 
more  wait  to  give  in  a  way  of  grace,  than  we  to  beg ;  and,  "  there- 
fore, will  the  Lord  wait,  that  he  may  be  gracious  unto  you"  (Isa.  xxx. 
18).  He  stands  expecting  your  suits,  and  employs  his  wisdom  in 
pitching  upon  the  fittest  seasons,  when  the  manifestation  of  his 
goodness  may  be  most  gracious  in  itself,  and  the  mercy  you  want 
most  welcome  to  you;  as  it  follows,  "for  the  Lord  is  a  God  of  judg- 
ment." He  chooseth  the  time  wherein  his  doles  may  be  most  ac- 
ceptable to  his  suppliants ;  "In  an  acceptable  time  have  I  heard 
thee"  (Isa.  xlix.  8).  He  often  opens  his  hand  while  we  are  opening 
our  lips,  and  his  blessings  meet  our  petitions  at  the  first  setting  out 
upon  their  journey  to  heaven  :  "  While  they  are  yet  speaking,  I  will 
hear"  (Isa,  Ixv.  24).  How  often  do  we  hear  a  secret  voice  withm  us, 
while  we  are  praying,  saying,  "  Your  prayer  is  granted ;"  as  Avell  as 
hear  a  voice  behind  us,  while  we  are  erring,  saying,  "  This  is  the 
way,  walk  in  it !"  And  his  liberality  exceeds  often  our  desires,  as 
well  as  our  deserts ;  and  gives  out  more  than  we  had  the  wisdom  or 
confidence  to  ask.  The  apostle  intimates  it  in  that  doxology,  "  Unto 
Him  who  is  able  to  do  abundantly  above  all  that  we  ask  or  think" 
(Eph.  iii.  20).  This  power  would  not  have  been  so  strong  an  argu- 
ment of  comfort,  if  it  were  never  put  in  practice  ;  he  is  more  liberal 
than  his  creatures  are  craving.  Abraham  petitioned  for  the  life  of 
Ishmael,  and  God  promiseth  him  the  "birth  of  Isaac"  (Gen.  xvii.  18, 
19).  Isaac  asks  for  a  "  child,"  and  God  gives  him  "two"  (Gen.  xxv. 
21,  22).  Jacob  desires  "food"  to  eat,  and  "raiment"  to  put  on; 
God  confines  not  his  bounty  within  the  narrow  limits  of  his  petition, 
but  instead  of  a  "  staff,"  wherewith  he  passed  Jordan,  makes  him  re- 
pass it  with  "two  bands"  (Gen.  xxviii.  20).  David  asked  life  of  God, 
and  he  gave  him  "  life,"  and  a  "  crown"  to  boot  (Ps.  xxi.  2 — 5).    The 


ON  THE   GOODNESS   OF   GOD.  309 

Israelites  would  have  been  contented  with  a  free  life  in  Egypt ;  they 
only  cried  to  have  their  chains  struck  off;  God  gave  them  that,  and 
adopts  them  to  be  his  "peculiar  people,"  and  raises  them  into  a  fa- 
mous state.  It  is  a  wonder  that  God  should  condescend  so  much, 
that  he  should  hear  prayers  so  weak,  so  cold,  so  wandering,  and 
gatlier  up  our  sincere  petitions  from  the  dung  of  our  distractions  and 
diffidence.  David  vents  his  astonishment  at  it ;  "  Blessed  be  God, 
for  he  hath  shown  me  marvellous  kindness,  I  said  in  my  haste,  I  am 
cut  off  from  before  thine  eyes :  nevertheless,  thou  heardest  the  voice 
of  my  supplication"  (Ps.  xxxi  21,  22).  How  do  we  wonder  at  the 
goodness  of  a  petty  man,  in  granting  our  desires;  how  much  more 
should  we  at  the  humility  and  goodness  of  the  most  sovereign 
Majesty  of  heaven  and  earth ! 

7th.  The  goodness  of  God  is  seen  in  bearing  with  the  infirmities 
of  his  people,  and  accepting  imperfect  obedience.  Though  Asa  had 
many  blots  in  his  escutcheon,  yet  they  are  overlooked,  and  this  note 
set  upon  record  by  Divine  goodness,  that  his  heart  was  perfest  to- 
wards the  Lord  all  his  days ;  "But  the  high  places  were  not  re- 
moved :  nevertheless,  Asa's'heart  was  perfect  with  the  Lord  all  his 
days"  (1  Kings,  xv.  14).  He  takes  notice  of  a  sincere,  though 
chequered  obedience,  to  reward  it,  which  could  claim  nothing  but  a 
slight  from  him,  if  he  were  extreme  to  mark  what  is  done  amiss. 
When  there  is  not  an  opportunity  to  work,  but  only  to  will,  he  ac- 
cepts the  will,  as  if  it  had  passed  into  work  and  act.  He  sees  no  in- 
iquity in  Jacob  (Numb,  xxiii.  21),  i.  e.  He  sees  it  not  so  as  to  cast 
off  a  respect  to  their  persons,  and  the  acceptance  of  their  services : 
his  omniscience  knows  their  sins,  but  his  goodness  doth  not  reject 
their  persons.  He  is  of  so  good  a  disposition,  that  he  delights  in  a 
weak  obedience  of  his  servants,  not  in  the  imperfection,  but  in  the 
obedience  (Ps.  xxxvii.  23) ;  "  He  delights  in  the  way  of  a  good 
man,"  though  he  sometimes  slips  in  it:  he  accepts  a  poor  man's 
pigeon,  as  well  as  a  rich  man's  ox :  he  hath  a  bottle  for  the  tears, 
and  a  book  for  the  "  services  of  the  upright,"  as  well  as  for  tlie  most 
perfect  obedience  of  angels  (Ps.  Ivi.  8) :  he  preserves  tlieir  tears,  as 
if  they  were  a  rich  and  generous  wine,  as  the  vine-dresser  doth  the 
expressions  of  the  grape. 

8th.  The  goodness  of  God  is  seen  in  afflictions  and  persecutions. 
If  it  be  "  good  for  us  to  be  afflicted,"  for  which  we  have  the  psalm- 
ist's vote  (Ps.  cxix.  71),  then  goodness  in  God  is  the  principal  cause 
and  orderer  of  the  afflictions.  It  is  his  goodness  to  snatch  away 
that  whence  we  fetch  supports  for  our  security,  and  encouragements 
for  our  insolence  against  him :  he  takes  away  the  thing  which  we 
have  some  value  for,  but  such  as  his  infinite  wisdom  sees  inconsist- 
ent with  our  true  happiness.  It  is  no  ill-will  in  the  physician  to 
take  away  the  hurtful  matter  the  patient  loves,  and  prescribe  bitter 
potions,  to  advance  that  health  which  the  other  impaired  ;  nor  any 
mark  of  unkindness  in  a  friend,  to  wrest  a  sword  out  of  a  madman's 
hand,  wherewith  he  was  about  to  stab  himself,  though  it  were  beset 
with  the  most  orient  pearls.  To  prevent  what  is  evil,  is  to  do  us  the 
greatest  good.  It  is  a  kindness  to  prevent  a  man  from  falling  down 
a  precipice,  though  it  be  with  a  violent  blow,  that  lays  him  flat  upon 


310  CHARNOCK  ON  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

the  ground  at  some  distance  from  the  edge  of  it.  Bj  afflictions  he 
often  snaps  asunder  those  chains  which  fettered  us,  and  quells  those 
passions  which  ravaged  us  :  he  sharpens  our  faith,  and  quickens  our 
prayers ;  he  brings  us  in  the  secret  chamber  of  our  own  heart,  which 
we  had  little  mind  before  to  visit  by  a  self-examination.  It  is  such 
a  goodness  that  he  will  vouchsafe  to  correct  man  in  order  to  his 
eternal  happiness,  that  Job  makes  it  one  part  of  his  astonishment 
(Job.  vii.  17) ;  "  What  is  man,  that  thou  shouldest  magnify  him  ? 
that  thou  shouldest  set  thy  heart  upon  him  ?  and  that  thou  shouldest 
visit  him  every  morning,  and  try  him  every  moment  ?"  His  strokes 
are  often  the  magnifyings  and  exaltings  of  man.  He  sets  his  heart 
upon  man,  while  he  inflicts  the  smart  of  his  rod :  he  shows  thereby, 
what  a  high  account  he  makes  of  him,  and  what  a  special  affection 
he  bears  to  him.  When  he  might  treat  us  with  more  severity  after 
the  breach  of  his  covenant,  and  make  his  jealousy  flame  out  against 
us  in  furious  methods,  he  will  not  destroy  his  relation  to  us,  and 
leave  us  to  our  own  inclinations,  but  deal  with  us  as  a  father  with 
his  children  ;  and  when  he  takes  this  course  with  us,  it  is  when  it 
cannot  be  avoided  without  our  ruin  :  his  goodness  would  not  suffer 
him  to  do  it,  if  our  badness  did  not  force  him  to  it  (Jer.  ix.  7),  "I 
will  melt  them  and  try  them,  for  how  shall  I  do  for  the  daughter  of 
my  people  ?"  What  other  course  can  I  take  but  this,  according  to 
the  nature  of  man  ?  Tlie  goldsmith  hath  no  other  way  to  separate 
the  dross  from  the  metal,  but  by  melting  it  down.  And  when  the 
impurities  of  his  people  necessitate  him  to  this  proceeding,  "  he  sits 
as  a  refiner"  (Mai.  iii.  3) :  he  watches  for  the  purifying  the  silver, 
not  for  his  own  profit  as  the  goldsmith,  but  out  of  a  care  of  them, 
and  good  will  to  them ;  as  himself  speaks  (Isa.  xlviii.  10),  "I  have 
refined  thee,  but  not  with  silver ;"  or,  as  some  read  it,  "  not  for  sil- 
ver." As  when  he  scatters  his  people  abroad  for  their  sin,  he  will 
not  leave  them  without  his  presence  for  their  "  sanctuary"  (Ezek.  xi. 
16) :  he  would  by  his  presence  with  them  supply  the  place  of  ordi- 
nances, or  be  an  ark  to  them  in  the  midst  of  the  deluge  :  his  hand 
that  struck  them,  is  never  without  a  goodness  to  comfort  them  and 
pity  them.  When  Jacob  was  to  go  into  Egypt,  which  was  to  prove 
a  furnace  of  affliction  to  his  offspring,  God  promises  to  go  down  with 
him,  and  to  "  bring  him  up  again"  (Gen.  xlvi.  4) :  a  promise  not  only 
made  to  Jacob  in  his  person,  but  to  Jacob  in  his  posterity.  He  re- 
turned not  out  of  Egypt  in  his  person,  but  as  the  father  of  a  nu- 
merous posterity.  He  that  would  go  down  with  their  root,  and 
afterwards  bring  up  the  branches,  was  certainly  with  them  in  all 
their  oppressions:  "I  will  go  down  with  thee."  "Down,"  saith 
one ;  what  a  word  is  that  for  a  Deity  !  into  Egypt,  idolatrous  Egjq^t ; 
what  a  place  is  that  for  his  holiness !'  Yet  0,  the  goodness  of  God ! 
He  never  thinks  himself  low  enough  to  do  his  people  good,  nor  any 
place  too  bad  for  his  society  with  them.  So  when  he  had  sent  away 
into  captivity  the  people  of  Israel  by  the  hand  of  the  Assyrian,  his 
bowels  yearn  after  them  in  their  affliction  (Isa.  Iii.  4,  5) ;  the  Assy- 
rian "oppressed  them  without  cause,"  i.  e.  without  a  just  cause  in  the 
conqueror  to  inflict  so  great  an  evil  upon  them,  but  not  without 

*  Harwood's  Sermon  ut  Oxford,  p.  5. 


ON   THE   GOODNESS   OF   GOD.  311 

cause  from  God,  wliom  they  had  provoked.  "  Now,  therefore,  what 
have  I  here,  saith  the  Lord  ?"  What  do  I  here  ?  I  will  not  stay 
behind  them.  What  do  I  longer  here  ?  for  I  will  redeem  again 
those  jewels  the  enemy  hath  carried  away.  That  chapter  is  a  pro- 
phecy of  redemption :  God  shows  himself  so  good  to  his  people  in 
their  persecutions,  that  he  gives  them  occasion  to  glorify  him  in  the 
very  fires,  as  the  Divine  order  is  (Isa.  xxiv.  15),  "  Wherefore  glorify 
the  Lord  in  the  fires." 

9th.  The  goodness  of  God  is  seen  in  temptations.  In  those  he 
takes  occasion  to  show  his  care  and  watchfulness,  as  a  father  uses 
the  distress  of  a  child  as  an  opportunity  for  manifesting  the  tender- 
ness of  his  affection.  God  is  at  the  beginning  and  end  of  every 
temptation  ;  he  measures  out  both  the  quality  and  quantity :  he  ex- 
poseth  them  not  to  temptation  beyond  the  ability  he  had  already 
granted  them,  or  will  at  the  time,  or  afterwards  multiply  in  them. 
He  hath  promised  his  people  that  '^  the  gate  of  hell  shall  not  prevail 
against  them"  (1  Cor.  x.  13) :  that  "  in  all  things"  they  shall  be 
"  more  than  conquerors  through  Him  that  loved  them :"  that  the 
most  raging  malice  of  hell  shall  not  wrest  them  out  of  his  hands. 
His  goodness  is  not  less  in  performing  than  it  was  in  promising : 
and  as  the  care  of  his  providence  extends  to  the  least  as  well  as  the 
greatest,  so  the  watchfulness  of  his  goodness  extends  to  us  in  the 
least  as  well  as  in  the  greatest  temptations. 

1.  The  goodness  of  God  appears  in  shortening  temptations.  None 
of  them  can  go  beyond  their  "  appointed  times"  (Dan.  xi.  35) :  the 
strong  blast  Satan  breathes  cannot  blow,  nor  the  waves  he  raises 
rage  one  minute  beyond  the  time  God  allows  them  ;  when  they  have 
done  their  work,  and  come  to  the  period  of  their  time,  God  speaks 
the  word,  and  the  wind  and  sea  of  hell  must  obey  him,  and  retire 
into  tlieir  dens.  The  more  violent  temptations  are,  the  shorter  time 
doth  God  allot  to  them.  The  assaults  Christ  had  at  the  time  of  his 
death  were  of  the  most  pressing  and  urging  nature :  the  powers  of 
darkness  were  all  in  arms  against  him  ;  the  reproaches  and  scorns 
put  upon  him,  questioning  his  sonship,  were  very  sharp ;  yet  a  little 
before  his  suffering  he  calls  it  but  an  hour  (Luke  xxii.  53),  "  This  is 
your  hour,  and  the  power  of  darkness."  A  short  time  that  men  and 
devils  were  combined  against  him ;  and  the  time  of  temptation  that 
is  to  come  upon  all  the  world  for  their  trial,  is  called  but  an  "  hour" 
(Rev.  iii.  10).  In  all  such  attempts,  the  greatness  of  the  rage  is  a 
certain  prognostic  of  the  shortness  of  the  season  (Rev.  xii.  12). 

2.  The  goodness  of  God  appears  in  strengthening  his  geople  un- 
der temptations.  If  he  doth  not  restrain  the  arm  of  Satan  from 
striking,  he  gives  us  a  sword  to  manage  the  combat,  and  a  shield  to 
bear  off  the  blow  (Eph.  vi.  16,  17).  If  he  obscures  his  goodness  in 
one  part,  he  clears  and  brightens  it  in  another :  he  either  binds  the 
strong  man  that  he  shall  not  stir,  or  gives  us  armor  to  render  us 
victorious.  If  we  fall,  it  is  not  for  want  of  provision  from  him,  but 
for  want  of  our  "putting  on  the  armor  of  God"  (Eph.  vi.  11,  13). 
AVhen  we  have  not  a  strength  by  nature,  he  gives  it  us  by  grace :  he 
often  quells  those  passions  within  which  would  join  hands  with,  and 
second  the  temptation  without.     He  either  qualifies  the  temptation 


312  CHARNOCK  ON  THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

suitably  to  tlie  force  we  have,  or  else  supplies  us  with  a  new  strength 
to  mate  the  temptation  he  intends  to  let  loose  against  us  ;  he  knows 
we  are  but  dust,  and  his  goodness  will  not  have  us  unequally  match- 
ed. The  Jews  that  in  Antiochus'  time  were  under  great  temptation 
to  apostasy  by  reason  of  the  violence  of  their  persecutions,  were, 
"  out  of  weakness,  made  strong"  for  the  combat  (Heb.  xi,  34).  The 
Spirit  came  more  strongly  upon  Sampson  when  the  Philistines  most 
furiously  and  confidently  assaulted  him.  His  Spirit  is  sent  to 
strengthen  his  people  before  the  devil  is  permitted  to  tempt  them 
(Matt.  iv.  2) ;  "  Then  was  Jesus  led  up  of  the  Spirit."  Then  ;  When? 
When  the  Spirit  had  in  an  extraordinary  manner  descended  upon 
him  (Matt.  iii.  16),  "  then,"  and  not  before.  As  the  angels  appeared 
to  Christ,  after  his  temptation,  to  minister  to  him,  so  they  appeared 
to  him  before  his  passion,  the  time  of  the  strongest  powers  of  dark- 
ness, to  strengthen  him  for  it :  he  is  so  good,  that  when  he  knows 
our  potsherd  strength  too  weak,  he  furnisheth  our  recruits  from  his 
own  omnipotence  (Eph.  vi.  10) ;  "Be  strong  in  the  Lord,  and  in  the 
power  of  his  might."  He  doth,  as  it  were,  breathe  in  something  of 
his  own  almightiness,  to  assist  us  in  our  wrestling  against  principal- 
ities and  powers,  and  make  us  capable  to  sustain  the  violent  storms 
of  the  enemies. 

3.  The  goodness  of  God  is  seen  in  temptations,  in  giving  great 
comforts  in  or  after  them.  The  Israelites  had  a  more  immediate 
]irovision  of  manna  from  heaven  when  they  were  in  the  wilderness. 
We  read  not  that  the  Father  spake  audibly  tx)  the  Son,  and  gave  him 
so  loud  a  testimony,  that  he  was  his  "beloved  Son,  in  whom  he  was 
well  pleased,"  till  he  was  upon  the  brink  of  strong  temptations 
(Matt.  iii.  17) :  nor  sent  angels  to  minister  immediately  to  his  per- 
son, till  after  his  success  (Matt.  iv.  11).  Job  never  had  such  evi- 
dences of  Divine  love  till  after  he  had  felt  the  sharp  strokes  of  Sa- 
tan's malice ;  he  had  heard  of  God  before,  by  the  "  hearing  of  the 
ear,"  but  afterwards  is  admitted  into  greater  familiarity  (Job.  xlii. 
5) :  he  had  more  choice  appearances,  clearer  illuminations,  and  more 
lively  instructions.  And,  though  his  people  fall  into  temptation, 
yet,  after  their  rising,  they  have  more  signal  marks  of  his  favor  than 
others  have,  or  themselves,  before  they  fell.  Peter  had  been  the 
butt  of  Satan's  rage,  in  tempting  him  to  deny  Christ,  and  he  had 
shamefully  complied  with  the  temptation  ;  yet,  to  him  particularly, 
must  the  first  news  of  the  Kedeemer's  resurrection  be  carried,  by 
God's  order,  in  the  mouth  of  an  angel  (Mark  xvi.  7) ;  "  Go  your 
ways,  tell  his  disciples,  and  Peter."  We  have  the  greatest  commu- 
nion with  God  after  a  victory  ;  the  most  refreshing  truths  after  the 
devil  hath  done  his  worst.  God  is  ready  to  furnish  us  with  strength 
in  a  combat,  and  cordials  after  it. 

4.  The  goodness  of  God  is  seen  in  temptations,  in  discovering  and 
advancing  inward  grace  by  this  means.  The  issue  of  a  temptation 
of  a  Christian  is  often  like  that  of  Christ's,  the  manifesting  a  greater 
vigor  of  the  Divine  nature,  in  affections  to  God,  and  enmity  to  sin. 
Spices  perfume  not  the  air  with  their  scent  till  they  are  invaded  by 
the  fire :  the  truth  of  grace  is  evidenced  by  them.  The  assault  of 
an  enemy  revives,  and  actuates  that  strength  and  courage  which  is 


ON  THE  GOODNESS   OP   GOD.  313 

in  a  man,  perhaps  unknown  to  himself,  as  well  as  others,  till  he 
meets  with  an  adversary :  many  seem  good,  not  that  they  are  so  in 
themselves,  but  for  want  of  a  temptation :  this  many  times  verifies 
a  virtue,  which  was  owned  upon  trust  before,  and  discovers  that  we 
had  more  grace  than  we  thought  we  had.  The  solicitations  of 
Joseph's  mistress  cleared  up  his  chastity  :  we  are  many  times  under 
temptation,  as  a  candle  under  the  snuffer ;  it  seems  to  be  out,  but 
presently  burns  the  clearer.  Afflictions  are  like  those  clouds  which 
look  black,  and  eclipse  the  sun  from  the  earth,  but  yet,  when  they 
drop,  refresh  that  ground  they  seem  to  threaten,  and  multiply  the 
grain  on  the  earth,  to  serve  for  our  food  ;  and  so  our  troubles,  while 
they  wet  us  to  the  skin,  wash  much  of  that  dust  from  our  graces 
which  in  a  clearer  day  had  been  blown  upon  us.  Too  much  rest 
corrupts ;  exercise  teacheth  us  to  manage  our  weapons  :  the  spiritual 
armor  would  grow  rusty,  without  opportunity  to  furbish  it  up  ;  faith 
receives  a  new  heart  by  every  combat,  and  by  every  victory  ;  like  a 
fire,  it  spreads  itself  further,  and  gathers  strength  by  the  blowing  of 
the  wind.  While  the  gardener  commands  his  servant  to  shake  the 
tree,  he  intends  to  fasten  its  roots,  and  settle  it  firmer  in  its  place ; 
and  is  this  an  ill-will  to  the  plant  ?  , 

5.  His  goodness  is  seen  in  temptations,  in  preventing  sin  which 
we  were  likely  to  fall  into.  Paul's  thorn  in  the  flesh  was  to  prevent 
the  pride  of  his  spirit,  and  let  out  the  windiness  of  his  heart  (2  Cor. 
xii.  7),  lest  it  should  be  exalted  above  measure.  The  goodness  of 
God  makes  the  devil  a  polisher,  while  he  intends  to  be  a  destroyer. 
The  devil  never  works,  but  suitably  to  some  corruption  lurking  in 
us  :  Divine  goodness  makes  his  fiery  darts  a  means  to  discover,  and 
so  to  prevent  the  treachery  of  that  perfidious  inmate  in  our  hearts ; 
humility  is  a  greater  benefit  than  a  putrefying  pride ;  if  God  brings 
us  into  a  wilderness  to  be  tempted  of  the  devil,  it  is  to  bring  down 
our  loftiness,  to  starve  our  carnal  confidence,  and  expel  our  rusting 
"  security"  (Dent.  viii.  2) ;  we  many  times  fly  under  a  temptation  to 
God,  from  whom  we  sat  too  loose  before.     Is  it  not  goodness  to  use 

♦  those  means  that  may  drive  us  into  his  own  arms  ?  It  is  not  a  want 
of  goodness  to  soap  the  garment,  in  order  to  take  away  the  spots ; 
we  have  reason  to  bless  God  for  the  assaults  from  hell,  as  well  as 
pure  mercies  from  heaven ;  and  it  is  a  sin  to  overlook  the  one  as 
well  as  the  other,  since  Divine  goodness  shines  in  both. 

6.  The  goodness  of  God  is  seen  in  temptations,  in  fitting  us  more 
for  his  service.  Those  whom  God  intends  to  make  choice  instru- 
ments in  his  service,  are  first  seasoned  with  strong  temptations,  as 
timber  reserved  for  the  strong  beams  of  a  building  is  first  exposed  to 
sun  and  wind,  to  make  it  more  compact  for  its  proper  use.  By  this 
men  are  brought  to  answer  the  end  of  their  creation,  the  service  of 
God,  which  is  their  proper  goodness.  Peter  was,  after  his  foil  by 
a  temptation,  more  courageous  in  his  Master's  cause  than  before,  and 

*\^  the  more  fitted  to  strengthen  his  brethren. 

^J^    Thus  the  goodness  of  God  appears  in  all  parts  of  his  government. 

"Ty^     V.  I  shall  now  come  to  the  Use.     First,  Of  instruction. 

1.  If  God  be  so  good,  how  unworthy  is  the  contempt  or  abuse  of 
his  goodness!     (1.)  The  contempt  and  abuse  of  Divine  goodness  is 


314  CHAENOCK  ON  THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

frequent  and  common  ;  it  began  in  the  first  ages  of  the  world,  and 
commenced  a  few  moments  after  the  creation ;  it  hath  not  to  this 
day  diminished  its  affronts ;  Adam  began  the  dance,  and  his  pos- 
terity have  followed  him  ;  the  injury  was  directed  against  this,  when 
he  entertained  the  seducer's  notion  of  God's  being  an  envious  Deity, 
in  not  indulging  such  a  knowledge  as  he  might  have  afforded  him 
(Gen.  iii.  5) :  "  God  doth  know,  that  you  shall  be  as  gods,  knowing 
good  and  evil."  The  charge  of  envy  is  utterly  inconsistent  with 
pure  goodness.  What  was  the  language  of  this  notion,  so  easily  enter- 
tained by  Adam,  but  that  the  tempter  was  better  than  God,  and  the 
nature  of  God  as  base  and  sordid  as  the  nature  of  a  devil  ?  Satan 
paints  God  with  his  own  colors,  represents  him  as  envious  and  ma- 
licious as  himself;  Adam  admires,  and  believes  the  picture  to  be 
true,  and  hangs  it  up  as  a  beloved  one  in  the  closet  of  his  heart.  The 
devil  still  drives  on  the  same  game,  fills  men's  hearts  with  the  same 
sentiments,  and  by  the  same  means  he  murdered  our  first  parents,  he 
redoubles  the  stabs  to  his  posterity.  Every  violation  of  the  Divine 
law  is  a  contempt  of  God's  goodness,  as  well  as  his  sovereignty,  be- 
cause his  laws  are  the  products  both  of  the  one  and  the  other.  Good- 
ness animates  1jiem,  while  sovereignty  enjoys  them:  God  hath  com- 
manded nothing  but  what  doth  conduce  to  our  happiness.  All  dis- 
obedience implies,  that  his  law  is  a  snare  to  entrap  us,  and  make  us 
miserable,  and  not  an  act  of  kindness,  to  render  us  happy,  which  i  s 
a  disparagement  to  this  perfection,  as  if  he  had  commanded  what 
would  promote  our  misery,  and  prohibited  what  would  conduce  to 
our  blessedness :  to  go  far  from  him,  and  walk  after  vanit}^,  is  to 
charge  him  with  our  iniquity,  and  unrighteousness,  baseness,  and 
cruelty,  in  his  commands  :  God  implies  it  by  his  speech  (Jer.  ii.  5), 
"  What  iniquity  have  your  fathers  found  in  me,  that  they  are  gone 
far  from  me,  and  walked  after  vanity  ?"  as  if,  like  a  tyrant,  he  had 
consulted  cruelty  in  the  composure  of  them,  and  designed  to  feast 
himself  with  the  blood  and  misery  of  his  creatures.  Every  sin  is,  in 
its  own  nature,  a  denial  of  God  to  be  the  chiefest  good  and  happi- 
ness, and  implies  that  it  is  no  great  matter  to  lose  him :  it  is  a  for- 
saking him  as  the  Fountain  of  Life,  and  a  preferring  a  cracked  and 
"  empty  cistern"  as  the  chief  happiness  before  him  (Jer.  ii.  13). 
Though  sin  is  not  so  evil  as  God  is  good,  yet  it  is  the  greatest  evil, 
and  stands  in  opposition  to  God  as  the  greatest  good.  Sin  disorders 
the  frame  of  the  world ;  it  endeavored  to  frustrate  all  the  communi- 
cations of  Divine  goodness  in  creation,  and  to  stop  up  the  way  of 
any  further  streams  of  it  to  his  creatures. 

(2.)  The  abuse  and  contempt  of  the  Divine  goodness  is  base  and 
disingenious.  It  is  the  highest  wickedness,  because  God  is  the  high- 
est goodness,  pure  goodness  that  cannot  have  anything  in  him 
worthy  of  our  contempt.  Let  men  injure  God  under  what  notion 
they  will,  they  injure  his  goodness ;  because  all  his  attributes  arc 
summed  up  in  this  one,  and  all,  as  it  were,  deified  by  it.  For  what- 
soever power  or  wisdom  he  might  have,  if  he  were  destitute  of  this 
he  were  not  God :  the  contempt  of  his  goodness  implies  him  to  be 
the  greatest  evil,  and  worst  of  beings.  Badness,  not  goodness,  is  the 
proper  object  of  contempt :  as  respect  is  a  propension  of  mind  to 


ON  THE   GOODNESS  OF   GOD,  315 

something  that  is  good,  so  contempt  is  an  alienation  of  the  mind 
from  something  as  evil,  either  simply  or  supposedly  evil  in  its  nature, 
or  base  or  unworthy  in  its  action  towards  that  person  that  contemns 
it.  As  men  desire  nothing  but  what  they  apprehend  to  be  good,  so 
they  slight  nothing  but  what  they  apprehend  to  be  evil :  since  no- 
thing, therefore,  is  more  contemned  by  us  than  God,  nothing  more 
spurned  at  by  us  than  God,  it  will  follow  that  we  regard  him  as  the 
most  loathsome  and  despicable  being,  which  is  the  greatest  baseness. 
And  our  contempt  of  him  is  worse  than  that  of  the  devils ;  they  in- 
jure him  under  the  inevitable  strokes  of  his  justice,  and  we  slight 
him  when  we  are  surrounded  with  the  expressions  of  his  bounty ; 
they  abuse  him  under  vials  of  wrath,  and  we  under  a  plenteous  lib- 
erality :  they  malice  him,  because  he  inflicts  on  them  what  is  hurt- 
ful ;  and  we  despise  him,  because  he  commands  what  is  profitable, 
holy,  and  honorable,  in  its  own  nature,  though  not  in  our  esteem. 
They  are  not  under  those  high  obligations  as  we ;  they  abuse  his 
creating,  and  we  his  redeeming  goodness :  he  never  sent  his  Son  to 
shed  a  drop  of  blood  for  their  recovery  ;  they  can  expect  nothing  but 
the  torment  of  their  persons,  and  the  destruction  of  their  works  ;  but 
we  abuse  that  goodness  that  would  rescue  us  since  we  are  miserable, 
as  well  as  that  righteousness  which  created  us  innocent.  How  base 
is  it  to  use  him  so  ill,  that  is  not  once  or  twice,  but  a  daily,  hourly 
Benefactor  to  us  ;  whose  rain  drops  upon  the  earth  for  our  food,  and 
whose  sun  shines  upon  the  earth  for  our  pleasure  as  well  as  profit : 
such  a  Benefactor  as  is  the  true  Proprietor  of  what  we  have,  and 
thinks  nothing  too  good  for  them  that  think  everything  too  much 
for  his  service !  How  unworthy  is  it  to  be  guilty  of  such  base  car- 
riage towards  him,  whose  benefits  we  cannot  want,  nor  live  without ! 
How  disingenious  both  to  God  and  ourselves,  to  "  despise  the  riches 
of  his  goodness,  that  are  designed  to  lead  us  to  repentance"  (Rom.  ii. 
4),  and  by  that  to  happiness !  And  more  heinous  are  the  sins  of  re- 
newed men  upon  this  account,  because  they  are  against  his  "  good- 
ness" not  only  offered  to  them,  but  tasted  by  them  ;  not  only  against 
the  notion  of  goodness,  but  the  experience  of  goodness,  and  the  rel- 
ished sweetness  of  choicest  bounty. 

(3).  God  takes  this  contempt  of  his  goodness  heinously.  He 
never  upbraids  men  with  anything  in  the  Scripture,  but  with  the 
abuse  of  the  good  things  he  hath  vouchsafed  them,  and  the  un- 
mindfulness  of  the  obligations  arising  from  them.  This  he  bears 
with  the  greatest  regret  and  indignation.  Thus  he  upbraids  Eli 
with  the  preference  of  him  to  the  priesthood  above  other  families 
(1  Sam.  ii.  28) :  and  David  with  his  exaltation  to  the  crown  of  Israel 
(2  Sam.  xii.  7 — ^9),  when  they  abused  those  honors  to  carelessness 
and  licentiousness.  All  sins  offend  God,  but  sins  against  his  good- 
ness do  more  disparage  him;  and,  therefore,  his  fury  is  the  greater, 
by  how  much  the  more  liberally  his  benefits  have  been  dispensed. 
It  was  for  abuse  of  Divine  goodness,  as  soon  as  it  was  tasted,  that 
some  angels  were  hurled  from  their  blessed  habitation  and  more 
happy  nature :  it  was  for  this  Adam  lost  his  present  enjoyments, 
and  future  happiness,  for  the  abuse  of  God's  goodness  in  creation. 
For  the  abuse  of  God's  goodness  the  old  world  fell  under  the  fury 


316  CHARNOCK   ON  THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

of  the  flood ;  and  for  the  contempt  of  the  Divine  goodness  in  re- 
demption, Jerusalem,  once  the  darling  city  of  the  infinite  Monarch 
of  the  world,  was  made  an  Aceldema,  a  field  of  blood.  For  this 
cause  it  is,  that  candlesticks  have  been  removed,  great  lights  put 
out,  nations  overturned,  and  ignorance  hath  triumphed  in  places 
bright  before  with  the  beams  of  heaven.  God  would  have  little  care 
of  his  own  goodness,  if  he  always  prostituted  the  fruits  of  it  to  our 
contempt.  Why  should  we  expect  he  should  always  continue  that 
to  us  which  he  sees  we  will  never  use  to  his  service  ?  When  the 
Israelites  would  dedicate  the  gifts  of  God  to  the  service  of  Baal, 
then  he  would  return,  and  take  away  his  corn,  and  his  wine,  and 
make  them  know  by  the  loss,  that  those  things  were  his  in  do- 
minion, which  they  abused,  as  if  they  had  been  sovereign  lords  of 
them  (Hos.  ii.  8,  9).  Benefits  are  entailed  upon  us  no  longer  than 
we  obey  (Josh.  xxiv.  20) :  "  If  you  forsake  the  Lord,  he  will  do  you 
hurt,  after  he  hath  done  3^ou  good,"  While  we  obey,  his  bounty 
shall  shower  upon  us :  and  when  we  revolt,  his  justice  shall  con- 
sume us.  Present  mercies  abused,  are  no  bulwarks  against  inde- 
pendent judgments.  Got  hath  curses  as  well  as  blessings;  and  they 
shall  light  more  heavy  when  his  blessings  have  been  more  weight}'- : 
justice  is  never  so  severe  as  when  it  comes  to  right  goodness,  and 
revenge  its  quarrel  for  the  injuries  received. 

A  convenient  inquiry  may  be  here,  How  God's  goodness  is  con- 
temned or  abused  ? 

1st.  By  a  forgetfulness  of  his  benefits.  We  enjoy  the  mercies, 
and  forget  the  Donor ;  we  take  what  he  gives,  and  pay  not  the 
tribute  he  deserves  ;  the  "  Israelites  forgot  God  their  Saviour,  which 
had  done  great  things  in  Egypt"  (Ps.  c.  21).  We  send  God's 
mercies  where  we  would  have  God  send  our  sins,  into  the  land  of 
forgetfulness,  and  write  his  benefits  where  himself  will  write  the 
names  of  the  wicked,  in  the  dust,  Avhich  every  wind  defaceth :  the 
remembrance  soon  wears  out  of  our  minds,  and  we  are  so  far  from 
remembering  what  we  had  before,  that  we  scarce  think  of  that  hand 
that  gives,  the  very  instant  wherein  his  benefits  drop  upon  us. 
Adam  basely  forgot  his  Benefactor,  presently  after  he  had  been 
made  capable  to  remember  him,  and  reflect  upon  him ;  the  first  re- 
mark we  hear  of  him,  is  of  his  forgetfulness,  not  a  syllable  of  his 
thankfulness.  We  forget  those  souls  he  hath  lodged  in  us,  to  ac- 
knowledge his  favors  to  our  bodies ;  we  forget  that  image  where- 
with .he  beautified  us,  and  that  Christ  he  exposed  as  a  criminal  to 
death  for  our  rescue,  which  is  such  an  act  of  goodness  as  cannot  be 
expressed  by  the  eloquence  of  the  tongue,  or  conceived  by  the 
acuteness  of  the  mind.  Those  things  which  are  so  common,  that 
they  cannot  be  invisible  to  our  eyes,  are  unregarded  by  our  minds  ; 
our  sense  prompts  our  understanding,  and  our  understanding  is  deaf 
to  the  plain  dictates  of  our  sense.  We  forget  his  goodness  in  the 
sun,  while  it  warms  us,  and  his  showers  while  they  enrich  us  ;  in 
the  corn,  while  it  nourisheth  us,  and  the  wine  while  it  refresheth 
us ;  "  She  did  not  know  that  I  gave  her  corn,  and  wine,  and  oil" 
(Hos.  ii.  8) :  she  that  might  have  read  my  hand  in  every  bit  of 
bread,  and  every  drop  of  drink,  did  not  consider  this.     It  is  an  in- 


ON  THE   GOODNESS   OF   GOD.  317 

justice  to  forget  the  benefits  we  receive  from  man  ;  it  is  a  crime  of 
a  higher  nature  to  forget  those  dispensed  to  us  by  the  hand  of  God, 
who  gives  us  those  things  that  all  the  world  cannot  furnish  us 
with,  without  him.  The  inhabitants  of  Troas  will  condemn  us,  who 
worshipped  mice,  in  a  grateful  remembrance  of  the  victory  thcj 
had  made  easy  for  them,  by  gnawing  their  enemies'  bow-strings. 
They  were  mindful  of  the  courtesy  of  animals,  though  unintended 
by  those  creatures;  and  we  are  regardless  of  the  fore-meditated 
bounty  of  God,  It  is  in  God's  judgment  a  brutishness  beyond  that 
of  a  stupid  ox,  or  a  duller  ass  ;  "  The  ox  knows  his  owner,  and  the 
ass  his  master's  crib :  but  Israel  doth  not  know,  my  people  do  not 
consider"  (Isa,  i,  3),  The  ox  knows  his  owner  that  pastures  him, 
and  the  ass  his  master  that  feeds  him ;  but  man  is  not  so  good  as  to 
be  like  to  them,  but  so  bad  as  to  be  inferior  to  them :  he  forgets 
Him  that  sustains  him,  and  spurns  at  him,  instead  of  valuing  him 
for  the  benefits  conferred  by  him.  How  horrible  is  it,  that  God 
should  lose  more  by  his  bounty,  than  he  would  do  by  his  parsi- 
mony !  If  we  had  blessings  more  sparingly,  we  should  remember 
him  more  gratefully.  If  he  had  sent  us  a  bit  of  bread  in  a  distress 
by  a  miracle,  as  he  did  to  Elijah  by  the  ravens,  it  would  have 
stuck  longer  in  our  memories ;  but  the  sense  of  daily  favors  soonest 
wears  out  of  our  minds,  which  are  as  great  miracles  as  any  in  their 
own  nature,  and  the  products  of  the  same  power ;  but  the  wonder 
they  should  beget  in  us,  is  obscured  by  their  frequency, 

2d,  The  goodness  of  God  is  contemned  by  an  impatient  murmur- 
ing. Our  repinings  proceed  from  an  inconsideration  of  God's  free 
liberality,  and  an  ungrateful  temper  of  spirit.  Most  men  are  guilty 
of  this.  It  is  implied  in  the  commendation  of  Job  under  his  pres- 
sures (Job  i.  22):  "In  all  this  Job  sinned  not,  nor  charged  God 
foolishly,"  as  if  it  were  a  character  peculiar  to  him,  whereby  he 
verified  the  eulogy  God  had  given  of  him  before  (ver.  8),  that  there 
was  "  none  like  him  in  the  earth,  a  perfect  and  an  upright  man," 
What  is  implied  by  the  expression  ?  but  that  scarce  a  man  is  to  be 
found  without  unjust  complaints  of  God,  and  charging  him  under 
their  crosses  with  cruelty  ;  when  in  the  greatest  they  have  much  more 
reason  to  bless  him  for  his  bounty  in  the  remainder.  Good  men 
have  not  been  innocent,  Baruch  complains  of  God  for  adding 
grief  to  his  sorrow,  not  furnishing  him  with  those  "  great  things" 
he  expected  (Jer,  xlv.  3,  4) ;  whereas,  he  had  matter  of  thankful- 
ness in  God's  gift  of  his  life  as  a  prey.  But  his  master  chargeth 
God  in  a  higher  strain:  "  O  Lord,  thou  hast  deceived  me,  and  I  was 
deceived :  I  am  in  derision  daily"  (Jer.  xx.  7).  When  he  met  with 
reproach  instead  of  success  in  the  execution  of  his  function,  he 
quarrels  with  God,  as  if  he  had  a  mind  to  cheat  him  into  a  mischief, 
when  he  had  more  reason  to  bless  him  for  the  honor  of  being  em- 
ployed in  his  service.  Because  we  have  not  what  we  expect,  we 
slight  his  goodness  in  what  we  enjo}^  If  he  cross  us  in  one  thing, 
he  might  have  made  us  successless  in  more  :  if  he  take  away  some 
things,  he  might  as  well  have  taken  away  all.  The  unmerited  re- 
mainder, though  never  so  little,  deserves  our  acknowledgements 
more  than  the  deserved  loss  can  justify  our  repining.     And  for  that 


318  CHARNOCK  ON  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

whicli  is  snatched  from  us,  there  is  more  cause  to  be  thankful,  that 
we  have  enjoyed  it  so  long,  than  to  murmur  that  we  possess  it  no 
longer.  Adam's  sin  implies  a  repining  :  he  imagined  God  had  been 
short  in  his  goodness,  in  not  giving  him  a  knowledge  he  foolishly 
conceived  himself  capable  of,  and  would  venture  a  forfeiture  of 
what  already  had  been  bountifully  bestowed  upon  him.  Man 
thought  God  had  envied  him,  and  ever  since  man  studies  to  be 
even  with  God,  and  envies  him  the  free  disposal  of  his  own  doles : 
all  murmuring,  either  in  our  own  cause  or  others,  charges  God  with 
a  want  of  goodness,  because  there  is  a  want  of  that  Avhich  he  fool- 
ishly thinks  would  make  himself  or  others  happy.  The  language 
of  this  sin  is,  that  man  thinks  himself  better  than  God ;  and  if  it 
were  in  his  power,  would  express  a  more  plentiful  goodness  than 
his  Maker.  As  man  is  apt  to  think  himself  "  more  pure  than  God" 
(Job  iv.  17),  so  of  a  kinder  nature  also  than  an  infinite  goodness. 
The  Israelites  are  a  wonderful  example  of  this  contempt  of  Divine 
goodness ;  they  had  been  spectators  of  the  greatest  miracles,  and 
partakers  of  the  choicest  deliverance :  he  had  solicited  their  re- 
demption from  captivity ;  and  when  words  would  not  do,  he  came 
to  blows  for  them,  musters  up  his  judgments  against  their  enemies, 
and,  at  last,  as  the  Lord  of  hosts  and  God  of  battles,  totally  defeats 
their  pursuers,  and  drowns  them  and  their  proud  hopes  of  victory 
in  the  Red  Sea.  Little  account  was  made  of  all  this  by  the  redeemed 
ones;  "they  lightly  esteemed  the  rock  of  their  salvation,"  and 
launch  ipto  greater  unworthiness,  instead  of  being  thankful  for  the 
breaking  their  3^oke :  they  are  angry  with  him,  that  he  had  done 
so  much  for  them  :  they  repented  that  ever  they  had  complied  with 
him,  for  their  own  deliverance,  and  had  a  regret  that  they  had  been 
brought  out  of  Egypt :  they  were  angry  that  they  were  freemen, 
and  that  their  chains  had  been  knocked  off:  they  were  more  de- 
sirous to  return  to  the  oppression  of  their  Egyptian  tyrants,  than 
have  God  for  their  governor  and  caterer,  and  be  fed  with  his 
manna.  "  It  was  well  with  us  in  Egypt :  Why  came  we  forth  out 
of  Egypt?"  which  is  called  a  "  despising  the  Lord"  (Numb.  xi.  18, 
20).  They  were  so  far  from  rejoicing  in  the  expectation  of  the 
future  benefits  promised  them,  that  they  murmured  that  they  had 
not  enjoyed  less ;  they  were  so  sottish,  as  to  be  desirous  to  put 
themselves  into  the  irons  whence  God  had  delivered  them :  they 
would  seek  a  remedy  in  that  Egypt,  which  had  been  the  prison  of 
their  nation,  and  under  the  successors  of  that  Pharaoh,  who  had 
been  the  invader  of  their  liberties ;  they  would  snatch  Moses  from 
the  place  where  the  Lord,  by  an  extraordinary  providence,  hath 
established  him ;  they  would  stone  those  that  minded  them  of  the 
goodness  of  God  to  them,  and  thereupon  of  their  crime  and  their 
duty  (Numb.  xvi.  3,  9 — 11) ;  they  rose  against  their  benefactors, 
and  "murmured  against  God,"  that  had  strengthened  the  hands  of 
their  deliverers;  they  "despised  the  manna"  he  had  sent  them, 
and  "  despised  the  pleasant  land"  he  intended  them  (Ps.  cvi.  24) : 
all  which  was  a  high  contempt  of  God  and  his  unparalleled  good- 
ness and  care  of  them.  All  murmuring  is  an  accusation  of  Divine 
goodness. 


ON  THE   GOODNESS   OF   GOD.  319 

3d.  By  unbelief  and  impenitency.  What  is  the  reason  we  come 
not  to  Him  when  he  calls  us ;  but  some  secret  imagination  that  he  is 
of  an  ill  nature,  means  not  as  he  speaks,  but  intends  to  mock  us,  in- 
stead of  welcoming  us?  When  we  neglect  his  call,  spurn  at  his 
bowels,  slight  the  riches  of  his  grace ;  as  it  is  a  disparagement  to  his 
wisdom  to  despise  his  counsel,  so  it  is  to  his  goodness  to  slight  his 
offers,  as  though  you  could  make  better  provision  for  yourselves  than 
he  is  able  or  willing  to  do.  It  disgraceth  that  which  is  designed  to 
the  praise  of  the  glory  of  his  grace,  and  renders  God  cruel  to  his  own 
Son,  as  being  an  unnecessary  shedder  of  his  blood.  As  the  devil 
by  his  temptation  of  Adam,  envied  God  the  glory  of  his  creating 
goodness,  so  unbelief  envies  God  the  glory  of  his  redeeming  grace : 
it  is  a  bidding  defiance  to  him,  and  challenging  him  to  muster  up 
the  legions  of  his  judgments,  rather  than  have  sent  his  Son  to  suffer 
for  us,  or  his  Spirit  to  solicit  us.  Since  the  sending  his  Son  was  the 
greatest  act  of  goodness  that  God  could  express,  the  refusal  of  him 
must  be  the  highest  reproach  of  that  liberality  God  designed  to  com- 
mend to  the  world  in  so  rare  a  gift :  the  ingratitude  in  this  refusal 
must  be  as  high  in  the  rank  of  sins,  as  the  person  slighted  is  in  the 
rank  of  beings,  or  rank  of  gifts.  Christ  is  a  gift  (Rom.  v.  16),  the 
royalest  gift,  an  unparalleled  gift,  springing  from  inconceivable  trea- 
sures of  goodness  (John  iii.  16).  What  is  our  turning  our  backs 
upon  this  gift  but  a  low  opinion  of  it  ?  as  though  the  richest  jewel 
of  heaven  were  not  so  valuable  -as  a  swinish  pleasure  on  earth,  and 
deserved  to  be  treated  at  no  other  rate  than  if  mere  offals  had  been 
presented  to  us.  The  plain  language  of  it  is,  that  there  were  no  gra- 
cious intentions  for  our  welfare  in  this  present ;  and  that  he  is  not 
as  good,  in  the  mission  of  his  Son,  as  he  would  induce  us  to  imagine. 
Impenitence  is  also  an  abuse  of  this  goodness,  either  by  presump- 
tion, as  if  God  would  entertain  rebels  that  bid  defiance  against  him 
with  the  same  respect  that  he  doth  his  prostrate  and  weeping  sup- 
pliants ;  that  he  will  have  the  same  regard  to  the  swine  as  to  the 
children,  and  lodge  them  in  the  same  habitation  ;  or  it  speaks  a  sus- 
picion of  God  as  a  deceitful  Master,  one  of  a  pretended,  not  a  real 
goodness,  that  makes  promises  to  mock  men,  and  invitations  to  de- 
lude them:  that  he  is  an  implacable  tyrant,  rather  than  a  good 
Father ;  a  rigid,  not  a  kind  Being,  delightful  only  to  mark  our  faults, 
and  overlook  our  services. 

4th.  The  goodness  of  God  is  contemned  by  a  distrust  of  his  provi- 
dence. As  all  trust  in  him  supposeth  him  good,  so  all  distrust  of 
him  supposeth  him  evil ;  either  without  goodness  to  exert  his  power, 
or  without  power  to  display  his  goodness.  Job  seems  to  have  a  spice 
of  this  in  his  complaint  (Job  xxx.  20),  "  I  cry  unto  thee,  and  thou 
dost  not  hear  me ;  I  stand  up,  and  thou  regardest  me  not."  It  is  a 
fume  of  the  serpent's  venom,  first  breathed  into  man,  to  suspect  him 
of  cruelty,  severity,  regardlessness,  even  under  the  daily  evidences 
of  his  good  disposition :  and  it  is  ordinary  not  to  believe  him  when 
he  speaks,  nor  credit  him  when  he  acts ;  to  question  the  goodness  of 
his  precepts,  and  misinterpret  the  kindness  of  his  providence ;  as  if 
they  were  designed  for  the  supports  of  a  tyranny,  and  the  deceit  of 
the  miserable.     Thus  the  Israelites  thought  their  miraculous  deliver- 


"320  CHARNOCK  ON  THE   ATTRIBUTES, 

ance  from  Egypt,  and  the  placing  them  in  security  in  the  wilderness, 
was  intended  only  to  pound  them  up  for  a  slaughter  (Numb.  xiv.  3) : 
thus  they  defiled  the  lustre  of  Divine  goodness  which  they  had  so 
highly  experimented,  and  placed  not  that  confidence  in  him  which 
was  due  to  so  frequent  a  Benefactor,  and  thereby  crucified  the  rich 
kindness  of  God,  as  Gencbrard  translates  the  word  "limited"  (Ps. 
Ixxviii,  41).  It  is  also  a  jealousy  of  Divine  goodness,  when  we  seek 
to  deliver  ourselves  from  our  straits  by  unlawful  ways,  as  thougli 
God  had  not  kindness  enough  to  deliver  us  without  committing  evil. 
What !  did  God  make  a  world,  and  all  creatures  in  it,  to  think  of 
them  no  more,  not  to  concern  himself  in  their  affairs  ?  If  he  be 
good,  he  is  diffusive,  and  delights  to  communicate  himself ;  and  what 
subjects  should  there  be  for  it,  but  those  that  seek  him,  and  implore 
his  assistance  ?  It  is  an  indignity  to  Divine  bounty  to  have  such 
mean  thoughts  of  it,  that  it  should  be  of  a  nature  contrary  to  that  of 
his  works,  which,  the  better  they  are,  the  more  diffusive  they  are. 
Doth  a  man  distrust  that  the  sun  will  not  shine  any  more,  or  tile 
earth  not  bring  forth  its  fruit?  Doth  he  distrust  the  goodness  of  an 
approved  medicine  for  the  expelling  his  distemper  ?  If  Ave  distrust 
those  things,  should  Ave  not  render  ourselves  ridiculous  and  sottish  ? 
and  if  we  distrust  the  Creator  of  those  things,  do  avc  not  make  our- 
selves contemners  of  his  goodness  ?  If  his  caring  for  us  be  a  princi- 
pal argument  to  move  us  to  cast  our  care  upon  him,  as  it  is  1  Pet.  v. 
7,  "  Casting  your  care  upon  him,  for  he  cares  for  you ;"  then,  if  Ave 
cast  not  our  care  upon  him,  it  is  a  denial  of  his  gracious  care  of  us, 
as  if  he  regarded  not  what  becomes  of  us. 

5th.  We  do  contemn  or  abuse  his  goodness  by  omissions  of  dut}'. 
These  sometimes  spring  from  injurious  conceits  of  God,  Avhich  end 
in  desperate  resolutions.  It  Avas  the  crime  of  a  good  prophet  in  his 
passion  (2  Kings  vi.  33) :  "  This  evil  is  of  the  Lord,  Avhy  should  I 
wait  on  the  Lord  any  longer?"  God  designs  nothing  but  mischief 
to  us,  and  Ave  Avill  seek  him  no  longer.  And  the  complaint  of  those 
in  Malachi  (Mai.  iii.  14)  is  of  the  same  nature ;  "  Ye  have  said,  It  is 
vain  to  serve  God ;  and  Avhat  profit  is  it  that  we  have  kept  his  ordi- 
nances?" We  have  all  this  Avhile  served  a  hard  Master,  not  a  Bene- 
factor, and  have  not  been  answered  with  adA^antages  proportionable 
to  our  services ;  Ave  haA^e  met  Avith  a  hand  too  niggardly  to  dispense 
that  reward  Avhich  is  due  to  the  largeness  of  our  offerings.  When 
men  Avill  not  lift  up  their  eyes  to  heaven,  and  solicit  nothing  but  the 
contrivance  of  their  OAvn  brain,  and  the  industry  of  their  OAvn  heads, 
they  disoAvn  Divine  goodness,  and  approve  themselves  as  their  OAvn 
gods,  and  the  spring  of  their  own  prosperity.  Those  that  run  not  to 
God  in  their  necessity,  to  crave  his  support,  deny  either  the  arm  of 
his  poAver,  or  the  disposition  of  his  Avill,  to  sustain  and  deliver  them : 
they  must  have  very  mean  sentiments,  or  none  at  all,  of  this  perfec- 
tion, or  think  him  either  too  empty  to  fill  them,  or  too  churlish  to 
relieve  them ;  that  he  is  of  a  narroAv  and  contracted  temper,  and  that 
they  may  sooner  expect  to  be  made  better  and  happier  by  anything 
else  than  by  him  :  and  as  we  contemn  his  goodness  by  a  total  omis- 
sion of  those  duties  Avhich  respect  our  own  advantage  and  supply,  as 
prayer ;  so  we  contemn  him  as  the  chiefest  good,  by  an  omission  of 


ON  THE   GOODNESS   OF   GOD.  821 

the  due  manner  of  any  act  of  worship  which  is  designed  purely  for 
the  acknowledgment  of  him.  As  every  omission  of  the  material  part 
of  a  duty  is  a  denial  of  his  sovereignty  as  commanding  it,  so  every 
omission  of  the  manner  of  it,  not  performing  it  with  due  esteem  and 
valuation  of  him,  a  surrender  of  all  the  powers  of  our  soul  to  him,  is 
a  denial  of  him  as  the  most  amiable  object.  But  certainly  to  omit 
those  addresses  to  God  which  his  precept  enjoins,  and  his  excellency 
deserves,  speaks  this  language,  that  they  can  be  well  enough,  and  do 
well  enough,  without  God,  and  stand  in  no  need  of  his  goodness  to 
maintain  them.  The  neglect  or  refusal  in  a  malefactor  to  supplicate 
for  his  pardon,  is  a  wrong  to,  and  contempt  of,  the  prince's  goodness : 
either  implying  that  he  hath  not  a  goodness  in  his  nature  worthy 
of  an  address,  or  that  he  scorns  to  be  obliged  to  him  for  any  exercise 
of  it. 

6th.  The  goodness  of  God  is  contemned,  or  abused,  in  relying  upon 
our  services  to  procure  God's  good  will  to  us.  As,  when  we  stand 
in  need  either  of  some  particular  mercy,  or  special  assistance ;  when 
pressures  are  heavy,  and  we  have  little  hopes  of  ease  in  an  ordinary 
way ;  when  the  devotions  in  course  have  not  prevailed  for  what  we 
want ;  we  engage  ourselves  by  extraordinary  vows  and  promises  to 
God,  hereby  to  open  that  goodness  which  seems  to  be  locked  up  from 
us.'^  Sometimes,  indeed,  vows  may  proceed  from  a  sole  desire  to 
engage  ourselves  to  God,  from  a  sense  of  the  levity  and  inconstancy 
of  our  spirits ;  binding  ourselves  to  God  by  something  more  sacred 
and  inviolable  than  a  common  resolution.  But  many  times  the 
vowing  the  building  of  a  temple,  endowing  a  hospital,  giving  so 
much  in  alms  if  God  will  free  tliem  from  a  lit  of  sickness,  and  spin 
out  the  thread  of  their  lives  a  little  longer  (as  hath  been  frequent 
among  the  Romanists),  arises  from  an  opinion  of  laziness  and  a  sel- 
fishness in  the  Divine  goodness ;  that  it  must  be  squeezed  out  by 
some  solemn  promises  of  returns  to  him,  before  it  will  exercise  itself 
to  take  their  parts.  Popular  vows  are  often  the  effects  of  an  igno- 
rance of  the  free  and  bubbling  nature  of  this  perfection  of  the  gener- 
ousness  and  royalty  of  Divine  goodness :  as  if  God  were  of  a  mean 
and  mechanic  temper,  not  to  part  with  anything  unless  he  were  in 
some  measure  paid  for  it ;  and  of  so  bad  a  nature  as  not  to  give  pas- 
sage to  any  kindness  to  his  creature  without  a  bribe.  It  implies  also, 
that  he  is  of  an  ignorant  as  well  as  contracted  goodness ;  that  he  hath 
so  little  understanding,  and  so  much  weakness  of  judgment,  as  to  be 
taken  with  such  trifles,  and  ceremonial  courtships,  and  little  prom- 
ises ;  and  meditated  only  low  designs,  in  imparting  his  bounty :  it 
is  just  as  if  a  malefactor  should  speak  to  a  prince, — Sir,  if  3'ou  will 
but  bestow  a  pardon  upon  me,  and  prevent  the  death  I  have  merited 
for  this  crime,  I  will  give  you  this  rattle.  All  vows  made  with  such 
a  temper  of  spirit  to  God,  are  as  injurious  and  abusive  to  his  good- 
ness, as  any  man  will  judge  such  an  offer  to  be  to  a  majestic  and 
gracious  prince ;  as  if  it  were  a  trading,  not  a  free  and  royal  good- 
ness. 

7th.  The  goodness  of  God  is  abused  when  we  give  up  our  souls 
and  affections  to  those  benefits  we  have  from  God  ;  when  we  make 

^  Ainyral.  Moral.  Tom.  IV.  p.  291. 
VOL.  II. — 21 


822  CHARNOCK   ON   THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

those  tilings  God's  rivals,  wliicli  were  sent  to  woo  us  for  liim,  and 
offer  those  affections  to  the  presents  themselves,  which  they  were 
sent  to  solicit  for  the  Master.  Tliis  is  done,  when  either  we  place 
our  trust  in  them,  or  glue  our  choicest  affections  to  them.  Tliis 
charge  God  brings  against  Jerusalem,  the  trusting  in  her  own  beauty, 
glory,  and  strength,  though  it  was  a  comeliness  put  upon  her  by 
God  (Ezek.  xvi.  14, 15).  When  a  little  sunshine  of  prosperity  breaks 
out  upon  us,  we  are  apt  to  grasj)  it  with  so  much  eagerness  and 
closeness,  as  if  we  had  no  other  foundation  to  settle  ourselves  upon, 
no  other  being  that  might  challenge  from  us  our  sole  dependence. 
And  the  love  of  ourselves,  and  of  creatures  above  God,  is  very 
natural  to  us :  "  Lovers  of  themselves,  and  lovers  of  pleasure 
more  tha,n  of  God"  (2  Tim.  iii.  2,  4).  Self-love  is  the  root,  and 
the  love  of  pleasures  the  top  branch,  that  mounts  its  head  high- 
est against  heaven.  It  is  for  the  love  of  the  world  that  the  dangers 
of  the  sea  are  passed  over,  that  men  descend  into  the  bowels 
of  the  earth,  pass  nights  without  sleep,  undertake  suits  without  in- 
termission, wade  through  many  inconveniences,  venture  their  souls, 
and  contemn  God ;  in  those  things  men  glory,  and  foolishly  grow 
proud  by  them,  and  think  themselves  safe  and  happy  in  them.' 
Now  to  love  ourselves  above  God,  is  to  own  ourselves  better  than 
God,  and  that  we  transcend  him  in  an  amiable  goodness ;  or,  if  we 
love  ourselves  equal  with  God,  it  at  least  manifests  that  we  think 
God  no  better  than  ourselves  ;  and  think  ourselves  our  own  chief 
good,  and  deny  anything  above  us  to  outstrip  us  in  goodness,  where- 
by to  deserve  to  be  the  centre  of  our  affections  and  actions,  and  to 
love  any  other  creature  above  him,  is  to  conclude  some  defect  in 
God ;  that  he  hath  not  so  much  goodness  in  his  own  nature  as  that 
creature  hath,  to  complete  our  felicity  ;  that  God  is  a  slighter  thing 
than  that  creature.  It  is  to  account  God,  what  all  the  things  in  the 
world  are, — an  imaginary  happiness,  a  goodness  of  clay  ;  and  them 
what  God  is, — a  Supreme  Goodness.  It  is  to  value  the  goodness  of 
a  drop  above  that  of  the  spring,  and  the  goodness  of  the  spark 
above  that  of  the  sun.  As  if  the  bounty  of  God  were  of  a 
less  alloy  than  the  advantages  we  immediately  receive  from  the  hands 
of  a  silly  worm.  By  how  much  the  better  we  think  a  creature  to  be, 
and  place  our  affections  chiefly  upon  it,  by  so  much  the  more  defi- 
cient and  indigent  we  conclude  God ;  for  God  wants  so  much  in  our 
conception,  as  the  other  thing  hath  goodness  above  him  in  our 
thoughts.  Thus  is  God  lessened  below  the  creature,  as  if  he  had  a 
mixture  of  evil  in  him,  and  were  capable  of  an  imperfect  goodness. 
He  that  esteems  the  sun  that  shines  upon  him,  the  clothes  that  warm 
him,  the  food  that  nourisheth  him,  or  any  other  benefit  above  the 
Donor,  regards  them  as  more  comely  and  useful  than  God  himself; 
and  behaves  himself  as  if  he  were  more  obliged  to  them  than  to  God, 
who  bestowed  those  advantageous  quahties  upon  them. 

8th.  The  Divine  goodness  is  contemned,  in  sinning  more  freely 
upon  the  account  of  that  goodness,  and  employing  God's  benefits  in 
a  drudgery  for  our  lusts.  This  is  a  treachery  to  his  goodness,  to 
make  his  benefits  serve  for  an  end  quite  contrary  to  that  for  which 

'  Cressol.  Antholog.  Fart  II.  p.  29. 


ON   THE   GOODNESS  OF   GOD.  323 

lie  sent  them.  As  if  God  liad  been  plentiful  in  liis  blessings,  to  hire 
them  to  be  more  fierce  in  their  rebellions,  and  fed  them  to  no  other 
purpose,  but  that  they  might  more  strongly  kick  against  him  ;  this 
is  the  fruit  which  corrupt  nature  produceth.  Thus  the  Egyptians, 
who  had  so  fertile  a  country,  prove  unthankful  to  the  Creator,  by 
adoring  the  meanest  creatures,  and  putting  the  sceptre  of  the  Monarch 
of  the  world  into  the  hands  of  the  sottishest  and  cruellest  beasts. 
And  the  Komans  multijjly  their  idols,  as  God  multiplied  their  vic- 
tories. This  is  also  the  complaint  of  God  concerning  Israel :  "  She 
did  not  know  that  I  gave  her  corn,  and  wine,  and  oil,  and  multiplied 
her  silver  and  gold,  which  they  prepared  for  Baal"  (Hos.  ii.  8). 
They  ungratefully  employed  the  blessings  of  God  in  the  worship  of 
an  idol  against  the  will  of  the  Donor.  So  in  Hos.  x.  1 ;  "  According 
to  the  multitude  of  his  fruit,  he  hath  increased  the  altars  ;  according 
to  the  goodness  of  his  land,  they  have  made  goodly  images."  They 
followed  their  own  inventions  with  the  strength  of  my  outward  bless- 
ings; as  their  wealth  increased,  they  increased  the  ornaments  of 
their  images  ;  so  that  what  were  before  of  wood  and  stone,  they  ad- 
vanced to  gold  and  silver.  And  the  like  complaint  you  may  see 
Ezek.  16,  17.  Thus, 

[1.]  The  benefits  of  God  are  abused  to  pride,  when  men  standing 
upon  a  higher  ground  of  outward  prosperity,  vaunt  it  loftily  above 
their  neighbors ;  the  common  fault  of  those  that  enjoy  a  worldly 
sunshine,  which  the  apostle  observes  in  his  direction  to  Timothy ; 
"  Charge  them  that  are  rich  in  this  world,  that  they  be  not  high- 
minded"  (1  Tim.  vi.  17).  It  is  an  ill  use  of  Divine  blessings  to  be 
filled  by  them  with  pride  and  wind.     Also, 

[2.]  'When  men  abuse  plenty  to  ease ;  because  they  have  abun- 
dance, spend  their  time  in  idleness,  and  make  no  other  use  of  Divine 
benefits  than  to  trifle  away  their  time,  and  be  utterly  useless  to  the  world. 

[3.]  When  they  also  abuse  peace  and  other  blessing  to  security  ; 
as  they  which  would  not  believe  the  threatenings  of  judgment,  and 
the  storm  coming  from  a  far  country,  because  the  Lord  was  in  Sion, 
and  her  King  in  her;  "  Is  not  the  Lord  in  Sion,  is  not  her  King  in 
her"  (Jer.  viii.  19)  ?  thinking  they  might  continue  their  progress  in 
their  sin,  because  they  had  the  temple,  the  seat  of  the  Divine  glory, 
Sion,  ajid  the  promise  of  an  everlasting  kingdom  to  David  ;  abusing 
the  promise  of  God  to  presumption  and  security,  and  turning  the 
grace  of  God  into  wantonness. 

[4.]  Again,  when  they  abuse  the  bounty  of  God  to  sensuality  and 
luxury,  misemploying  the  provisions  God  gives  them,  in  resolving 
to  live  like  beasts,  when  by  a  good  improvement  of  them,  they  might 
attain  the  life  of  angels.  Thus  is  the  light  of  the  sun  abused  to  con- 
duct them,  and  the  fruits  of  the  earth  abused  to  enable  them  to  their 
prodigious  debauchery  :  as  we  do,  saith  one,  with  the  Thames,  which 
brings  us  in  provision,  and  we  soil  it  Avith  our  rubbish.""  The  more 
God  sows  his  gifts,  the  more  we  sow  our  cockle  and  darnel.  Thus 
Ave  make  our  outward  happiness  the  most  unhappy  part  of  our  lives,  and 
by  the  strength  of  Divine  blessings,  exceed  all  laAVS  of  reason  and 
religion  too.     How  unworthy  a  carriage  is  this,  to  use  the  express- 

"'  Young,  of  Affliction,  p.  34. 


324  CHARNOCK   ON  THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

ions  of  Divine  goodness  as  occasions  of  a  greater  outrage  and  affront 
of  him  ;  when  we  stab  his  honor  by  those  instruments  he  puts  into 
our  hands  to  glorify  him !  as  if  a  favorite  should  turn  that  sword 
into  the  bowels  of  his  prince,  wherewith  he  knighted  him ;  and  a 
servant,  enriched  by  a  lord,  should  hire  by  that  wealth,  murderers 
to  take  away  his  life  !  How  brutish  is  it,  the  more  God  courts  us 
with  his  blessings,  the  more  to  spurn  at  him  with  our  feet ;  like  the 
mule  that  lifts  up  his  heel  against  the  dam,  as  soon  as  ever  it  hath 
sucked  her  !  We  never  beat  God  out  of  our  hearts,  but  by  his  own 
gifts ;  he  receives  no  blows  from  men,  but  by  those  instruments  he 
gave  them  to  promote  their  happiness.  While  man  is  an  enjoyer, 
he  makes  God  a  loser,  by  his  own  blessings  ;  inflames  his  rebellion 
by  those  benefits  which  should  kindle  his  love  ;  and  runs  from  him 
by  the  strength  of  those  favors  which  should  endear  the  donor  to 
him  :  "  Do  you  thus  requite  the  Lord,  O  foolish  people,  and  unwise  ?" 
is  the  expostulation  (Deut.  xxxii.  6.)  Divine  goodness  appears  in 
the  complaint  of  the  abuse  of  it,  in  giving  them  titles  below  their 
crime,  and  complaining  more  of.  their  being  unfaithful  to  their  own 
interest,  than  enemies  to  his  glory  :  "  foolish  and  unwise"  in  neglect- 
ing their  own  happiness  ;  a  charge  below  the  crime,  which  deserved 
to  be  "  abominable,  ungrateful  people  to  a  prodigy."  All  this  car- 
riage towards  God,  is  as  if  a  man  should  knock  the  chirurgeon  on  the 
head,  as  soon  as  he  hath  set  and  bound  up  his  dislocated  members. 
So  God  compares  the  ungrateful  behavior  of  the  Israelites  against 
him  :  "  Though  I  have  bound  and  strengthened  their  arms,  yet  do 
they  imagine  mischief  against  me"  (Hos.  vii.  15) :  a  metaphor  taken 
from  a  chirurgeon  that  applies  corroborating  plasters  to  a  broken  limb. 
9th.  We  contemn  the  goodness  of  God,  in  ascribing  our  benefits 
to  other  causes  than  Divine  goodness.  Thus  Israel  ascribed  her  feli- 
city, plenty,  and  success,  to  her  idols,  as  "  rewards  which  her  lovers 
had  given  her"  (Hos.  ii.  5,  12).  And  this  charge  Daniel  brought 
home  upon  Belshazzar:  "Thou  hast  praised  the  gods  of  silver,  and 
gold,  and  brass,  and  iron  ;  and  the  God  in  whose  hand  is  thy  breath, 
and  whose  are  all  thy  ways,  hast  thou  not  glorified"  (Dan.  v.  23). 
The  God  who  hath  given  success  to  the  arms  of  thy  ancestors,  and 
conveyed  by  their  hands  so  large  a  dominion  to  thee,  thou  hast  not 
honored  in  the  same  rank  with  the  sordidest  of  thy  idols.  It  is  the 
same  case,  when  we  own  him  not  as  the  author  of  any  success  in  our 
affairs,  but  by  an  overweaning  conceit  of  our  own  sagacity,  applaud 
and  admire  ourselves,  and  overlook  the  hand  that  conducted  us,  and 
brought  our  endeavors  to  a  good  issue.  We  eclipse  the  glory  of  Di- 
vine goodness,  by  setting  the  crown  that  is  due  to  it  upon  the  head 
of  our  own  industry  ;  a  sacrilege  worse  than  Belshazzar's  drinking 
of  wine  with  his  lords  and  concubines  in  the  sacred  vessels  pilfered 
from  the  temple ;  as  in  that  place  of  Daniel.  This  was  the  proud  vaunt 
of  the  Assyrian  conqueror,  for  which  God  threatens  to  punish  the 
fruit  of  his  stout  heart :  "By  the  strength  of  my  hand,  I  have  done  it, 
and  by  my  wisdom  ;  for  I  am  prudent ;"  and,  "  I  have  removed  the 
bounds  of  the  people,  and  have  robbed  their  treasures  ;"  and,  "I  have 
put  down  the  inhabitants  like  a  valiant  man"  (Isa.  x.  12-14).  Not  a 
^vord  of  Divine  goodness  and  assistance  in  all  this,  but  applauding 


ON  THE  GOODNESS  OF  GOD.  325 

his  own  courage  and  conduct.  This  is  a  robbing  of  God,  to  set  up 
ourselves,  and  making  Divine  goodness  a  footstool,  to  ascend  into 
his  throne.  And  as  it  is  unjust,  so  it  is  ridiculous,  to  ascribe  to  our- 
selves, or  instruments,  the  chief  honor  of  any  work  ;  as  ridiculous 
as  if  a  soldier,  after  a  victory,  should  erect  an  altar  to  the  honor  of 
his  sword ;  or  an  artificer  offer  sacrifices  to  the  tools  whereby  he  com- 
pleted some  excellent  and  useful  invention  :  a  practice  that  every 
rational  man  would  disdain,  where  he  should  see  it.  It  is  a  discard- 
ing any  thoughts  of  the  goodness  of  God,  when  we  imagine,  that 
we  chiefly  owe  anything  in  this  world  to  our  own  industry  or  wit, 
to  friends  or  means,  as  though  Divine  goodness  did  not  open  its  hand 
to  interest  itself  in  our  affairs,  support  our  ability,  direct  our  coun- 
sels, and  mingle  itself  with  anything  we  do.  God  is  the  principal 
author  of  any  advantage  that  accrues  to  us,  of  any  wise  resolution 
we  fix  upon,  or  any  proper  way  we  take  to  compass  it ;  no  man  can 
be  wise  in  opposition  to  God,  act  wisely,  or  well  without  him ;  his 
goodness  inspires  men  with  generous  and  magnificent  counsels,  and 
furnisheth  them  with  fit  and  proportionable  means  ;  when  he  with- 
draws his  hand,  men's  heads  grow  foolish,  and  their  hands  feeble ; 
folly  and  weakness  drop  upon  them,  as  darkness  upon  the  world 
upon  the  removal  of  the  sun ;  it  is  an  abuse  of  Divine  goodness  not 
to  own  it,  but  erect  an  idol  in  its  place.  Ezra  was  of  another  mind 
when  he  ascribed  to  the  good  hand  of  God  the  "  providing  ministers 
for  the  temple,"  and  not  to  his  own  care  and  diligence  (chap.  viii.  18) ; 
and  Nehemiah,  the  "  success  he  had  with  the  king"  in  the  behalf  of 
his  nation,  and  not  solely  to  his  favor  with  the  prince,  or  the  arts  he 
used  to  please  him  (chap.  ii.  8). 

2.  The  second  information  is  this :  If  God  be  so  good,  it  is  a  cer- 
tain argument  that  man  is  fallen  from  his  original  state.  It  is  the 
complaint  of  man,  sometimes,  that  other  creatures  have  more  of 
earthly  happiness  than  men  have ;  live  freer  from  cares  and  trouble, 
and  are  not  racked  with  that  solicitousness  and  anxiety  as  man  is  : 
have  not  such  distempers  to  embitter  their  lives.  It  is  a  good  ground 
for  man  to  look  into  himself,  and  consider  whether  he  hath  not,  some 
ways  or  other,  disobliged  God  more  than  other  creatures  can  possi- 
bly do.  We  often  find  that  the  creatures  men  have  need  of  in  this 
state,  do  not  answer  the  expectation  of  man:  "Cursed  be  the  ground 
for  thy  sake"  (Gen.  iii.  17).  A  fruitful  land  is  made  barren  ;  thorns 
and  thistles  triumph  upon  the  face  of  the  earth,  instead  of  good  fruit. 
Is  it  likely  that  that  goodness,  which  is  as  infinite  as  his  power,  and 
knows  no  more  limits  than  his  Almightiness,  should  imprint  so  many 
scars  upon  the  world,  if  he  had  not  been  heinously  provoked  by  some 
miscarriage  of  his  creature?  Infinite  Goodness  could  never  move 
Infinite  Justice  to  inflict  punishment  upon  creatures,  if  they  had  not 
highly  merited  it ;  we  cannot  think  that  any  creature  was  blemished 
Avith  a  principle  of  disturbance,  as  it  came  first  out  of  the  hand  of 
God.  All  things  were  certainly  settled  in  a  due  order  and  depend- 
ence upon  one  another ;  nothing  could  be  ungrateful  and  unuseful 
to  man  by  the  original  law  of  their  creation ;  if  there  had,  it  had  not 
been  goodness,  but  evil  and  baseness,  that  had  created  the  world. 
When  we  see,  therefore,  the  course  of  nature  overturned,  the  order 


326  CHARNOCK  ON  THE  ATTEIBUTES. 

Divine  goodness  had  placed,  disturbed ;  and  the  creatures  pronoun- 
ced good  and  useful  to  man,  employed  as  instruments  of  vengeance 
against  him  ;  we  must  conclude  some  horrible  blot  upon  human  na- 
ture, and  very  odious  to  a  God  of  infinite  goodness ;  and  that  this 
blot  was  dashed  upon  man  by  himself,  and  his  own  fault ;  for  it  is 
repugnant  to  the  infinite  goodness  of  God  to  put  into  the  creature  a 
sinning  nature,  to  hurry  him  into  sin,  and  then  punish  him  for  that 
which  he  had  impressed  upon  him.  The  goodness  of  God  inclines 
him  to  love  goodness  wherever  he  finds  it ;  and  not  to  punish  any 
that  have  not  deserved  it  by  their  own  crimes.  The  curse  we  there- 
fore see  the  creatures  groan  under,  the  disorders  in  nature,  the  frus- 
trating the  expectations  of  man  in  the  fruits  of  the  earth  and  plenti- 
ful harvests,  the  trouble  he  is  continually  exposed  to  in  the  world, 
which  tedders  down  his  spirit  from  more  generous  employments, 
shows  that  man  is  not  what  he  was  when  Divine  goodness  first 
erected  him  ;  but  hath  admitted  into  his  nature  something  more  un- 
comely in  the  eye  of  God  ;  and  so  heinous,  that  it  puts  his  goodness 
sometimes  to  a  stand,  and  makes  him  lay  aside  the  blessings  his  hand 
was  filled  with,  to  take  up  the  arms  of  vengeance,  wherewith  to  fight 
against  the  world.  Divine  goodness  would  have  secured  his  crea- 
tures from  any  such  invasions,  and  never  used  those  things  against 
man,  which  he  designed  in  the  first  frame  for  man's  service,  were 
there  not  some  detestable  disorder  risen  in  the  nature  of  man  which 
makes  God  withhold  his  liberality  and  change  the  dispensation  of 
Lis  numerous  benefits  into  legions  of  judgments.  The  consideration 
of  the  Divine  goodness,  which  is  a  notion  that  man  naturally  con- 
cludes to  be  inseparable  from  the  Deity,  would,  to  an  unbiassed  rea- 
son, verify  the  history  of  those  punishments  settled  upon  man  in  the 
third  chapter  of  Genesis,  and  make  the  whole  seem  more  probable 
to  reason  at  the  first  relation.  This  instruction  naturally  flows  from 
the  doctrine  of  Divine  goodness :  if  God  be  so  good,  it  is  a  certain 
argument  that  man  is  fallen  from  his  original  state. 

3.  The  third  information  is  this  :  If  God  be  infinitely  good,  there 
can  be  no  just  complaint  against  God,  if  men  be  punished  for  abus- 
ing his  goodness.  Man  had  nothing,  nay,  it  was  impossible  he  could 
have  anything,  from  Infinite  Goodness  to  disoblige  him,  but  to  en- 
gage him.  God  never  did,  nay,  never  could,  draw  his  sword  against 
man,  till  man  had  slighted  him  and  aftronted  him  by  the  strength 
of  his  own  bounty.  It  is  by  this  God  doth  justify  his  severest  pro- 
ceedings against  men,  and  very  seldom  charges  them  with  any  else 
as  the  matter  of  their  provocations  (Hos.  ii.  9):  "Therefore  will  I 
return,  and  take  away  my  corn  in  the  time  thereof,  and  my  wine  in 
the  season  thereof,  and  will  recover  my  wool  and  my  flax."  And 
in  Ezek.  xvi.,  after  he  had  drawn  out  a  bill  of  complaint  against 
them,  and  inserted  only  the  abuse  of  his  benefits,  as  a  justification 
of  what  he  intended  to  do  ;  he  concludes  (ver.  27),  "  Behold,  there- 
fore, I  have  stretched  out  my  hand  over  thee,  and  diminished  thy 
ordinary  food,  and  delivered  thee  unto  the  will  of  them  that  hate 
thee."  When  men  suffer,  they  suffer  justly ;  they  were  not  con- 
strained by  any  violence,  or  forced  by  any  necessity,  nor  provoked 
by  any  ill  usage,  to  turn  head  against  God,  but  broke  the  bands  of 


ON   THE   GOODNESS   OF   GOD.  827 

the  strongest  obligations  and  most  tender  allurements.  What  man, 
what  devil,  can  justly  blame  Grod  for  punishing  them,  after  they  had 
been  so  intolerably  bold,  as  to  fly  in  the  face  of  that  goodness  that 
had  obliged  them,  by  giving  them  beings  of  a  higher  elevation  than 
to  inferior  creatures,  and  furnishing  them  with  sufficient  strength  to 
continue  in  their  first  habitation  ?  Man  seems  to  have  less  reason  to 
accuse  God  of  rigor  than  devils ;  since,  after  his  unreasonable  re- 
volt, a  more  express  goodness  than  that  which  created  him  hath  soli- 
cited him  to  repentance,  courted  him  by  melting  promises  and  ex- 
postulations, added  undeniable  arguments  of  bounty,  and  drawn  out 
the  choicest  treasures  of  heaven,  in  the  gift  of  his  Son,  to  prevail 
over  men's  perversity.  And  yet  man,  after  he  might  arrive  to  the 
height  and  happiness  of  an  angel,  will  be  fond  of  continuing  in  the 
meanness  and  misery  of  a  devil ;  and  more  strongly  link  himself  to 
the  society  of  the  damned  spirits,  wherein,  by  his  first  rebellion,  he 
had  incorporated  Inmself.  Who  can  blame  God  for  vindicating  his 
own  goodness  from  such  desperate  contempts,  and  the  extreme  in- 
gratitude of  man  ?  If  God  be  good,  it  is  our  happiness  to  adhere  to 
him  ;  if  Ave  dejDart  from  him,  we  depart  from  goodness ;  and  if  evil 
happen  to  us,  we  cannot  blam.e  God,  but  ourselves,  for  our  depar- 
ture.n  Why  are  men  happy  ?  because  they  cleave  to  God.  Why 
are  men  miserable  ?  because  they  recede  from  God.  It  is  then  our 
own  fault  that  we  are  miserable  ;  God  cannot  be  charged  with  any 
injustice  if  we  be  miserable,  since  his  goodness  gave  means  to  pre- 
vent it,  and  afterwards  added  means  to  recover  us  from  it,  but  all 
despised  by  us.  The  doctrine  of  Divine  goodness  justifies  every 
stone  laid  in  the  foundation  of  hell,  and  every  spark  in  that  burn- 
ing furnace,  since  it  is  for  the  abuse  of  infinite  goodness  that  it  was 
kindled. 

4.  The  fourth  information :  Here  is  a  certain  argument,  both  for 
God's  fitness  to  govern  the  world,  and  his  actual  government  of  it. 

(1.)  This  renders  him  fit  for  the  government  of  the  world,  and 
gives  him  a  full  title  to  it.  This  perfection  doth  the  Psalmist  cele- 
brate throughout  the  107th  Psalm,  where  he  declares  God's  works  of 
providence  (ver.  8,  15,  21,  32).  Power  without  goodness  would  de- 
face, instead  of  preserving ;  ruin  is  the  fruit  of  rigor  without  kind- 
ness ;  but  God,  because  of  his  infinite  and  immutable  goodness, 
cannot  do  anything  unworthy  of  himself,  and  uncomely  in  itself,  or 
destructive  to  any  moral  goodness  in  the  creature.  It  is  impossible 
he  should  do  anything  that  is  base,  or  act  anything  but  for  the  best, 
because  he  is  essentially  and  naturally,  and,  therefore,  necessarily 
good.  As  a  good  tree  cannot  bring  forth  bad  fruit,  so  a  good  God 
cannot  produce  evil  acts,  no  more  than  a  pure  beam  of  the  sun  can 
engender  so  much  as  a  mite  of  darkness,  or  infinite  heat  produce  any 
particle  of  cold.  As  God  is  so  much  light,  that  he  can  be  no  dark- 
ness, so  he  is  so  much  good,  that  he  can  have  no  evil ;  and  because 
there  is  no  evil  in  him,  nothing  simply  evil  can  be  produced  by  him. 
Since  he  is  good  by  nature,  all  evil  is  against  his  nature,  and  Gotl 
can  do  nothing  against  his  nature ;  it  would  be  a  part  of  impotence 
in  him  to  will  that  which  is  evil ;  and,  therefore,  the  misery  man 

»   Petav.  Theolog.  Dogmat.  Vol.  I.  p.  407. 


828  CHARNOCK  ON  THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

feels,  as  well  as  the  sin  whereby  he  deserves  that  misery,  are  said  to 
be  from  himself  (Hos.  xiii.  9) :  "0  Israel,  thou  hast  destroyed  thy- 
self!"  And  though  God  sends  judgments  upon  the  world,  we  have 
shown  these  to  be  intended  for  the  support  and  vindication  of  his 
goodness.  And  Hezekiah  judged  no  otherwise,  when,  after  the 
threatening  of  the  devastation  of  his  house,  the  plundering  his  treas- 
ures, and  captivity  of  his  posterity,  he  replies,  "  Good  is  the  word  of 
the  Lord,  which  thou  hast  spoken"  (Isa.  xxxix.  8).  God  cannot  act 
anything  that  is  base  and  cruel,  because  his  goodness  is  as  infinite  as 
his  power,  and  his  power  acts  nothing  but  what  his  wisdom  directs, 
and  his  goodness  moves  him  to.  Wisdom  is  the  head  in  government, 
omniscience  the  eye,  power  the  arm,  and  goodness  the  heart  and 
spirit  in  them,  that  animates  all. 

(2.)  As  goodness  renders  Him  fit  to  govern  the  world,  so  God  doth 
actually  govern  the  world.  Can  we  understand  this  perfection  aright, 
and  yet  imagine  that  he  is  of  so  morose  a  disposition  as  to  neglect 
the  care  of  his  creatures  ?  that  his  excellency,  which  was  displayed 
in  framing  the  world,  should  withdraw  and  wrap  up  itself  in  his  own 
bosom,  without  looking  out,  and  darting  itself  out  in  the  disposal 
of  them  ?  Can  that  which  moved  him  first  to  erect  a  world,  suffer 
him  to  be  unmindful  of  his  own  work  ?  Would  he  design  first  to 
display  it  in  creation,  and  afterwards  obscure  the  honor  of  it  ?  That 
cannot  be  entitled  an  infinite  permanent  goodness,  which  should  be 
so  indifferent  as  to  let  the  creatures  tumble  together  as  they  please, 
without  any  order,  after  he  had  moulded  them  in  his  hand.  If  good- 
ness be  diffusive  and  communicative  of  itself,  can  it  consist  with  the 
nature  of  it,  to  extend  itself  to  the  giving  the  creatures  being,  and 
then  withdraw  and  contract  itself,  not  caring  what  becomes  of  them  ? 
It  is  the  nature  of  goodness,  after  it  hath  communicated  itself,  to  en- 
large its  channels ;  that  fountain  that  springs  up  in  a  little  hollow 
part  of  the  earth,  doth  in  a  short  progress  increase  its  streams,  and 
widen  the  passages  through  which  it  runs ;  it  would  be  a  blemish  to 
Divine  goodness,  if  it  did  desert  what  it  made,  and  leave  things  to 
wild  confusions,  which  would  be,  if  a  good  hand  did  not  manage 
them,  and  a  good  mind  preside  over  them.  This  is  the  lesson  in- 
tended to  us  by  all  his  judgments  (Dan.  iv.  17),  "  That  the  living 
may  know  that  the  Most  High  rules  in  the  kingdoms  of  men."  If 
he  doth  not  actually  govern  the  world,  he  must  have  devolved  it 
somewhere,  either  to  men  or  angels ;  not  to  men,  who  naturally  want 
a  goodness  and  wisdom  to  govern  themselves,  much  more  to  govern 
others  exactly.  And,  besides  the  misinterpretations  of  actions,  they 
are  liable  to  the  want  of  patience,  to  bear  with  the  provocations  of 
the  world ;  since  some  of  the  best  at  one  time  in  the  world,  and,  in  the 
greatest  example  of  meekness  and  sweetness,  would  have  kindled  a 
fire  in  heaven  to  have  consumed  the  Samaritans,  for  no  other  affront 
than  a  non-entertainment  of  their  Master  and  themselves  (Luke  ix. 
54).  Nor  hath  he  committed  the  disposal  of  things  to  angels,  either 
good  or  bad ;  though  he  usetli  them  as  instruments  in  his  govern- 
ment, yet  they  are  not  the  principal  pilots  to  steer  the  world.  Bad 
angels  certainly  are  not ;  they  would  make  continual  ravages,  med- 
itate ruin,  never  defeat  their  own  counsels,  which  they  manage  by  the 


ON  THE  GOODNESS  OF  GOD.  329 

wicked  as  tlie  instruments  in  tlie  world,  nor  fill  their  spirits  with  dis- 
quiet and  restlessness  when  they  are  engaged  in  some  ruinous  design, 
as  often  is  experienced :  nor  hath  he  committed  it  to  the  good  angels, 
who,  for  aught  we  know,  are  not  more  numerous  than  the  evil  ones 
are ;  but  besides,  we  can  scarcely  think  their  finite  nature  capable  of 
so  much  goodness,  as  to  bear  the  innumerable  debaucheries,  villanies, 
blasj)hemies,  vented  in  one  year,  one  week,  one  day,  one  liour, 
throughout  the  world ;  their  zeal  for  their  Creator  might  well  be 
supposed  to  move  them  to  testify  their  affection  to  him  in  a  constant 
and  speedy  righting  of  his  injured  honor  upon  the  heads  of  the  of- 
fenders. The  evil  angels  have  too  much  cruelty,  and  would  have 
no  care  of  justice,  but  take  pleasure  in  the  blood  of  the  most  inno- 
cent, as  well  as  the  most  criminal ;  and  the  good  angels  have  too 
little  tenderness  to  suffer  so  many  crimes :  since  the  world,  therefore, 
continues  Avithout  those  floods  of  judgments,  which  it  daily  merits  ; 
since,  notwithstanding  all  the  provocations,  the  order  of  it  is  pre- 
served ;  it  is  a  testimony  that  an  Infinite  Goodness  holds  the  helm  in 
his  hands,  and  spreads  its  warm  wings  over  it. 

5.  The  fifth  information  is  this :  Hence  we  may  infer  the  ground 
of  all  religion ;  it  is  this  perfection  of  goodness.  As  the  goodness 
of  God  is  the  lustre  of  all  his  attributes,  so  it  is  the  foundation  and 
link  of  all  true  religious  worship :  the  natural  religion  of  the  hea- 
thens was  introduced  by  the  consideration  of  Divine  goodness,  in 
the  being  he  had  bestowed  upon  them,  and  the  provisions  that  were 
made  for  them.  Divine  bounty  was  the  motive  to  erect  altars,  and 
present  sacrifices,  though  they  mistook  the  object  of  their  worship, 
and  offered  the  dues  of  the  Creator  to  the  instruments  whereby  he 
conveyed  his  benefits  to  them  :  and  you  find,  that  the  religion  insti- 
tuted by  him  among  the  Jews,  was  enforced  upon  them  by  the  con- 
sideration of  their  miraculous  deliverance  from  Egypt,  the  preserva- 
tion of  them  in  the  wilderness,  and  the  enfeoffing  them  in  a  land 
flowing  with  milk  and  honey.  Every  act  of  bounty  and  success  the 
heathens  received,  moved  them  to  appoint  new  feasts,  and  repeat 
their  adorations  of  those  deities  they  thought  the  authors  and  promo- 
ters of  their  victories  and  welfare.  The  devil  did  not  mistake  the 
common  sentiment  of  the  world  in  Divine  service,  when  he  alleged 
to  God,  that  "Job  did  not  fear  him  for  nought,"  i.  e.  worship  him  for 
nothing  (Job  i.  OV  All  acts  of  devotion  take  their  rise  from  God's 
liberality,  either  irom  what  they  have  or  from  what  they  hope ;  praise 
speaks  the  possession,  and  praj'er  the  expectation,  of  some  benefit 
from  his  hand :  though  some  of  the  heathens  made  fear  to  be  the 
prime  cause  of  the  acknowledgment  and  worship  of  a  deity,  yet 
surely  something  else  besides  and  beyond  this  established  so  great  a 
thing  as  religion  in  the  world  ;  an  ingenuous  religion  could  never 
have  been  born  into  the  world  without  a  notion  of  goodness,  and 
would  have  gaped  its  last  as  soon  as  this  notion  should  have  expired 
in  the  minds  of  men.  What  encouragement  can  fear  of  power  give, 
without  sense  of  goodness?  just  as  much  as  thunder  hath,  to  invite 
a  man  to  the  place  where  it  is  like  to  fall,  and  crush  him.  The  na- 
ture of  "  fear"  is  to  drive  from,  and  the  na,ture  of  "  goodness"  to  al- 
lure to,  the  object :  the  Divine  thunders,  prodigies,  and  other  armies 


330  CHARNOCK   ON  THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

of  his  justice  in  the  world,  which  are  the  marks  of  his  power,  could 
conclude  in  nothing  but  a  slavish  worship  :  fear  alone  would  have 
made  men  blaspheme  the  Deity ;  instead  of  serving  him,  they  would 
have  fretted  against  him ;  they  might  have  offered  him  a  trembling 
Avorship  ;  but  they  could  never  have,  in  their  minds,  thought  him 
worthy  of  an  adoration  ;  they  Avould  rather  have  secretly  complained 
of  him,  and  cursed  him  in  their  heart,  than  inwarly  have  admired 
him :  the  issue  would  have  been  the  same,  which  Job's  wife  advised 
him  to,  when  God  withdrew  his  protection  fr.om  his  goods  and  body : 
"  Curse  God,  and  die"  (Job  ii.  9).  It  is  certainly  the  common  senti- 
ment of  men,  that  he  that  acts  cruelly  and  tyrannically,  is  not  worthy 
of  an  integrity  to  be  retained  towards  him  in  the  hearts  of  his  subjects; 
but  Job  fortifies  himself  against  this  temptation  from  his  bosom  friend, 
by  the  consideration  of  the  good  he  had  received  from  God,  which 
did  more  deserve  a  worship  from  him  than  the  present  evil  had  reason 
to  discourage  it,  Alas !  what  is  only  feared,  is  hated,  not  adored. 
Would  any  seek  to  an  irreconcileable  enemy  ?  would  any  person  af- 
fectionately list  himself  in  the  service  of  a  man  void  of  all  good  dis- 
position? would  any  distressed  person  put  up  a  petition  to  that 
prince,  who  never  gave  any  experiment  of  the  sweetness  of  his  na- 
ture, but  always  satiated  himself  Avith  the  blood  of  the  meanest  crim- 
inals ?  All  afl'ection  to  service  is  rooted  up  when  hopes  of  receiving 
good  are  extinguished :  there  could  not  be  a  spark  of  that  in  the 
world,  which  is  properly  called  religion,  without  a  notion  of  goodness ; 
the  existence  of  God  is  the  first  pillar,  and  the  goodness  of  God  in 
rewarding  the  next,  upon  Avhich  coming  to  him  (which  includes  all 
acts  of  devotion)  is  established  (Heb.  xi.  6);  "He  that  comes  unto 
God,  must  believe  that  he  is,  and  that  he  is  a  rcAvarder  of  them  that 
diligently  seek  him :"  if  either  of  those  pillars  be  not  thought  to 
stand  firm,  all  religion  falls  to  the  ground.  It  is  this,  as  the  most 
agreeable  motive,  that  the  apostle  James  uses,  to  encourage  men's 
approach  to  God,  because  "  he  gives  liberally,  and  upbraideth  not" 
(James  i.  5).«  A  man  of  a  kind  heart  and  a  bountiful  hand  shall 
have  his  gate  thronged  with  suppliants,  who  sometimes  would  be 
willing  to  lay  down  their  lives  ;  "for  a  good  man  one  would  even 
dare  to  die:"  when  one  of  a  niggardly  or  tyrannical  temper  shall  be 
destitute  of  all  free  and  affectionate  applications.  What  eyes  would 
be  lifted  up  to  heaven  ?  what  hands  stretched  out,  if  there  were  not 
a  knowledge  of  goodness  there  to  enliven  their  hojDCS  of  speeding  in 
their  petitions  ?  Therefore  Christ  orders  our  prayers  to  be  directed 
to  God  as  a  Father,  which  is  a  title  of  tenderness,  as  well  as  a  "  Father 
in  heaven,"  a  mark  of  his  greatness ;  the  one  to  support  our  confi- 
dence, as  well  as  the  other  to  preserve  our  distance.  God  could  not 
be  ingenuously  adored  and  acknowledged,  if  he  Avere  not  liberal  as 
Avell  as  poAverful ;  the  goodness  of  God  is  the  foundation  of  all  in- 
genuous religion,  devotion  and  worship. 

6.  The  sixth  instruction :  The  goodness  of  God  renders  God 
amiable.  His  goodness  renders  him  beautiful,  and  his  beauty  ren- 
ders him  lovely;  both  are  linked  together  (Zech.  ix.  17) :  "  Hoav 
great  is  his  goodness  !  and  hoAV  great  is  his  beauty  !"  This  is  the 
most  poAverful  attractive,  and  masters  the  affections  of  the  soul :  it 


ON  THE   GOODNESS   OF   GOD.  331 

is  goodness  only  supposed,  or  real,  that  is  tliouglit  worthy  to  demerit 
our  affections  to  anything.  If  there  be  not  a  reality  of  this,  or  at 
least  an  opinion  and  estimation  of  it  in  an  object,  it  would  want  a 
force  and  vigor  to  allure  our  will.  This  perfection  of  God  is  the 
loadstone  to  draw  us,  and  the  centre  for  our  spirits  to  rest  in. 

1.  This  renders  God  amiable  to  himself.  His  goodness  is  his 
"  Godhead"  (Kom.  i.  20) :  by  his  Godhead  is  meant  his  goodness ;  if 
he  loves  his  Godhead  for  itself,  he  loves  his  goodness  for  itself ;  he 
would  not  be  good,  if  he  did  not  love  himself;  and  if  there  were 
anything  more  excellent,  and  had  a  greater  goodness  than  himself, 
he  would  not  be  good  if  he  did  not  love  that  greater  goodness  above 
himself ;  for  not  only  a  hatred  of  goodness  is  evil,  but  an  indifferent 
or  cold  affection  to  goodness  hath  a  tincture  of  evil  in  it.  If  God 
were  not  good,  and  yet  should  love  himself  in  the  highest  manner, 
he  would  be  the  greatest  evil,  and  do  the  greatest  evil  in  that  act ; 
for  he  would  set  his  love  upon  that  which  is  not  the  proper  object 
of  such  an  affection,  but  the  object  of  aversion :  his  own  infinite 
excellency,  and  goodness  of  his  nature,  renders  him  lovely  and  de- 
lightful to  himself ;  without  this  he  could  not  love  himself  in  a  com- 
mendable and  worthy  way,  and  becoming  the  purity  of  a  Deity ; 
and  he  cannot  but  love  himself  for  this ;  for,  as  creatures,  by  not 
loving  him  as  the  supreme  good,  deny  him  to  be  the  choicest  good, 
so  God  would  deny  himself,  and  his  own  goodness,  if  he  did  not 
love  himself,  and  that  for  his  goodness.  But  the  apostle  tells  us,  that 
"  God  cannot  deny  himself"  (2  Tim.  ii.  13).  Self-love,  upon  this  ac- 
count, is  the  only  prerogative  of  God,  because  there  is  not  anything 
better  than  himself  that  can  lay  any  just  claim  to  his  affections  :  he 
only  ought  to  love  himself,  and  it  would  be  an  injustice  in  him  to 
himself,  if  he  did  not.  He  only  can  love  himself  for  this  :  an  infin- 
ite goodness  ought  to  be  infinitely  loved,  but  he  only  being  infinite, 
can  only  love  himself  according  to  the  due  merit  of  his  own  good- 
ness. He  cannot  be  so  amiable  to  any  man,  to  any  angel,  to  the 
highest  seraphim,  as  he  is  to  himself;  because  he  is  only  capable  in 
regard  of  his  infinite  wisdom,  to  know  the  infiniteness  of  his  own 
goodness.  And  no  creature  can  love  him  as  he  ought  to  be  loved, 
unless  it  had  the  same  infinite  capacity  of  understanding  to  know 
him,  and  of  affection  to  embrace  him.  This  first  renders  God 
amiable  to  himself. 

2.  It  ought  therefore  to  render  him  amiable  to  us.  "What  renders 
him  lovely  to  his  own  eye,  ought  to  render  him  so  to  ours ;  and 
since,  by  the  shortness  of  our  understandings,  we  cannot  love  him 
as  he  merits,  yet  we  should  be  induced  by  the  measures  of  his 
bounty,  to  love  him  as  we  can.  If  this  do  not  present  him  lovely  to 
us,  we  own  him  rather  a  devil  than  a  God :  if  his  goodness  moved 
him  to  frame  creatures,  his  goodness  moved  him  also  to  frame  crea- 
tures for  himself  and  his  own  glor}^  It  is  a  mighty  wrong  to  him 
not  to  look  with  a  delightful  eye  upon  the  marks  of  it,  and  return 
an  affection  to  God  in  some  measure  suitable  to  his  liberality  to  us  ; 
we  are  descended  as  low  as  brutes,  if  we  understand  him  not  to  be 
the  perfect  good ;  and  we  are  descended  as  low  as  devils,  if  our 
affections  are  not  attracted  by  it. 


832  CHARNOCK  ON  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

•# 

(1.)  If  God  were  not  infinitely  good,  he  could  not  be  the  object  of 
supreme  love.  If  he  were  finitely  good,  there  might  be  other  things 
as  good  as  God,  and  then  God  in  justice  could  not  challenge  our 
choicest  affections  to  him  above  anything  else :  it  would  be  a  de- 
fect of  goodness  in  him  to  demand  it,  because  he  would  despoil 
that  which  were  equally  good  with  him,  of  its  due  and  right  to  our 
affections,  which  it  might  claim  from  us  upon  the  account  of  its 
goodness :  God  would  be  unjust  to  challenge  more  than  was  due 
to  him ;  for  he  would  claim  that  chiefly  to  himself  which  another 
had  a  laAvful  share  in.  Nothing  can  be  supremely  loved  that  hath 
not  a  triumphant  excellency  above  all  other  things ;  where  is  an 
equality  of  goodness,  neither  can  justly  challenge  a  supremacy,  but 
only  an  equality  of  affection. 

(2.)  This  attribute  of  goodness  renders  him  more  lovely  than 
any  other  attribute.  He  never  requires  our  adoration  of  him  so 
much  as  the  strongest  or  wisest,  but  as  the  best  of  beings :  he 
uses  this  chiefly  to  constrain  and  allure  us.  Why  would  he  be 
feared  or  worshipped,  but  because  "  there  is  forgiveness  with  him" 
(Ps.  cxxx.  4')  ?  it  is  for  his  goodness'  sake  that  he  is  sued  to  by 
his  people  m  distress  (Ps.  xxv.  7),  "  For  thy  goodness'  sake,  O 
Lord."  Men  may  be  admired  because  of  their  knowledge,  but  they 
are  affected  because  of  their  goodness :  the  will,  in  all  the  variety 
of  objects  it  pursues,  centres  in  this  one  thing  of  good  as  the 
term  of  its  appetite.  All  things  are  beloved  by  men,  because  they 
have  been  bettered  by  them.  Severity  can  never  conquer  enmity, 
and  kindle  love :  were  there  nothing  but  wrath  in  the  Deity,  it 
Avould  make  him  be  feared,  but  render  him  odious,  and  that  to 
an  innocent  nature.  As  the  spouse  speaks  of  Christ  (Cant.  v.  10, 
11),  so  we  may  of  God :  though  she  commends  him  for  his  head, 
the  excellency  of  his  wisdom ;  his  eyes,  the  extent  of  his  omnis- 
cience ;  his  hands,  the  greatness  of  his  power ;  and  his  legs,  the 
swiftness  of  his  motions  and  ways  to  and  for  his  people ;  yet  the 
"  sweetness  of  his  mouth,"  in  his  gracious  words  and  promises, 
closes  all,  and  is  followed  with  nothing  but  an  exclamation,  that 
"  he  is  altogether  lovely"  (ver.  16).  His  mouth,  in  pronouncing 
pardon  of  sin,  and  justification  of  the  person,  presents  him  most 
lovely.  His  power  to  do  good  is  admirable,  but  his  will  to  do 
good  is  amiable :  this  puts  a  gloss  upon  all  his  other  attributes. 
Though  he  had  knowledge  to  understand  the  depth  of  our  neces- 
sities, and  power  to  prevent  them,  or  rescue  us  from  them,  yet 
his  knowledge  would  be  fruitless,  and  his  power  useless,  if  he 
were  of  a  rigid  nature,  and  not  touched  with  any  sentiments  of 
kindness. 

(3.)  This  goodness  therefore  lays  a  strong  obligation  upon  us. 
It  is  true  he  is  lovely  in  regard  of  his  absolute  goodness,  or  the 
goodness  of  his  nature,  but  we  should  hardly  be  persuaded  to  re- 
turn him  an  affection  without  his  relative  goodness,  his  benefits 
to  his  creatures ;  we  are  obliged  by  both  to  love  him. 

[1.]  By  his  absolute  goodness,  or  the  goodness  of  his  nature. 
Suppose  a  creature  had  drawn  its  original  from  something  else 
wherein  God  had   no   influx,  and   had   never   received   the   least 


ON   THE   GOODNESS   OF   GOD.  333 

mite  of  a  benefit  from  him,  but  from  some  other  hand,  yet  the 
infinite  excellency  and  goodness  of  his  nature  would  merit  the 
love  of  that  creature,  and  it  would  act  sordidly  and  disingenuous- 
ly if  it  did  not  discover  a  mighty  respect  for  God :  for  what  in- 
genuity could  there  be  in  a  rational  creature,  that  were  possessed 
with  no  esteem  for  any  nature  filled  with  unbounded  goodness  and 
excellency,  though  he  had  never  been  obliged  to  him  for  any  favor? 
That  man  is  accounted  odious,  and  justly  despicable  by  man,  that 
reproaches  and  disesteems,  nay,  that  doth  not  value  a  person  of  a 
high  virtue  in  himself,  and  an  universal  goodness  and  charity  to 
others,  though  himself  never  stood  in  need  of  his  charity,  and  never 
had  any  benefit  conveyed  from  his  hands,  nor  ever  saw  his  face,  or 
had  any  commerce  with  him  :  a  value  of  such  a  person  is  but  a  just 
due  to  the  natural  claim  of  virtue.  And,  indeed,  the  first  object  of  love 
is  God  in  the  excellency  of  his  own  nature,  as  the  first  object  of  love 
in  marriage  is  the  person  ;  the  portion  is  a  thing  consequent  upon 
it.  To  love  God  only  for  his  benefits,  is  to  lov-e  ourselves  first,  and 
him  secondarily  :  to  love  God  for  his  own  goodness  and  excellency, 
is  a  true  love  of  God  ;  a  love  of  him  for  himself  That  flaming  fire 
in  his  own  breast,  though  we  have  not  a  spark  of  it,  hath  a  right  to 
kindle  one  in  ours  to  him. 

[2.]  By  his  relative  goodness,  or  that  of  his  benefits.  Though  the 
excellency  of  his  own  nature,  wherein  there  is  a  combination  of  good- 
ness, must  needs  ravish  an  apprehensive  mind ;  yet  a  reflection  upon 
his  imparted  kindness,  both  in  the  beings  we  have  from  him,  and 
the  support  we  have  by  him,  must  enhance  his  estimation.  When 
the  excellency  of  his  nature,  and  the  expressions  of  his  bounty  are 
in  conjunction,  the  excellency  of  his  own  nature  renders  him  estima- 
ble in  a  way  of  justice,  and  the  greatness  of  his  benefits  renders  him 
valuable  in  a  way  of  gTatitude :  the  first  ravisheth,  and  the  other 
allures  and  melts :  he  hath  enough  in  his  nature  to  attract,  and  sufii- 
cient  in  his  bounty  to  engage  our  affections.  The  excellency  of  his 
nature  is  strong  enough  of  itself  to  blow  up  our  affections  to  him, 
were  there  not  a  malignity  in  our  hearts  that  represents  him  under 
the  notion  of  an  enemy ;  therefore  in  regard  of  our  corrupt  state,  the 
consideration  of  Divine  largesses  comes  in  for  a  share  in  tlic  elevation 
of  our  affections.  For,  indeed,  it  is  a  very  hard  thing  for  a  man  to 
love  another,  though  never  so  well  qualified,  and  of  an  eminent  vir- 
tue, while  he  believes  him  to  be  his  enemy,  and  one  that  will  severely 
handle  him,  though  he  hath  before  received  many  good  turns  from 
him ;  the  virtue,  valor,  and  courtesy  of  a  prince,  will  hardly  make 
him  affected  by  those  against  whom  he  is  in  arms,  and  that  are  daily 
pilfered  by  his  soldiers,  unless  they  have  hopes  of  a  reparation  from 
him,  and  future  security  from  injuries.  Christ,  in  the  repetition  of 
the  command  to  "love  God  with  all  our  mind,  with  all  our  heart, 
and  with  all  our  soul,"  i.  e.  with  such  an  ardency  above  all  things 
which  glitter  in  our  eye,  or  can  be  created  by  him,  considers  him  as 
"our  God"  (Matt.  xxii.  37).  And  the  Psalmist  considers  him  as  one 
that  had  kindly  employed  his  power  for  him,  in  the  eruption  of  his 
love  (Ps.  xviii.  1),  "  I  will  love  thee,  0  Lord,  my  strength ;"  and  so 
in  Ps.  cxvi.  1,  "  I  love  the  Lord,  because  he  hath  heard  the  voice 


334  CHAENOCK  ON  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

of  my  supplications,"  An  esteem  of  the  benefactor  is  inseparable 
from  gratitude  for  the  received  benefits :  and  should  not  then  the 
unparalleled  kindness  of  God  advance  him  in  our  thoughts,  much 
more  than  slighter  courtesies  do  a  created  benefactor  in  ours  ?  It  is 
an  obligation  on  every  man's  nature  to  answer  bounty  with  gratitude, 
and  goodness  with  love.  Hence  you  never  knew  any  man,  nor  can 
the  records  of  eternity  produce  any  man,  or  devil,  that  ever  hated 
any  person,  or  anything  as  good  in  itself:  it  is  a  thing  absolutely 
repugnant  to  the  nature  of  any  rational  creature.  The  devils  hate 
not  God  because  he  is  good,  but  because  he  is  not  so  good  to  them 
as  they  would  have  him ;  because  he  will  not  unlock  their  chains,  turn 
them  into  liberty,  and  restore  them  to  happiness ;  ^,  e.  because  he  will 
not  desert  the  rights  of  abused  goodness.  But  how  should  we  send 
up  flames  of  love  to  that  God,  since  we  are  under  his  direct  beams, 
and  enjoy  such  plentiful  influences !  If  the  sun  is  comely  in  itself, 
yet  it  is  more  amiable  to  us,  by  the  light  we  see,  and  the  warmth  we 
feel. 

1st.  The  greatness  of  his  benefits  have  reason  to  affect  us  with  a 
love  to  him.  The  impress  he  made  upon  our  souls  when  he  extracted 
us  from  the  darkness  of  nothing ;  the  comeliness  he  hath  put  upon  us 
by  his  own  breath ;  the  care  he  took  of  our  recovery,  when  we  had 
lost  ourselves ;  the  expense  he  was  at  for  our  regaining  our  defaced 
beauty ;  the  gift  he  made  of  his  Son ;  the  affectionate  calls  we  have 
heard  to  over-master  our  corrupt  appetites,  move  us  to  repentance, 
and  make  us  disaffect  our  beloved  misery ;  the  loud  sound  of  his 
word  in  our  ears,  and  the  more  inward  knockings  of  his  Spirit  in 
our  heart;  the  offering  us  the  gift  of  himself,  and  the  everlasting 
happiness  he  courts  us  to,  besides  those  common  favors  we  enjoy  in 
the  world,  which  are  all  the  streams  of  his  rich  bounty :  the  voice 
of  all  is  loud  enough  to  solicit  our  love,  and  the  merit  of  all  ought 
to  be  strong  enough  to  engage  our  love :  "  there  is  none  like  the  God 
of  Jeshurun,  who  rides  upon  the  heaven  in  thy  help,  and  in  his  ex- 
cellency on  the  sky"  (Dent,  xxxiii.  26). 

2d,  The  unmeritedness  of  them  doth  enhance  this.  It  is  but  reason 
to  love  him  who  hath  loved  us  first  (1  John  iv.  19).  Hath  he  placed 
his  delight  upon  any  when  they  were  nothing,  and  after  they  were 
sinful ;  and  shall  he  set  his  delight  upon  such  vile  persons,  and  shall 
not  we  set  our  love  upon  so  excellent  an  object  as  himself?  How 
base  are  we,  if  his  goodness  doth  not  constrain  us  to  affect  him  who 
hath  been  so  free  in  his  favor  to  us,  who  have  merited  the  quite  con- 
trary at  his  hands  ?  If  "  his  tender  mercies  are  over  all  his  works" 
(Ps.  cxlv.  9),  he  ought  for  it  to  be  esteemed  by  all  his  works  that  are 
capable  of  a  rational  estimation. 

3d.  Goodness  in  creatures  makes  them  estimable,  much  more 
should  the  goodness  of  God  render  him  lovely  to  us.  If  we  love  a 
little  spark  of  goodness  in  this  or  that  creature,  if  a  drop  be  so  de- 
licious to  us,  shall  not  the  immense  Sun  of  goodness,  the  ever-flowing 
Fountain  of  all,  be  much  more  delightful  ?  The  original  excellency 
always  outstrips  what  is  derived  from  it ;  if  so  mean  and  contracted 
an  object  as  a  little  creature  deserves  estimation  for  a  little  mite  com- 
municated to  it,  so  great  and  extended  a  goodness  as  is  in  the  Creator 


ON  THE   GOODNESS   OF   GOD.  335 

much  more  merits  it  at  our  hands:  he  is  good  after  the  infinite 
methods  of  a  Deity :  a  weak  resemblance  is  lovely ;  much  more  ami- 
able, then,  must  be  the  incomprehensible  original  of  that  beauty. 
We  love  creatures  for  what  we  think  to  be  good  in  them,  though  it 
may  be  hurtful ;  and  shall  we  not  love  God,  who  is  a  real  and  un- 
blemished goodness,  and  from  whose  hand  are  poured  out  all  those 
blessings  that  are  conveyed  to  us  by  second  causes?  The  object 
that  delights  us,  the  capacity  we  have  to  delight  in  it,  are  both  from 
him ;  our  love,  therefore,  to  him  should  transcend  the  affection  we 
bear  to  any  instruments  he  moves  for  our  welfare.  "  Among  the 
gods,  there  is  none  like  thee,  O  Lord,  neither  are  there  any  worlcs 
like  unto  thy  works"  (Ps.  Ixxxvi.  8):  among  the  pleasantest  crea- 
tures there  is  none  like  the  Creator,  nor  any  goodness  like  unto  his 
goodness.  Shall  we  love  the  food  that  nourisheth  us,  and  the  med- 
icine that  cures  us,  and  the  silver  whereby  we  furnish  ourselves  with 
useful  commodities  ?  Shall  we  love  a  horse,  or  dog,  for  the  benefits 
we  have  by  them  ?  and  shall  not  the  spring  of  all  those  draw  our 
souls  after  it,  and  make  us  aspire  to  the  honor  of  loving  and  em- 
bracing Him  who  hath  stored  every  creature  with  that  which  may 
pleasure  us  ?  But,  instead  of  endeavoring  to  parallel  our  affection 
with  his  kindness,  we  endeavor  to  make  our  disingenuity  as  exten- 
sive and  towering  as  his  Divine  goodness. 

4th.  This  is  the  true  end  of  the  manifestation  of  his  goodness,  that 
he  might  appear  amiable,  and  have  a  return  of  affection.  Did  God 
display  his  goodness  only  to  be  thought  of,  or  to  be  loved  ?  It  is 
the  want  of  such  a  return,  that  he  hath  usually  aggravated,  from  the 
benefits  he  hath  bestowed  upon  men.  Every  thought  of  him  should 
be  attended  with  a  motion  suitable  to  the  excellency  of  his  nature 
and  works.  Can  we  think  those  nobler  spirits,  the  angels,  look  upon 
themselves,  or  those  frames  of  things  in  the  heavens  and  earth,  with- 
out starting  some  practical  affection  to  him  for  them  ?  Their  knowl- 
edge of  his  excellency  and  works  cannot  be  a  lazy  contemplation : 
it  is  impossible  their  wills  and  affections  should  be  a  thousand  miles 
distant  from  their  understandings  in  their  oj)erations.  It  is  not  the 
least  part  of  his  condescending  goodness  to  court  in  such  methods 
the  affections  of  us  worms,  and  manifest  his  desire  to  be  beloved  by 
us.  Let  us  give  him,  then,  that  affection  he  deserves,  as  well  as  de- 
mands, and  which  cannot  be  withheld  from  him  without  horrible 
sacrilege.  There  is  nothing  worthy  of  love  besides  him ;  let  no  fire 
be  kindled  in  our  hearts,  but  what  may  ascend  directly  to  him. 

7.  The  seventh  instruction  is  this :  This  renders  God  a  fit  object 
of  trust  and  confidence.  Since  none  is  good  but  God,  none  can  be 
a  full  and  satisfactory  ground  or  object  of  confidence  but  God:  as  all 
things  derive  their  beings,  so  they  derive  their  helpfulness  to  us  from 
God;  they  are  not,  therefore,  the  principal  objects  of  trust,  but  that 
goodness  alone  that  renders  them  fit  instruments  of  our  support ; 
they  can  no  more  challenge  from  us  a  stable  confidence,  than  they 
can  a  supreme  affection.  It  is  by  this  the  Psalmist  allures  men  to  a 
trust  in  him ;  "  Taste  and  see  how  good  the  Lord  is :"  what  is  the 
consequence?  "Blessed  is  the  man  that  trusts  in  thee"  (Ps.  xxxiv. 
8).-     The  voice  of  Divine  goodness  sounds  nothing  more  intelligibly, 


336  CHARNOCK   ON  THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

and  a  taste  of  it  producetli  nothing  more  effectually,  than  this.  As 
the  vials  of  his  justice  are  to  make  us  fear  him,  so  the  streams  of  his 
goodness  are  to  make  us  rely  on  him :  as  his  patience  is  designed  to 
broach  our  repentance,  so  his  goodness  is  most  proper  to  strengthen 
our  assurance  in  him :  that  goodness  which  surmounted  so  many 
difficulties,  and  conquered  so  many  motions  that  might  be  made 
against  any  repeated  exercise  of  it,  after  it  had  been  abused  by  the 
first  rebellion  of  man ;  that  goodness  that  after  so  much  contempt  of 
it,  appeared  in  such  a  majestic  tenderness,  and  threw  aside  those  im- 
pediments which  men  had  cast  in  the  way  of  Divine  inclinations : 
this  goodness  is  the  foundation  of  all  reliance  upon  God.  Who  is 
better  than  God  ?  and,  therefore,  who  more  to  be  trusted  than  God  ? 
As  his  power  cannot  act  anything  weakly,  so  his  goodness  cannot 
act  anything  unbecomingly,  and  unworthy  of  his  infinite  majesty. 
And  here  consider, 

(1.)  Goodness  is  the  first  motive  of  trust.  Nothing  but  this  could 
be  the  encouragement  to  man,  had  he  stood  in  a  state  of  innocence, 
to  present  himself  before  God  ;  the  majesty  of  God  would  have  con- 
strained him  to  keep  his  due  distance,  but  the  goodness  of  God  could 
only  hearten  his  confidence :  it  is  nothing  else  now  that  can  preserve 
the  same  temper  in  us  in  our  lapsed  condition.  To  regard  him  only 
as  the  Judge  of  our  crimes,  will  drive  us  from  him ;  but  only  the 
regard  of  him  as  the  Donor  of  our  blessings,  will  allure  us  to  him. 
The  principal  foundation  of  faith  is  not  the  word  of  God,  but  God 
himself,  and  God  as  considered  in  this  perfection.  As  the  goodness 
of  God  in  his  invitations  and  providential  blessings  "leads  us  to  re- 
pentence"  (Rom.  ii.  4),  so,  by  the  same  reason,  the  goodness  of  God 
by  his  promises  leads  us  to  reliance.  If  God  be  not  first  believed  to 
be  good,  he  would  not  be  believed  at  all  in  anything  that  he  speaks 
or  swears :  if  you  were  not  satisfied  in  the  goodness  of  a  man, 
though  he  should  swear  a  thousand  times,  you  would  value  neither 
his  word  nor  oath  as  any  security.  Many  times,  where  we  are  cer- 
tain of  the  goodness  of  a  man,  we  are  willing  to  trust  him  without 
his  promise.  This  Divine  perfection  gives  credit  to  the  Divine  pro- 
mises ;  they  of  tliemselves  would  not  be  a  sufficient  ground  of  trust, 
without  an  apprehension  of  his  truth ;  nor  would  his  truth  be  very 
comfortable  without  a  belief  of  his  good  will,  whereby  we  are  as- 
sured that  what  he  promises  to  give,  he  gives  liberally,  free,  and 
without  regret.  The  truth  of  the  promiser  makes  the  promise  cred- 
ible, but  the  goodness  of  the  promiser  makes  it  cheerfully  relied  on. 
In  Ps.  Ixxiii.  (Asaph's  penitential  psalm  for  his  distrust  of  God,) 
he  begins  the  first  verse  with  an  assertion  of  this  attribute  (ver.  1), 
"  Truly  God  is  good  to  Israel ;"  and  ends  with  this  fruit  of  it  (ver. 
28),  "  I  will  put  my  trust  in  the  Lord  God."  It  is  a  mighty  ill  na- 
ture that  receives  not  with  assurance  the  dictates  of  Infinite  Good- 
ness, (that  cannot  deceive  or  frustrate  the  hopes  we  conceive  of  him) 
that  is  inconceivably  more  abundant  in  the  breast  and  inclinations 
of  the  promiser,  than  expressible  in  the  words  of  his  promise,  "  All 
true  faith  works  by  love"  (Gal.  v.  6),  and,  therefore,  necessarily  in- 
cludes a  particular  eyeing  of  this  excellency  in  the  Divine  nature, 
which  renders  him  amiable,  and  is  the  motive  and  encouragement  of 


ON  THE   GOODNESS   OF  GOD.  337 

a  love  to  liim.  His  power  indeed  is  a  foundation  of  trust,  but  his 
goodness  is  the  principal  motive  of  it.  His  power  without  good-will 
Avould  be  dangerous,  and  could  not  allure  afiection ;  and  his  good- 
will without  power  would  be  useless ;  and  though  it  might  merit  a 
love,  yet  could  not  create  a  confidence;  both  in  conjunction  are 
strong  grounds  of  hope,  especially  since  his  goodness  is  of  the  same 
infinity  with  his  wisdom  and  power ;  and  that  he  can  be  no  more 
wanting  in  the  eftusions  of  this  upon  them  that  seek  him,  than  in 
his  wisdom  to  contrive,  or  his  power  to  effect,  his  designs  and  works. 

(2.)  This  goodness  is  more  the  foundation  and  motive  of  trust  un- 
der the  gospel,  than  under  the  law.  They  under  the  law  had  more 
evidences  of  Divine  power,  and  their  trust  eyed  that  much  ;  though 
there  w^as  an  eminency  of  goodness  in  the  frequent  deliverances 
they  had,  yet  the  power  of  God  had  a  more  glorious  dress  than  his 
goodness,  because  of  the  extraordinary  and  miraculous  ways  where- 
by he  brought  those  deliverances  about.  Therefore,  in  the  catalogue 
of  believers  in  Heb.  xi.  you  shall  fi^nd  the  power  of  God  to  be  the 
centre  of  their  rest  and  trust ;  and  their  faith  was  built  upon  the  ex- 
traordinary marks  of  Divine  power,  which  were  frequently  visible 
to  them.  But  under  the  gospel,  goodness  and  love  was  intended  by 
God  to  be  the  chief  object  of  trust ;  suitable  to  the  excellency  of 
that  dispensation,  he  would  have  an  exercise  of  more  ingenuity  in 
the  creatures :  therefore,  it  is  said  (Hos.  iii.  5),  a  promise  of  gospel- 
times,  "  They  shall  fear  God  and  his  goodness  in  the  latter  days," 
when  they  shall  return  to  "  seek  the  Lord,  and  David  their  king." 
It  is  not  said,  they  shall  fear  God,  and  his  power,  but  the  Lord  and 
his  goodness,  or  the  Lord  for  his  goodness :  fear  is  often  in  the  Old 
Testament  taken  for  faith,  or  trust.  This  Divine  goodness,  the  ob- 
ject of  faith,  is  that  goodness  discovered  in  David  their  king ;  the 
Messiah,  our  Jesus.  God,  in  this  dispensation,  recommends  his  good- 
ness and  love,  and  reveals  it  more  clearly  than  other  attributes,  that 
the  soul  might  have  more  prevailing  and  sweeter  attractives  to  con- 
fide in  him. 

(3.)  A  confidence  in  him  gives  him  the  glory  of  his  goodness. 
Most  nations  that  had  nothing  but  the  light  of  nature,  thought  it  a 
great  part  of  the  honor  that  was  due  to  God,  to  implore  his  good- 
ness, and  cast  their  cares  upon  it.  To  do  good,  is  the  most  honor- 
able thing  in  the  world,  and  to  acknowledge  a  goodness  in  a  way  of 
confidence,  is  as  high  an  honor  as  we  can  give  to  it,  and  a  great  part 
of  gratitude  for  what  it  hath  already  expressed.  Therefore  we  find 
often,  that  an  acknowledgment  of  one  benefit  received,  was  attend- 
ed with  a  trust  in  him  for  what  they  should  in  the  future  need  (Ps. 
Ivi.  13) :  "  Thou  hast  delivered  my  soul  from  death,  wilt  thou  not 
deliver  my  feet  from  falling  ?  So,  2  Cor.  i.  10 :  and  they  who  have 
been  most  eminent  for  their  trust  in  him,  have  had  the  greatest 
eulogies  and  commendations  from  him.  As  a  diffidence  doth  dis- 
parage this  perfection,  thinking  it  meaner  and  shallower  than  it  is, 
so  confidence  highly  honors  it.  We  never  please  him  more,  than 
when  we  trust  in  him ;  "  The  Lord  takes  pleasure  in  them  that  fear 
him,  in  them  that  hope  in  his  mercy"  (Ps.  cxlvii.  11).  He  takes  it 
for  an  honor  to  have  this  attribute  exalted  by  such  a  carriage  of  his 

VOL.  ir.— 22 


338  CHARNOCK  ON   THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

creature.  He  is  no  less  offended  wlien  we  think  his  heart  straiten- 
ed, as  if  he  were  a  parsimonious  God;  tlian  when  we  think  his  arm 
shortened,  as  if  he  were  an  impotent  and  feeble  God.  Let  us,  there- 
fore, make  this  use  of  his  goodness,  to  hearten  our  faith.  When  we 
are  scared  by  the  terrors  of  his  justice,  when  we  are  dazzled  by  the 
arts  of  his  wisdom,  and  confounded  by  the  splendor  of  his  majesty, 
we  may  take  refuge  in  the  sanctuary  of  his  goodness ;  this  will  en- 
courage us,  as  well  as  astonish  us  ;  whereas,  the  consideration  of  his 
other  attributes  would  only  amaze  us,  but  can  never  refresh  us,  but 
when  they  are  considered  marching  under  the  conduct  and  banners 
of  this.  When  all  the  other  perfections  of  the  Divine  nature  are 
looked  upon  in  conjunction  with  this  excellency,  each  of  them  send 
forth  ravishing  and  benign  influences  upon  the  applying  creature. 
It  is  more  advantageous  to  depend  upon  Divine  bounty,  than  our 
own  cares ;  we  may  have  better  assurance  upon  this  account  in  his 
cares  for  us,  than  in  ours  for  ourselves.  Our  goodness  for  ourselves 
is  finite ;  and  besides,  we  are  too  ignorant :  his  goodness  is  infinite, 
and  attended  with  an  infinite  wisdom ;  we  have  reason  to  distrust 
ourselves,  not  God.  We  have  reason  to  be  at  rest,  under  that  kind 
influence  we  have  so  often  experimented ;  he  hath  so  much  good- 
ness, that  he  can  have  no  deceit :  his  goodness  in  making  the  prom- 
ise, and  his  goodness  in  working  the  heart  to  a  reliance  on  it,  are 
grounds  of  trust  in  him ;  "  Remember  thy  word  to  thy  servant, 
upon  which  thou  hast  caused  me  to  hope"  (Ps.  cxix.  49).  If  his 
promise  did  not  please  him,  why  did  he  make  it?  If  relicince  on 
the  promise  did  not  please  him,  why  did  his  goodness  work  it  ?  It 
would  be  inconsistent  with  his  goodness  to  mock  his  creature,  and  it 
would  be  the  highest  mockery  to  publish  his  word,  and  create  a  tem- 
per in  the  heart  of  his  supplicant,  suited  to  his  promise  which  he 
never  intended  to  satisfy.  He  can  as  little  wrong  his  creature,  as 
wrong  himself;  and,  therefore,  can  never  disappoint  that  faith  which 
in  his  own  methods  casts  itself  into  the  arms  of  his  kindness,  and 
is  his  own  workmanship,  and  calls  him  Author.  That  goodness  that 
imparted  itself  so  freely  in  creation,  will  not  neglect  those  nobler 
creatures  that  put  their  trust  in  him.  This  renders  God  a  fit  object 
for  trust  and  confidence. 

8.  The  eighth  instruction  :  This  renders  God  worthy  to  be  obey- 
ed and  honored.  There  is  an  excellency  in  God  to  allure,  as  well  as 
sovereignty  to  enjoin  obedience :  the  infinite  excellency  of  his  na- 
ture is  so  great,  that  if  his  goodness  had  promised  us  nothing  to  en- 
courage our  obedience,  we  ought  to  prefer  him  before  ourselves,  de- 
vote ourselves  to  serve  him,  and  make  his  glory  our  greatest  con- 
tent ;  but  much  more  when  he  hath  given  such  admirable  express- 
ions of  his  liberality,  and  stored  us  with  hopes  of  richer  and  fuller 
streams  of  it.  When  David  considered  the  absolute  goodness  of 
his  nature,  and  the  relative  goodness  of  his  benefits,  he  presently 
expresseth  an  ardent  desire  to  be  acquainted  with  the  Divine 
statutes,  that  he  might  make  ingenious  returns  in  a  dutiful  observ- 
ance ;  "  Thou  art  good,  and  thou  dost  good ;  teach  me  thy  statutes" 
(Ps.  cxix.  68).  As  his  goodness  is  the  original,  so  the  acknowledg- 
ment of  it  is  the  end  of  all,  which  cannot  be  without  an  observance 


ON   THE   GOODNESS   OF   GOD.  339 

of  his  will.    His  goodness  requires  of  us  an  ingenuous,  not  a  servile 
obedience.     And  this  is  established  upon  two  foundations. 

[1.]  Because  the  bounty  of  God  hath  laid  upon  us  the  strono^est 
obligations.  The  strength  of  an  obligation  depends  upon  the  great- 
ness and  numerousness  of  the  benefits  received.  The  more  excel- 
lent the  favors  are  which  are  conferred  upon  any  person,  the  more 
right  hath  the  benefactor  to  claim  an  observance  from  the  person 
bettered  by  him.  Much  of  the  rule  and  empire  which  hath  been  in 
several  ages  conferred  by  communities  upon  princes,  hath  had  its 
first  spring  from  a  sense  of  the  advantages  they  have  received  by 
them,  either  in  protecting  them  from  their  enemies,  or  rescuing  them 
from  an  ignoble  captivity  ;  in  enlarging  their  territories,  or  increasing 
their  wealth.  Conquest  hath  been  the  original  of  a  constrained,  but 
beneficence  always  the  original  of  a  voluntary  and  free  subjection." 
Obedience  to  parents  is  founded  upon  their  right,  because  they  are 
instrumental  in  bestowing  upon  us  being  and  life ;  and  because  this 
of  life  is  so  great  a  benefit,  the  law  of  nature  never  dissolves  this 
obligation  of  obeying  and  honoring  parents ;  it  is  as  long-lived  as 
the  law  of  nature,  and  hath  an  universal  practice,  by  the  strength 
of  that  law,  in  all  parts  of  the  world :  and  those  rightful  chains  are 
not  unlocked,  but  by  that  which  unties  the  knot  between  soul  and 
body :  much  more  hath  God  a  right  to  be  obeyed  and  reverenced, 
who  is  the  principal  Benefactor,  and  moved  all  those  second  causes 
to  impart  to  us,  what  conduced  to  our  advantage.  The  just  author- 
ity of  God  over  us  results  from  the  superlativeness  of  his  blessings 
he  hath  poured  down  upon  us,  which  cannot  be  equalled,  much  less 
exceeded,  by  any  other.  As  therefore  upon  this  account  he  hath  a  claim 
to  our  choicest  affections,  so  he  hath  also  to  most  exact  obedience  ; 
and  neither  one  nor  other  can  be  denied  him,  without  a  sordid  and  dis- 
ingenuous ingratitude  ;  God  therefore  aggravates  the  rebellion  of  the 
Jews  from  the  cares  he  had  in  the  bringing  them  up  (Isa.  ii.  2),  and  the 
miraculous  deliverance  from  Egypt  (Jer.  xi.  7,  8) ;  implying  that  those 
benefits  were  strong  obligations  to  an  ingenuous  observance  of  him. 

[2.]  It  is  established  upon  this,  that  God  can  enjoin  the  observ 
ance  of  nothing  but  what  is  good.  He  may  by  the  right  of  his 
sovereign  dominion,  command  that  which  is  indifferent  in  its  own 
nature :  as  in  positive  laws,  the  not  eating  the  fruit  of  the  tree  of 
the  knowledge  of  good  and  evil,  which  had  not  been  evil  in  itself, 
set  aside  the  command  of  God  to  the  contrary  ;  and  likewise  in  those 
ceremonial  laws  he  gave  the  Jews :  but  in  regard  to  the  transcendent 
goodness  and  righteousness  of  his  nature,  he  will  not,  he  cannot 
command  anything  that  is  evil  in  itself,  or  repugnant  to  the  true 
interest  of  his  creature ;  and  God  never  obliged  the  creature  to  any- 
thing but  what  was  so  free  from  damaging  it,  that  it  highly  conduced 
to  its  good  and  welfare :  and  therefore  it  is  said,  that  "  his  commands 
are  not  grievous"  (1  John  v.  8) :  not  grievous  in  their  own  nature, 
nor  grievous  to  one  possessed  with  a  true  reason.  The  command 
given  to  Adam  in  Paradise  was  not  grievous  in  itself,  nor  could  he 
ever  have  thought  it  so,  but  upon  a  false  supposition  instilled  into 
him  by  the  tempter.   There  is  a  pleasure  results  from  the  law  of  God 

°  Amyrald.  Dissert,  p.  C5. 


340  CHAKNOCK   ON  THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

to  a  holy  rational  nature,  a  sweetness  tasted  both  by  the  -understand- 
ing and  by  the  will,  for  they  both  "  rejoice  the  heart  and  enlighten 
the  eyes"  of  the  mind  (Ps.  xix,  8).  God  being  essentially  wisdom 
and  goodness,  cannot  deviate  from  that  goodness  in  any  orders  he 
gives  the  creature  ;  whatsoever  he  enacts  must  be  agreeable  to  that 
rule,  and  therefore  he  can  will  nothing  but  what  is  good  and  excel- 
lent, and  what  is  good  for  the  creature ;  for  since  he  hath  put  origin- 
ally into  man  a  natural  instinct  to  desire  that  which  is  good,  he 
would  never  enact  any  thing  for  the  creature's  observance,?  that 
might  control  that  desire  imprinted  by  himself,  but  what  might 
countenance  that  impression  of  his  own  hand  ;  for  if  God  did  other- 
wise, he  would  contradict  his  own  natural  law,  and  be  a  deluder  of 
his  creatures,  if  he  impressed  upon  them  desires  one  way,  and  order- 
ed directions  another.  The  truth  is,  all  his  moral  precepts  are 
comely  in  themselves,  and  they  receive  not  their  goodness  from  God's 
positive  command,  but  that  command  supposeth  their  goodness ;  if 
everything  were  good  because  God  loves  it,  or  because  God  wills  it, 
i.  e.  that  God's  loving  it  or  willing  it  made  that  good  which  was  not 
good  before,  then,  as  Camero  well  argues  somewhere,  God's  goodness 
would  depend  upon  his  loving  himself;  he  was  good  because  he 
loved  himself,  and  was  not  good  till  he  loved  himself;  whereas,  in- 
deed, God's  loving  himself,  doth  not  make  him  good,  but  supposeth 
him  good  :  he  was  good  in  the  order  of  nature  before  he  loved  him- 
self; and  his  being  good  was  the  ground  of  his  loving  himself,  be- 
cause, as  was  said  before,  if  there  were  an}- thing  better  than  God, 
God  would  love  that ;  for  it  is  inconsistent  with  the  nature  of  God 
and  infinite  goodness  not  to  love  that  which  is  good,  and  not  to  love 
that  supremely  which  is  the  supreme  good.  Further  to  understand  it, 
you  may  consider,  if  the  question  be  asked,  why  God  loves  himself? 
you  would  think  it  a  reasonable  answer  to  say,  because  he  is  good. 
But  if  the  question  be  asked,  why  God  is  good?  you  would  think 
that  answer,  because  he  loves  himself,  would  be  destitute  of  reason  ; 
but  the  true  answer  would  be,  because  his  nature  is  so,  and  he  could 
not  be  God  if  he  were  not  good :  therefore  God's  goodness  is  in  or- 
der of  our  conception  before  his  self-love,  and  not  his  self-love  be- 
fore his  goodness ;  so  the  moral  things  God  commands,  are  good  in 
themselves  before  God  commands  them ;  and  such,  that  if  God 
should  command  the  contrary,  it  would  openly  speak  him  evil  and 
unrighteous.  Abstract  from  Scripture,  and  weigh  things  in  your  own 
reason ;  could  you  conceive  God  good,  if  he  should  command  a  crea- 
ture not  to  love  him  ?  could  you  preserve  the  notion  of  a  good  nature 
in  him,  if  he  did  command  murder,  adultery,  tyranny,  and  cutting 
of  throats  ?  You  would  wonder  to  what  purpose  he  made  the  world, 
and  framed  it  for  society,  if  such  things  were  ordered,  that  should 
deface  all  comeliness  of  society :  the  moral  commands  given  in  the 
word,  appeared  of  themselves  very  beautiful  to  mere  reason,  that 
had  no  knowledge  of  the  written  law  ;  they  are  good,  and  because 
they  are  so,  his  goodness  had  moved  his  sovereign  authority  strictlj'- 
to  enjoin  them.     Now  this  goodness,  whereby  he  cannot  oblige  a 

P  "  As  a  heathen,"  Maximus  Tyrlus,  Dissert.  22,  p.  220.     Ov  yap  Os/nig  Ail  jSovTieaOai 

u?.?.0  Tl  Jj  TO  KllTlkiaTOV. 


ON  THE  GOODNESS   OF  GOD.  341 

creature  to  finything  tliat  is  evil,  speaks  him  highly  -worthy  of  our 
observance,  and  our  disobedience  to  his  law  to  be  full  of  inconceiv- 
able malignity  :  that  is  the  last  thing. 

Second  Use  is  of  comfort.  He  is  a  good  without  mixture,  good 
without  weariness — none  good  but  God,  none  good  purely,  none 
good  inexhaustibly,  but  God ;  because  he  is  good,  we  may,  upon  our 
speaking,  expect  his  instruction ;  "  Good  is  the  Lord,  therefore  will 
he  teach  sinners  in  his  way"  (Ps.  xxv.  8).  His  goodness  makes  him 
stoop  to  be  the  tutor  to  those  worms  that  lie  prostrate  before  him ; 
and  though  they  are  sinners  full  of  filth,  he  drives  them  not  from  his 
school,  nor  denies  them  his  medicines,  if  they  apply  themselves  to 
him  as  a  physician.  He  is  good  in  removing  the  punishment  due  to 
our  crimes,  and  good  in  bestowing  benefits  not  due  to  our  merits ; 
because  he  is  good,  penitent  believers  may  expect  forgiveness  ;  "  Thou, 
Lord,  art  good,  and  ready  to  forgive"  (Ps.  Ixxxvi.  5).  He  acts  not 
according  to  the  rigor  of  the  law,  but  willingly  grants  his  pardon  to 
those  that  fly  into  the  arms  of  the  Mediator  ;  his  goodness  makes  him 
more  ready  to  forgive,  than  our  necessities  make  us  desirous  to  en- 
joy ;  he  charged  not  upon  Job  his  impatient  expressions  in  cursing 
the  day  of  his  birth ;  his  goodness  passed  that  over  in  silence,  and 
extols  him  for  speaking  the  thing  that  is  right,  right  in  the  main, 
when  he  charges  his  friends  for  not  speaking  of  him  the  thing  that 
is  right,  as  his  servant  Job  had  done  (Job  xlii.  7).  He  is  so  good, 
that  if  we  offer  the  least  thing  sincerely,  he  will  graciously  receive 
it ;  if  we  have  not  a  lamb  to  offer,  a  pigeon  or  turtle  shall  be  accepted 
upon  his  altar ;  he  stands  not  upon  costly  presents,  but  sincerely  ten- 
dered services.  All  conditions  are  sweetened  by  it ;  whatsoever  any 
in  the  world  enjoy,  is  from  a  redundancy  of  this  goodness;  but 
whatsoever  a  good  man  enjoys,  is  from  a  propriety  in  this  goodness. 
1.  Here  is  comfort  in  our  addresses  to  him.  If  he  be  a  fountain  and 
sea  of  goodness,  he  cannot  be  weary  of  doing  good,  no  more  than  a 
fountain  or  sea  are  of  flowing.  All  goodness  delights  to  communi- 
cate itself;  infinite  goodness  hath  then  an  infinite  delight  in  express- 
ing itself;  it  is  a  part  of  his  goodness  not  to  be  weary  of  showing 
it ;  he  can  never,  then,  be  weary  of  being  solicited  for  the  effusions 
of  it ;  if  he  rejoices  over  his  people  to  do  them  good,  he  will  rejoice 
in  any  opportunities  oftered  to  him  to  honor  his  goodness,  and  gladly 
meet  witli  a  fit  subject  for  it ;  he  therefore  delights  in  prayer.  Never 
can  we  so  delight  in  addressing,  as  he  doth  in  imparting  ;  he  delights 
more  in  our  prayers  than  we  can  ourselves ;  goodness  is  not  pleased 
with  shyness.  To  what  purpose  did  his  immense  bounty  bestow  his 
Son  upon  us,  but  that  we  should  be  "  accepted"  both  in  our  persons 
and  petitions  (Eph.  i.  6)?  "  His  eyes  are  upon  the  righteous,  and 
his  ears  are  open  to  their  cry"  (Ps.  xxxiv.  15) ;  he  fixes  the  eye  of 
his  goodness  upon  them,  and  opens  the  ears  of  his  goodness  for  them  ; 
he  is  pleased  to  behold  them,  and  pleased  to  listen  to  them,  as  if  he 
had  no  pleasure  in  anything  else  ;  he  loves  to  be  sought  to,  to  give 
a  vent  to  his  bounty  ;  "  Acquaint  thyself  with  God,  and  thereby 
good  shall  come  unto  thee"  (Job  xxii.  21).  The  word  signifies,  to 
accustom  ourselves  to  God ;  the  more  we  accustom  ourselves  in 
speaking,  the  more  he  will  accustom  himself  in  giving ;  he  loves  not 


342  CHARNOCK  ON  THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

to  keep  his  goodness  close  under  lock  and  key,  as  men  do  their 
treasures.  If  we  knock,  he  opens  his  exchequer  (Matt.  vii.  7) ;  his 
goodness  is  as  flexible  to  our  importunities,  as  his  power  is  invincible 
by  the  arm  of  a  silly  worm ;  he  thinks  his  liberality  honored  by  be- 
ing applied  to,  and  your  address  to  be  a  recompense  for  his  expense. 
There  is  no  reason  to  fear,  since  he  hath  so  kindly  invited  us,  but  he 
will  as  heartily  welcome  us ;  the  nature  of  goodness  is  to  compassion- 
ate and  communicate,  to  pity  and  relieve,  and  that  with  a  heartiness 
and  cheerfulness ;  man  is  weary  of  being  often  solicited,because  he  hath 
a  finite,  not  a  bottomless,  goodness :  he  gives  sometimes  to  be  rid  of 
his  suppliant,  not  to  encourage  him  to  a  second  approach.  But  every 
experience  God  gives  us  of  his  bounty,  is  a  motive  to  solicit  him 
afresh,  and  a  kind  of  obligation  he  hath  laid  upon  himself  to  "  renew 
it"  (1  Sam.  xvii.  37) :  it  is  one  part  of  his  goodness  that  it  is  bound- 
less and  bottomless ;  we  need  not  fear  the  wasting  of  it,  nor  any 
weariness  in  him  to  bestow  it.  The  stock  cannot  be  spent,  and  infi- 
nite kindness  can  never  become  niggardly ;  when  we  have  enjoyed 
it,  there  is  still  an  infinite  ocean  in  Him  to  refresh  us,  and  as  full 
streams  as  ever  to  supply  us.  What  an  encouragement  have  we  to 
draw  near  to  God !  We  run  in  our  straits  to  those  that  we  think 
have  most  good  will,  as  well  as  power  to  relieve  and  protect  us.  The 
oftener  we  come  to  him,  and  the  nearer  we  approach  to  him,  the 
more  of  his  influences  we  shall  feel :  as  the  nearer  the  sun,  the  more 
of  its  heat  insinuates  itself  into  us.  The  greatness  of  God,  joined 
with  his  goodness,  hath  more  reason  to  encourage  our  approach  to 
him,  than  our  flight  from  him,  because  his  greatness  never  goes 
unattended  with  his  goodness ;  and  if  we  were  not  so  good,  he  would 
not  be  so  great  in  the  apprehensions  of  any  creature.  IIow  may  his 
goodness,  in  the  great  gift  of  his  Son,  encourage  us  to  apply  to  him : 
since  he  hath  set  him  as  a  day's-man  between  himself  and  us,  and 
appointed  him  an  Advocate  to  present  our  requests  for  us,  and  speed 
them  at  the  throne  of  grace ;  and  he  never  leaves  till  Divine  good- 
ness subscribes  iifiat  to  our  believing  and  just  petitions  ! 

2.  Here  is  comfort  in  afflictions.  What  can  we  fear  from  the  con- 
duct of  Infinite  Goodness  ?  Can  his  hand  be  heavy  upon  those  that 
are  humble  before  him  ?  They  are  the  hands  of  Infinite  Power  in- 
deed, but  there  is  not  any  motion  of  it  upon  his  people,  but  is  or- 
dered by  a  goodness  as  infinite  as  his  power,  which  will  not  suffer 
any  affliction  to  be  too  sharp  or  too  long.  By  what  ways  soever  he 
conveys  grace  to  us  here,  and  prepares  us  for  glory  hereafter,  they 
are  good,  and  those  are  the  good  things  he  hath  chiefly  obliged  himself 
to  give  (Ps.  Ixxxiv.  11):  "  Grace  and  glory"  will  he  "give,  and  no 
good  thing  will  he  withhold  from  them  that  walk  uprightly."  This 
David  comforted  himself  with,  in  that  which  his  devout  soul  ac- 
counted the  greatest  calamity,  his  absence  from  the  courts  and  house 
of  God  (ver.  2).  Not  an  ill  will,  but  a  good  will,  directs  his  scourges  ; 
he  is  not  an  idle  spectator  of  our  combats ;  his  thoughts  are  fuller  of 
kindness  than  ours,  in  any  case,  can  be  of  trouble :  and  because  he 
is  good,  he  wills  the  best  good  in  everything  he  acts  ;  in  exercising 
virtue,  or  correcting  vice.  There  is  no  affliction  without  some  ap- 
parent mixtures  of  goodness  ;  when  he  speaks  how  he  had  smitten 


ox  THE   GOODNESS   OF   GOD.  343 

Israel  (Jer.  ii.  30),  lie  presently  adds  (ver,  31),  "  Have  I  been  a  wil- 
derness to  Israel,  a  land  of  darkness  ?"  Though  he  led  them  through 
a  desert,  yet  he  was  not  a  desert  to  them  ;  he  was  no  land  of  dark- 
ness to  them ;  while  they  marched  through  a  land  of  barrenness,  he 
was  a  caterer  to  provide  them  "  manna,"  and  a  place  of  "  broad 
rivers"  and  streams.  How  often  hath  Divine  goodness  made  our 
afflictions  our  consolations  ;  our  diseases,  our  medicines,  and  his  gen- 
tle strokes,  reviving  cordials !  How  doth  he  provide  for  us  above 
our  deserts,  even  while  he  doth  punish  us  beneath  our  merits !  Di- 
vine goodness  can  no  more  mean  ill,  than  Divine  wisdom  can  be 
mistaken  in  its  end,  or  Divine  power  overruled  in  its  actions. 
"  Charity  thinks  no  evil"  (1  Cor.  xiii.  5) ;  charity  in  the  stream  doth 
not,  much  less  doth  charity  in  the  fountain.  To  be  afflicted  by  a 
hand  of  goodness  hath  something  comfortable  in  it,  when  to  be 
afflicted  by  an  evil  hand  is  very  odious.  Elijah,  who  was  loth  to 
die  by  the  hand  of  a  whorish  idolatrous  Jezebel,  was  very  desirous 
to  die  by  the  hand  of  God  (1  Kings,  xix.  2 — i).  He  accounted  it  a 
misery  to  have  died  by  her  hand,  who  hated  him,  and  had  nothing 
but  cruelty  ;  and,  therefore,  fled  from  her,  when  he  wished  for  death, 
as  a  desirable  thing  by  the  hand  of  that  God  who  had  been  good  to 
him,  and  could  not  but  be  good  in  whatsoever  he  acted. 

3.  The  third  comfort  flowing  from  this  doctrine  of  the  goodness 
of  God,  is,  it  is  a  gTound  of  assurance  of  happiness.  If  God  be  so 
good,  that  nothing  is  better,  and  loves  himself^  as  he  is  good,  he  can- 
not be  wanting  in  love  to  those  that  resemble  his  nature,  and  imitate 
his  goodness  :  he  cannot  but  love  his  own  image  of  goodness ; 
wherever  he  finds  it,  he  cannot  but  be  bountiful  to  it ;  for  it  is  im- 
possible there  can  be  any  love  to  any  object,  without  wishing  vrell 
to  it,  and  doing  well  for  it.  If  the  soul  loves  God  as  its  chiefest 
good,  God  will  love  the  soul  as  his  pious  servant :  as  he  hath  offered 
to  them  the  highest  allurements,  so  he  will  not  withhold  the  choicest 
communications.  Goodness  cannot  be  a  deluding  thing ;  it  cannot 
consist  with  the  nobleness  and  largeness  of  this  perfection  to  invite 
the  creature  to  him,  and  leave  the  creature  empty  of  him  when  it 
comes.  It  is  inconsistent  with  this  perfection  to  give  the  creature  a 
knowledge  of  himself,  and  a  desire  of  enjoyment  larger  than  that 
knowledge  ;  a  desire  to  know,  and  enjoy  him  perpetually,  yet  never 
intend  to  bestow  an  eternal  communication  of  himself  upon  it.  The 
nature  of  man  was  erected  by  the  goodness  of  God,  but  with  an  en- 
larged desire  for  the  highest  good,  and  a  capacity  of  enjoying  it. 
Can  goodness  be  thought  to  be  deceitful,  to  frustrate  its  own  work,  be 
tired  with  its  own  effusions,  to  let  a  gracious  soul  groan  under  its 
burden,  and  never  resolve  to  ease  him  of  it ;  to  see  delightfully  the 
aspirings  of  the  creature  to  another  state,  and  resolve  never  to  admit 
him  to  a  happy  issue  of  those  desires  ?  It  is  not  agreeable  to  this 
inconceivable  perfection  to  be  unconcerned  in  the  longings  of  his 
creature,  since  their  first  longings  were  placed  in  them  by  that  good- 
ness which  is  so  free  from  mocking  the  creature,  or  falling  short  of 
its  well-grounded  expectations  or  desires,  that  it  infinitely  exceeds 
them.  If  man  had  continued  in  innocence,  the  goodness  of  God, 
without  question,  would   have  continued  him  in  hap])incss :  and. 


844  CHAKNOCK   ON   THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

since  he  liath  had  so  much  goodness  to  restore  man,  would  it  not  be 
dishonorable  to  that  goodness  to  break  his  own  conditions,  and  de- 
feat the  believing  creature  of  happiness,  after  it  hath  complied  with 
his  terms?  He  is  a  believer's  God  in  covenant,  and  is  a  God  in  the 
utmost  extent  of  this  attribute,  as  well  as  of  any  other  ;  and,  there- 
fore, will  not  communicate  mean  and  shallow  benefits,  but  according 
to  the  grandeur  of  it,  sovereign  and  divine,  such  as  the  gift  of  a 
happy  immortality.  Since  he  had  no  obligation  upon  him,  to  make 
any  promise,  but  the  sweetness  of  his  own  nature,  the  same  is  as 
strong  upon  him  to  make  all  the  words  of  his  grace  good  ;  they  cannot 
be  invalid  in  any  one  tittle  of  them  as  long  as  his  nature  remains  the 
same ;  and  his  goodness  cannot  be  diminished  without  the  impairing 
of  his  Godhead,  since  it  is  inseparable  from  it.  Divine  goodness  will 
not  let  any  man  serve  God  for  nought ;  he  hath  promised  our  weak  obe- 
dience more  than  any  man  in  his  right  wits  can  say  it  merits  (Matt. 
X.  42) :  "  A  cup  of  cold  water  shall  not  lose  its  reward."  He  will 
manifest  our  good  actions  as  he  gave  so  high  a  testimony  to  Job,  in 
the  face  of  the  devil,  his  accuser :  it  will  not  only  be  the  happiness 
of  the  soul,  but  of  the  bod}^,  the  whole  man,  since  soul  and  body  were 
in  conjunction  in  the  acts  of  righteousness;  it  consists  not  with  the 
goodness  of  God  to  reward  the  one,  and  to  let  the  other  lie  in  the 
I'uins  of  its  first  nothing :  to  bestow  joy  upon  the  one  for  its  being  prin- 
cipal, and  leave  the  other  without  any  sentiments  of  joy,  that  was  in- 
strumental'in  those  good  works,  both  commanded  and  approved  by 
uod:  he  that  had  the  goodness  to  pity  our  original  dust,  will  not 
want  a  goodness  to  advance  it :  and  if  we  put  off  our  bodies,  it  is 
but  afterwards  to  put  them  on  repaired  and  fresher.  From  this 
goodness,  the  upright  may  expect  all  the  happiness  their  nature  is 
capable  of. 

4,  It  is  a  ground  of  comfort  in  the  midst  of  public  dangers.  This 
hath  more  sweetness  in  it  to  support  us,  than  the  malice  of  enemies 
hath  to  deject  us  ;  because  he  is  "  good,"  he  is  "  a  stronghold  in  the 
day  of  trouble"  (Nah.  i.  7).  If  his  goodness  extends  to  all  his  crea- 
tures, it  will  much  more  extend  to  those  that  honor  him :  if  the  earth 
be  full  of  his  goodness,  that  part  of  heaven  which  he  hath  upon  earth 
shall  not  be  empty  of  it.  He  hath  a  goodness  often  to  deliver  the 
righteous,  and  a  justice  to  put  the  wicked  in  his  stead  (Pro v.  xi.  8). 
When  his  people  have  been  under  the  power  of  their  enemies,  he 
hath  changed  the  scene,  and  put  the  enemies  under  the  power  of  his 
people  :  he  hath  clapped  upon  them  the  same  bolts  which  they  did 
upon  his  servants.  How  comfortable  is  this  goodness  that  hath  yet 
maintained  us  in  the  midst  of  dangers,  preserved  us  in  the  mouth  of 
lions,  quenched  kindled  fire  ;  hitherto  rescued  us  from  designed  ruin 
subtilly  hatched,  and  supported  us  in  the  midst  of  men  very  passion- 
ate for  our  destruction ;  how  hath  this  watchful  goodness  been  a 
sanctuary  to  us  in  the  midst  of  an  upper  hell ! 

Third  Use  is  of  exhortation. 

1.  How  should  we  endeavor  after  the  enjoyment  of  God  as  good  ! 
How  earnestly  should  we  desire  him  !  As  there  is  no  other  good- 
ness worthy  of  our  supreme  love,  so  there  is  no  other  goodness  worthy 
our  most  ardent  thirst.     Nothino;  deserves  the  name  of  a  desirable 


ON  THE   GOODNESS  OF  GOD.  845 

good,  but  as  it  tends  to  tlie  attainment  of  this :  here  we  must  pitch 
our  desires,  which  otherwise  will  terminate  in  nullities  or  incon- 
ceivable disturbances. 

(1.)  Consider,  nothing  but  good  can  be  the  object  of  a  rational 
appetite.  The  will  cannot  direct  its  motion  to  anything  under  the 
notion  of  evil,  evil  in  itself,  or  evil  to  it ;  whatsoever  courts  it  must 
present  itself  in  the  quality  of  a  good  in  its  own  nature,  or  in  its 
present  circumstances  to  the  present  state  and  condition  of  the  de- 
sire ;  it  will  not  else  touch  or  affect  the  will.  This  is  the  language 
of  that  faculty :  "  Who  will  show  me  any  good  ?"  (Ps.  iv.  6),  and 
good  is  as  inseparably  the  object  of  the  will's  motion,  as  truth  is  of 
the  understanding's  inquir3^  Whatsoever  a  man  would  allure 
another  to  comply  with,  he  must  propose  to  the  person  under  the 
notion  of  some  beneficialness  to  him  in  point  of  honor,  profit,  or 
pleasure.  To  act  after  this  manner  is  the  proper  character  of  a 
rational  creature ;  and  though  that  which  is  evil  is  often  embraced 
instead  of  that  which  is  good,  and  what  we  entertain  as  conducing 
to  our  felicity  proves  our  misfortune,  yet  that  is  from  our  ignorance, 
and  not  from  a  formal  choice  of  it  as  evil ;  for  what  evil  is  chosen 
it  is  not  possible  to  choose  under  the  conception  of  evil,  but  under 
the  appearance  of  a  good,  though  it  be  not  so  in  reality.  It  is  in- 
separable from  the  wills  of  all  men  to  propose  to  themselves  that 
which  in  the  opinion  and  judgment  of  their  understandings  or  im- 
agination is  good,  though  they  often  mistake  and  cheat  themselves. 

(2.)  Since  that  good  is  the  object  of  a  rational  appetite,  the  purest, 
best,  and  most  universal  good,  such  as  God  is,  ought  to  be  most 
sought  after.  Since  good  only  is  the  object  of  a  rational  appetite, 
all  the  motions  of  our  souls  should  be  carried  to  the  first  and  best 
good  :  a  real  good  is  most  desirable  ;  the  gi'eatest  excellency  of  the 
creatures  cannot  speak  them  so,  since,  by  the  corruption  of  man, 
they  are  "  subjected  to  vanity"  (Rom.  viii.  20).  God  is  the  most  ex- 
cellent good  without  any  shadow ;  a  real  something  without  that 
nothing  which  every  creature  hath  in  its  nature  (Isa.  xl.  17).  A 
perfect  good  can  only  give  us  content :  the  best  goodness  in  the 
creature  is  but  slender  and  imperfect ;  had  not  the  venom  of  cor- 
ruption infused  a  vanity  into  it,  the  make  of  it  speaks  it  finite,  and 
the  best  qualities  in  it  are  bounded,  and  cannot  give  satisfaction  to 
a  rational  appetite  which  bears  in  its  nature  an  imitation  of  Divine 
infinitencss,  and  therefore  can  never  find  an  eternal  rest  in  mean 
trifles.  God  is  above  the  imperfection  of  all  creatures ;  creatures 
are  but  drops  of  goodness,  at  best  but  shallow  streams  ;  God  is  like 
a  teeming  ocean,  that  can  fill  the  largest  as  well  as  the  narrowest 
creek.  He  hath  an  accumulative  goodness ;  several  creatures  answer 
several  necessities,  but  one  God  can  answer  all  our  wants :  he  hath 
an  universal  fulness,  to  overtop  our  universal  emptiness :  he  con- 
tains in  himself  the  sweetness  of  all  other  goods,  and  holds  in  his 
bosom  plentifully  what  creatures  have  in  their  natures  sparingly. 
Creatures  are  uncertain  goods ;  as  they  begin  to  exist,  so  they  may 
cease  to  be ;  they  may  be  gone  with  a  breath,  they  will  certainly 
languish  if  God  blows  upon  them  (Isa.  xl.  24) :  the  same  breath  that 
raised  them  can  blast  them ;  but  who  can  rifle  God  of  the  least  part 


346  CIIARNOCK   ON   THE  ATTRIBUTES, 

of  his  excellency  ?  Mutability  is  inherent  in  the  nature  of  every 
creature,  as  a  creature.  All  sublunary  things  are  as  gourds,  that  re- 
fresh us  one  moment  with  their  presence,  and  the  next  fret  us  with 
their  absence ;  like  fading  flowers,  strutting  to-day,  and  drooping 
to-morrow  (Isa.  xl.  6):  Avhile  we  possess  them,  we  cannot  clip  their 
wings,  that  may  carry  them  away  from  us,  and  may  make  us  vainly 
seek  what  we  thought  we  firmly  held.  But  God  is  as  permanent  a 
good  as  he  is  a  real  one :  he  hath  wings  to  fly  to  them  that  seek  him, 
but  no  wings  to  fly  from  them  forever,  and  leave  them.  God  is  an 
universal  good ;  that  which  is  good  to  one  may  be  evil  to  another ; 
what  is  desirable  by  one  maybe  refused  as  inconvenient  for  another: 
but  God  being  an  universal,  unstained  good,  is  useful  for  all,  con- 
venient to  the  natures  of  all  but  such  as  will  continue  in  enmity 
against  him.  There  is  nothing  in  God  can  displease  a  soul  that 
desires  to  please  him ;  when  we  are  in  darkness,  he  is  a  light  to 
scatter  it ;  when  we  are  in  want,  he  hath  riches  to  relieve  us ;  when 
we  are  in  spiritual  death,  he  is  a  Prince  of  life  to  deliver  us ;  when 
we  are  defiled,  he  is  holiness  to  purify  us :  it  is  in  vain  to  fix  our 
hearts  anywhere  but  on  him,  in  the  desire  of  whom  there  is  a  delight, 
and  in  the  enjoyment  of  whom  there  is  an  inconceivable  pleasure. 

(3.)  He  is  most  to  be  sought  after,  since  all  things  else  that  are 
desirable  had  their  goodness  from  him.  If  anything  be  desirable 
because  of  its  goodness,  God  is  much  more  desirable  because  of  his, 
since  all  things  arc  good  by  a  participation,  and  nothing  good  but 
by  his  print  upon  it :  as  what  being  creatures  have  was  derived  to 
them  by  God,  so  what  goodness  they  are  possessed  with  they  Avere 
furnished  with  it  by  God ;  all  goodness  flowed  from  him,  and  all 
created  goodness  is  summed  up  in  him.  The  streams  should  not 
terminate  our  appetite  without  aspiring  to  the  fountain.  If  the 
waters  in  the  channel,  Avhich  receive  mixture,  communicate  a  plea- 
sure, the  taste  of  the  fountain  must  be  much  more  delicious ;  that 
original  Perfection  of  all  things  hath  an  inconceivable  beauty  above 
those  things  it  hath  framed.  Since  those  things  live  not  by  their 
own  strength,  nor  nourish  us  by  their  own  liberality,  but  by  the 
"  word  of  God"  (Matt.  iv.  4),  that  God  that  speaks  them  into  life, 
and  speaks  them  into  usefulness,  should  be  most  ardently  desired  as 
the  best.  If  the  sparkling  glory  of  the  visible  heavens  delight  us, 
and  the  beauty  and  bounty  of  the  earth  please  and  refresh  us,  what 
should  bo  the  language  of  our  souls  upon  those  views  and  tastes  but 
that  of  the  Psalmist,  "  Whom  have  I  in  heaven  but  thee?  and  there 
is  none  upon  earth  that  I  can  desire  beside  thee"  (Ps.  Ixxiii.  25). 
No  greater  good  can  possibly  be  desired,  and  no  less  good  should  be 
ardently  desired.  As  he  is  the  supreme  good,  so  we  should  bear  that 
regard  to  him  as  supremely,  and  above  all,  to  thirst  for  him :  as  he 
is  good,  he  is  the  object  of  desire;  as  the  choicest  and  first  goodness, 
he  is  desirable  with  the  greatest  vehemency.  "  Give  me  children, 
or  else  I  die"  (Gen.  xxx.  1),  was  an  uncomely  speech ;  the  one  was 
granted,  and  the  other  inflicted ;  she  had  children,  but  the  last  cost 
her  her  life :  but.  Give  me  God,  or  I  will  not  be  content,  is  a  gracious 
speech,  wherein  we  cannot  miscarry ;  all  that  God  demands  of  us  is, 
that  we  should  long  for  him,  and  look  for  our  happiness  only  in. 


ON  THE   GOODNESS   OF   GOD.  847 

Lim.     That  is  the  first  thing,  endeavor  after  the  enjoyment  of  God 
as  good. 

2.  Often  meditate  on  the  goodness  of  God.  What  was  man  pro- 
duced for,  but  to  settle  his  thoughts  upon  this  ?  What  should  have 
been  Adam's  employment  in  innocence,  but  to  read  over  all  the  lines 
of  nature,  and  fix  his  contemplations  on  that  good  hand  that  drew 
them  ?  What  is  man  endued  with  reason  for,  above  all  other  ani- 
mals, but  to  take  notice  of  this  goodness  spread  over  all  the  creatures, 
which  they  themselves,  though  they  felt  it,  could  not  have  such  a 
sense  of  as  to  make  answerable  returns  to  their  Benefactor  ?  Can 
we  satisfy  ourselves  in  being  spectators  of  it,  and  enjoyers  of  it,  only 
in  such  a  manner  as  the  brutes  are  ?  The  beasts  behold  things  as 
well  as  we,  they  feel  the  warm  beams  of  this  goodness  as  well  as  we, 
but  without  any  reflection  upon  the  Author  of  them.  Shall  Divine 
blessings  meet  with  no  more  from  us  but  a  brutish  view  and  be- 
holding of  them  ?  What  is  more  just,  than  to  spend  a  thought  upon 
Him  who  hath  enlarged  his  hand  in  so  many  benefits  to  us  ?  Are 
we  indebted  to  any  more  than  we  are  to  him  ?  Why  should  we 
send  our  souls  to  visit  anything  more  than  him  in  his  works  ?  That 
we  are  able  to  meditate  on  him  is  a  part  of  his  goodness  to  us,  who 
hath  bestowed  that  capacity  upon  us ;  and,  if  we  will  not,  it  is  a 
great  part  of  our  ingratitude.  Can  anything  more  delightful  enter 
into  us,  than  that  of  the  kind  and  gracious  disposition  of  that  God 
who  first  brought  us  out  of  the  abyss  of  an  unhappy  nothing,  and 
hath  hitherto  spread  his  wings  over  us  ?  Where  can  we  meet  with 
a  nobler  object  than  Divine  goodness  ?  and  what  nobler  work  can 
be  practised  by  us  than  to  consider  it  ?  What  is  more  sensible  in  all 
the  operations  of  his  hands  than  his  skill,  as  they  are  considered  in 
themselves,  and  his  goodness,  as  they  are  considered  in  relation  to 
us?  It  is  strange  that  we  should  miss  the  thoughts  of  it ;  that  we 
should  look  upon  this  earth,  and  everything  in  it,  and  yet  overlook 
that  which  it  is  most  full  of,  viz.  Divine  goodness  (Ps.  xxxiii.  5) ;  it 
runs  through  the  whole  web  of  the  world ;  all  is  framed  and  diversi- 
fied by  goodness ;  it  is  one  entire  single  goodness,  which  appears  in 
various  garbs  and  dresses  in  every  part  of  the  creation.  Can  we 
turn  our  eyes  inward,  and  send  our  eyes  outward,  and  see  nothing 
of  a  Divinity  in  both  worthy  of  our  deepest  and  seriousest  thoughts  ? 
Is  there  anything  in  the  world  we  can  behold,  but  we  see  his  bounty, 
since  nothing  was  made  but  is  one  way  or  other  beneficial  to  us  ? 
Can  we  think  of  our  daily  food,  but  we  must  have  some  reflecting 
thoughts  on  our  great  Caterer  ?  Can  the  sweetness  of  the  creature 
to  our  palate  obscure  the  sweetness  of  the  Provider  to  our  minds  ? 
It  is  strange  that  we  should  be  regardless  of  that  wherein  every 
creature  without  us,  and  every  sense  within  us  and  about  us,  is  a 
tutor  to  instruct  us !  Is  it  not  reason  we  should  think  of  the  times 
wherehi  we  were  nothing,  and  from  thence  run  back  to  a  never-be- 
gun eternity,  and  view  ourselves  in  the  thoughts  of  that  goodness, 
to  be  in  time  brought  forth  upon  this  stage,  as  we  are  at  present  ? 
Can  we  consider  but  one  act  of  our  understandings,  but  one  thought, 
one  blossom,  one  spark  of  our  souls  mounting  upwards,  and  not  re- 
flect upon  the  goodness  of  God  to  us,  who,  in  that  faculty  that 


348  CHARNOCK  ON  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

sparkles  out  rational  thoughts,  has  advanced  us  to  a  nobler  state, 
and  endued  us  with  a  nobler  principle,  than  all  the  creatures  we  see 
on  earth,  except  those  of  our  own  rank  and  kind  ?     Can  we  consider 
but  one  foolish  thought,  one  sinful  act,  and  reflect  upon  the  guilt 
and  filth  of  it,  and  not  behold  goodness  in  sparing  us,  and  miracles 
of  goodness  in  sending  his  Son  to  die  for  us,  for  the  expiation  of  it  ? 
This  perfection  cannot  well  be  out  of  our  thoughts,  or  at  least  it  is 
horrible  it  should,  when  it  is  writ  in  every  line  of  the  creation,  and 
in  a  legible  rubric,  in  bloody  letters,  in  the  cross  of  his  Son.     Let  us 
think  with  ourselves,  how  often  he  hath  multiplied  his  blessings, 
when  we  did  deserve  his  wrath !  how  he  hath  sent  one  unexpected 
benefit  upon  the  heel  of  another,  to  bring  us  with  a  swift  pace  the 
tidings  of  good-will  to  us !  how  often  hath  he  delivered  us  from  a 
disease  that  had  the  arrows  of  death  in  its  hand  ready  to  pierce  us ! 
how  often  hath  he  turned  our  fears  into  joys,  and  our  distempers  into 
promoters  of  our  felicity !  how  often  hath  he  mated  a  temptation, 
sent  seasonable  supplies  in  the  midst  of  a  sore  distress,  and  prevented 
many  dangers  which  we  could  not  be  so  sensible  of,  because  we  were, 
in  a  great  measure,  ignorant  of  them !     How  should  we  meditate 
upon  his  goodness  to  our  souls,  in  preventing  some  sins,  in  pardon- 
ing others,  in  darting  upon  us  the  knowledge  of  his  gospel,  and  of 
himself,  in  the  face  of  his  Son  Christ !     This  seems  to  stick  much 
upon  the  spirit  of  Paul,  since  he  doth  so  often  sprinkle  his  epistles 
with  the  titles  of  the  "  grace  of  God,  riches  of  grace,  unsearchable 
riches  of  God,  riches  of  glory,"  and  cannot  satisfy  himself,  with  the 
extolling  of  it.  ■    Certainly,  we  should  bear  upon  our  heart  a  deep 
and  quick  sense  of  this  perfection ;  as  it  was  the  design  of  God  to 
manifest  it,  so  it  would  be  acceptable  to  God  for  us  to  have  a  sense 
of  it :  a  dull  receiver  of  his  blessings  is  no  less  nauseous  to  him  than 
a  dull  dispenser  of  his  alms ;  he  loves  a  "cheerful  giver"  (2  Cor.  ix. 
7) ;  he  doth  himself  what  he  loves  in  others  ;  he  is  cheerful  in  giv- 
ing, and  he  loves  we  should  be  serious  in  thinking  of  him,  and  have 
a  right  apprehension  and  sense  of  his  goodness. 

(1.)  A  right  sense  of  his  goodness  would  dispose  us  to  an  ingenu- 
ous worship  of  God.  It  would  damp  our  averseness  to  any  act  of 
religion ;  what  made  David  so  resolute  and  ready  to  "  worship  to- 
wards his  holy  temple"  but  the  sense  of  his  "loving  kindness?"  (Ps. 
cxxxviii.  2).  This  would  render  him  always  in  our  mind  a  worthy 
object  of  our  devotion,  a  stable  prop  of  our  confidence.  We  should 
then  adore  him,  when  we  consider  him  as  "  our  God,"  and  ourselves 
as  "  the  people  of  his  pasture,  and  the  sheep  of  his  hand"  (Ps.  xcv. 
7) :  we  should  send  up  prayers  with  strong  faith  and  feeling,  and 
]3raises  with  great  joy  and  pleasure.  The  sense  of  his  goodness 
Avould  make  us  love  him,  and  our  love  to  him  would  quicken  our 
adoration  of  him ;  but  if  we  regard  not  this,  we  shall  have  no  mind 
to  think  of  him,  no  mind  to  act  anything  towards  him ;  we  may 
tremble  at  his  presence,  but  not  heartily  worship  him  ;  we  shall 
rather  look  upon  him  as  a  tyrant,  and  think  no  other  affection  due 
to  him  than  what  we  reserve  for  an  oppressor,  viz.  hatred  and  ill- 
will. 

(2.)  A  sense  of  it  will  keep  us  humble.     A  sense  of  it  would  effect 


ON   THE   GOODNESS   OF   GOD.  349 

that  for  whicli  itself  was  intended ;  viz.  bring  ns  to  a  repentance  for 
our  crimes,  and  not  suffer  us  to  harden  ourselves  against  him.  When 
we  should  deeply  consider  how  he  hath  made  the  sun  to  shine  upon 
us,  and  his  rain  to  fall  upon  the  earth  for  our  support ;  the  one  to 
supple  the  earth,  and  the  other  to  assist  the  juice  of  it  to  bring  forth 
fruits ;  how  would  it  reflect  upon  us  our  ill  requitals,  and  make  us 
hang  down  our  heads  before  him  in  a  low  posture,  pleasing  to  him, 
and  advantageous  to  ourselves  I  What  would  the  first  charge  be 
upon  ourselves,  but  what  Moses  brings  in  his  expostulation  against 
the  Israelites  (Deut.  xxxii.  6):  "Do  I  thus  requite  the  Lord?" 
What  is  this  goodness  for  me,  who  am  so  much  below  him ;  for  me, 
who  have  so  much  incensed  him ;  for  me,  who  have  so  much  abused 
what  he  hath  allowed  ?  It  would  bring  to  remembrance  the  horror 
of  our  crimes,  and  set  us  a  blushing  before  him,  when  we  should 
consider  the  multitude  of  his  benefits,  and  our  unworthy  behaviour, 
that  hath  not  constrained  him  even  against  the  inclination  of  his 
goodness,  to  punish  us :  how  little  should  we  plead  for  a  further 
liberty  in  sin,  or  palliate  our  former  faults !  When  we  set  Divine 
goodness  in  one  column,  and  our  transgressions  in  another,  and  com- 
pare together  their  several  items,  it  would  fill  us  with  a  deep  con- 
sciousness of  our  own  guilt,  and  divest  us  of  any  worth  of  our  own 
in  our  approaches  to  him ;  it  would  humble  us,  that  we  cannot  love 
so  obliging  a  God  as  much  as  he  deserves  to  be  loved  by  us ;  it 
would  make  us  humble  before  men.  Who  would  be  proud  of  a 
mere  gift  which  he  knows  he  hath  not  merited  ?  How  ridiculous 
would  that  servant  be,  that  should  be  proud  of  a  rich  livery,  Avhich 
is  a  badge  of  his  service,  not  a  token  of  his  merit,  but  of  his  master's 
magnificence  and  bounty,  which,  though  he  wear  this  day,  he  iw^j 
be  stripped  of  to-morrow,  and  be  turned  out  of  his  master's  family  ! 

(3.)  A  sense  of  the  Divine  goodness  would  make  us  faithful  to  him. 
The  goodness  of  God  obligeth  us  to  serve  him,  not  to  offend  him ; 
the  freeness  of  his  goodness  should  make  us  more  ready  to  contribute 
to  the  advancement  of  his  glory.  When  we  consider  the  benefits  of 
a  friend  proceed  out  of  kindness  to  us,  and  not  out  of  self  ends  and 
vain  applause,  it  works  more  upon  us,  and  makes  us  more  careful  of 
the  honor  of  such  a  person.  It  is  a  pure  bounty  God  hath  manifest- 
ed in  creation  and  providence,  Avhich  could  not  be  for  himself,  who, 
being  blessed  forever,  wanted  nothing  from  us :  it  was  not  to  draw 
a  profit  from  us,  but  to  impart  an  advantage  to  us ;  "  Our  goodness 
extends  not  to  him"  (Ps.  xvi.  2).  The  service  of  the  benefactor  is 
but  a  rational  return  for  benefits ;  whence  Nehemiah  aggravates  the 
sins  of  the  Jews  (Neh.  ix.  35) :  "  They  have  not  served  thee  in  thy 
great  goodness  that  thou  gavest  them  ;"  i.  e.  which  thou  didst  freely 
bestow  upon  them.  How  should  we  dare  to  spend  upon  our  lusts 
that  which  we  possess,  if  we  considered  by  whose  liberality  we  came 
by  it  ?  how  should  we  dare  to  be  unfaithful  in  the  goods  he  hath 
made  us  trustees  of?  A  deep  sense  of  Divine  goodness  will  enno- 
ble the  creature,  and  make  it  act  for  the  most  glorious  and  noble 
end ;  it  would  strike  Satan's  temptation  dead  at  a  blow ;  it  would 
pull  off  the  false  mask  and  vizor  from  what  he  presents  to  us,  to 
draw  us  from  the  service  of  our  Benefactor ;  we  could  not,  with  a 


350  CHARNOCK  ON  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

sense  of  this,  think  him  kinder  to  us  than  God  hath,  and  will  be, 
which  is  the  great  motive  of  men  to  join  hands  with  him,  and  turn 
their  backs  upon  God. 

(4.)  A  sense  of  the  Divine  goodness  would  make  us  patient  under 
our  miseries.  A  deep  sense  of  this  would  make  us  give  God  the 
honor  of  his  goodness  in  whatsover  he  doth,  though  the  reason  of 
his  actions  be  not  apparent  to  us,  nor  the  event  and  issue  of  his  pro- 
ceedings foreseen  by  us.  It  is  a  stated  case,  that  goodness  can  never 
intend  ill,  but  designs  good  in  all  its  acts  "to  them  that  love  God" 
(Rom.  viii.  28) :  nay,  he  always  designs  the  best ;  when  he  bestows 
anj^thing  upon  his  people,  he  sees  it  best  they  should  have  it ;  and 
when  he  removes  anything  from  them,  he  sees  it  best  they  should 
lose  it.  When  we  have  lost  a  thing  we  loved,  and  refuse  to  be  com- 
forted, a  sense  of  this  perfection,  which  acts  God  in  all,  would  keep 
us  from  misjudging  our  sufferings,  and  measuring  the  intention  of 
the  hand  that  sent  them,  by  the  sharpness  of  what  we  feel.  What 
patient,  fully  persuaded  of  the  affection  of  the  physician,  would  not 
value  him,  though  that  which  is  given  to  purge  out  the  humors, 
racks  his  bowels?  When  we  lose  what  we  love,  perhaps  it  was 
some  outward  lustre  tickled  our  apprehensions,  and  we  did  not  see 
the  viper  we  would  have  harmed  ourselves  by ;  but  God  seeing  it, 
snatched  it  from  us,  and  we  mutter  as  if  he  had  been  cruel,  and  de- 
prived us  of  the  good  we  imagined,  when  he  was  kind  to  us,  and 
freed  us  from  the  hurt  we  should  certainly  have  felt.  We  should 
regard  that  which  in  goodness  he  takes  from  us,  at  no  other  rate 
than  some  gilded  poison  and  lurking  venom  ;  the  sufferings  of  men, 
though  upon  high  provocations,  are  often  followed  with  rich  mercies, 
and  many  times  are  intended  as  preparations  for  greater  goodness. 
When  God  utters  that  rhetoric  of  his  bowels,  "How  shall  I  give 
thee  up,  O  Ephraim,  I  will  not  execute  the  fierceness  of  my  anger  !" 
(Hos.  xi.  8),  he  intended  them  mercy  in  their  captivity,  and  would 
prepare  them  by  it,  to  walk  after  the  Lord.  And  it  is  likely  the 
posterity  of  those  ten  tribes  were  the  first  that  ran  to  God,  upon  the 
publishing  the  gospel  in  the  places  Avhere  they  lived ;  he  doth  not 
take  away  himself  when  he  takes  away  outward  comforts ;  while  he 
snatcheth  away  the  rattles  we  play  with,  he  hath  a  breast  in  himself 
for  us  to  suck.  The  consideration  of  his  goodness  would  dispose  us 
to  a  composed  frame  of  spirit.  If  we  are  sick,  it  is  goodness,  it  is  a 
disease,  and  not  a  hell.  It  is  goodness,  that  it  is  a  cloud,  and  not  a 
total  darkness.  What  if  he  transfers  from  us  what  we  have  ?  he 
takes  no  more  than  what  his  goodness  first  imparted  to  us ;  and 
never  takes  so  much  from  his  people  as  his  goodness  leaves  them  : 
if  he  strips  them  of  their  lives,  he  leaves  them  their  souls,  with  those 
faculties  he  furnished  them  with  at  first,  and  removes  them  from 
those  houses  of  clay  to  a  richer  mansion.  The  time  of  our  sufferings 
here,  were  it  the  whole  course  of  our  life,  bears  not  the  proportion 
of  a  moment  to  that  endless  eternity  wherein  he  hath  designed  to 
manifest  his  goodness  to  us.  The  consideration  of  Divine  goodness 
would  teach  us  to  draw  a  calm  even  from  storms,  and  distil  balsam 
from  rods.     If  the  reproofs  of  the  righteous  be  an  excellent  oil  (Ps. 


ON   THE   GOODNESS   OF   GOD.  851 

cxlv.  5),  we  should  not  tliink  the  corrections  of  a  good  God  to  have 
a  less  virtue. 

(5.)  A  sense  of  the  Divine  goodness  would  mount  us  above  the 
world.  It  would  damp  our  appetites  after  meaner  things ;  we  should 
look  upon  the  world  not  as  a  God,  but  a  gift  from  God,  and  never 
think  the  present  better  than  the  Donor.  We  should  never  lie  soaking 
in  muddy  puddles  were  Ave  always  filled  with  a  sense  of  the  richness 
and  clearness  of  this  Fountain,  wherein  we  might  bathe  ourselves ; 
little  petty  particles  of  good  would  give  us  no  content,  when  we 
were  sensible  of  such  an  unbounded  ocean.  Infinite  goodnes?,  rightly 
apprehended,  would  dull  our  desires  after  other  things,  and  sharpen 
them  with  a  keener  edge  after  that  which  is  best  of  all.  How  earn- 
estly do  we  long  for  the  presence  of  a  friend,  of  whose  good  will 
towards  us  we  have  full  experience. 

(6.)  It  would  check  any  motions  of  envy  :  it  would  make  us  joy 
in  the  prosperity  of  good  men,  and  hinder  us  from  envying  the  out- 
ward felicity  of  the  wicked.  We  should  not  dare  with  an  evil  eye 
to  censure  his  good  hand  (Matt.  xx.  15),  but  approve  of  what  he 
thinks  fit  to  do,  both  in  the  matter  of  his  liberality  and  the  subjects 
he  chooseth  for  it.  Though  if  the  disposal  were  in  our  hands,  we 
should  not  imitate  him,  as  not  thinking  them  subjects  fit  for  our 
bounty ;  yet  since  it  is  in  his  hands,  we  be  to  approve  of  his  actions 
and  not  have  an  ill  will  towards  him  for  his  goodness,  or  towards 
those  he  is  pleased  to  make  the  subject  of  it.  Since  all  his  doles  are 
given  to  "  invite  man  to  repentance"  (Eom.  ii.  4),  to  envy  them  those 
goods  God  hath  bestowed  upon  them,  is  to  envy  God  the  glory  of  his 
own  goodness,  and  them  the  felicity  those  things  might  move  them 
to  aspire  to ;  it  is  to  wish  God  more  contracted,  and  thy  neighbor 
more  miserable :  but  a  deep  sense  of  his  sovereign  goodness  would 
make  us  rejoice  in  any  marks  of  it  upon  others,  and  move  us  to  bless 
him  instead  of  censuring  him. 

(7.)  It  would  make  us  thankful.  What  can  be  the  most  proper, 
the  most  natural  reflection,  when  we  behold  the  most  magnificent 
characters  he  hath  imprinted  upon  our  souls ;  the  conveniency  of  the 
members  he  hath  compacted  in  our  bodies,  but  a  praise  of  him? 
Such  motion  had  David  upon  the  first  consideration :  "I  will  praise 
thee,  for  I  am  fearfully  and  wonderfully  made"  (Ps.  cxxxix.  14). 
What  could  be  the  most  natural  reflection,  when  we  behold  the  rich 
prerogatives  of  our  natures  above  other  creatures,  the  provision  he 
hath  made  for  us  for  our  delight  in  the  beauties  of  heaven,  for  our 
,  support  in  the  creatures  on  earth  ?  What  can  reasonably  be  expected 
from  uncorrupted  man,  to  be  the  first  motion  of  his  soul,  but  an  ex- 
tolling the  bountiful  hand  of  the  invisible  donor,  whoever  he  be  ? 
This  would  make  us  venture  at  some  endeavors  of  a  grateful  ac- 
knowledgment, though  we  should  despair  of  rendering  anything  pro- 
portionaljle  to  the  greatness  of  the  benefit ;  and  such  an  acknowledg- 
ment of  our  own  weakness  would  be  an  acceptable  part  of  our 
gratitude.  Without  a  due  and  deep  sense  of  Divine  goodness,  our 
praise  of  it,  and  thankfulness  for  it,  will  be  but  cold,  formal,  and 
customary ;  our  tongues  may  bless  him,  and  our  heart  slight  him : 
and  this  will  lead  us  to  the  third  exhortation : 


352  CHARNOCK   ON   THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

3.  Whicli  is  that  of  thankfulness  for  Divine  goodness.  The  abso- 
lute goodness  of  God,  as  it  is  the  excellency  of  his  nature,  is  the 
object  of  praise :  the  relative  goodness  of  God,  as  he  is  our  benefactor, 
is  the  object  of  thankfulness.  This  was  always  a  debt  due  from  man 
to  God ;  he  had  obligations  in  the  time  of  his  integrity,  and  was 
then  to  render  it ;  he  is  not  less,  but  more  obliged  to  it  in  the  state 
of  corruption ;  the  benefits  being  the  greater,  by  how  much  the  more 
unworthy  he  is  of  them  by  reason  of  his  revolt.  The  bounty  be- 
stowed upon  an  enemy  that  merits  the  contrary,  ought  to  be  received 
with  a  greater  resentment  than  that  bestowed  on  a  friend,  who  is  not 
unworthy  of  testimonies  of  respect.  Gratitude  to  God  is  the  duty 
of  every  creature  that  hath  a  sense  of  itself;  the  more  excellent  being 
any  enjoy  the  more  devout  ought  to  be  the  acknowledgment.  How 
often  doth  David  stir  up,  not  only  himself,  but  summon  all  creatures, 
even  the  insensible  ones,  to  join  in  the  concert !  He  calls  to  the 
"  deeps,  fire,  hail,  snow,  mountains  and  hills,"  to  bear  a  part  in  this 
work  of  praise  (Ps.  cxlviii) ;  not  that  they  are  able  to  do  it  actively, 
but  to  show  that  man  is  to  call  in  the  whole  creation  to  assist  him 
passively,  and  should  have  so  much  charity  to  all  creatures,  as  to  re- 
ceive what  they  offer,  and  so  much  affection  to  God,  as  to  present  to 
him  what  he  receives  from  him.  Snow  and  hail  cannot  bless  and 
praise  God,  but  man  ought  to  praise  God  for  those  things  wlierein 
there  is  a  mixture  of  trouble  and  inconvenience,  something  to  molest 
our  sense,  as  well  as  something  that  improves  the  earth  for  fruit. 
This  God  requires  of  us :  for  this  he  instituted  several  offerings,  and 
required  a  little  portion  of  fruits  to  be  presented  to  him,  as  an  ac- 
knowledgment they  held  the  whole  from  his  bounty.  And  the  end 
of  the  festival  days  among  the  Jews  was  to  revive  the  memory  of 
those  signal  acts  wherein  his  power  for  them,  and  his  goodness  to 
them,  had  been  extraordinarily  evident ;  it  is  no  more  but  our  mouths 
to  praise  him,  and  our  hand  to  obey  him,  that  he  exacts  at  our  hands. 
He  commands  us  not  to  expend  what  he  allows  us  in  the  erecting 
stately  temples  to  his  honor ;  all  the  coin  he  requires  to  be  paid  with 
for  his  expense  is  the  "  offering  of  thanksgiving"  (Ps.  1. 14) :  and  this 
we  ought  to  do  as  much  as  we  can,  since  we  cannot  do  it  as  much  as 
he  merits,  for  "  who  can  show  forth  all  his  praise?"  (Ps.  cvi.  2.)  If 
we  have  the  fruit  of  his  goodness,  it  is  fit  he  should  have  the  "  fruit 
of  our  lips"  (Heb.  xiii.  15) :  the  least  kindness  should  inflame  our 
souls  with  a  kindly  resentment.  Though  some  of  his  benefits  have  a 
brighter,  some  a  darker,  aspect  towards  us,  yet  they  all  come  from 
this  common  spring  ;  his  goodness  shines  in  all ;  there  are  the  foot- 
steps of  goodness  in  the  least,  as  well  as  the  smiles  of  goodness  in 
the  greatest ;  the  meanest  therefore  is  not  to  pass  without  a  regard  of 
the  Author.  As  the  glory  of  God  is  more  illustrious  in  some  crea- 
tures than  in  others,  yet  it  glitters  in  all,  and  the  lowest  as  well  as 
the  highest  administers  matter  of  praise ;  but  they  are  not  only  little 
things,  but  the  choicer  favors  he  has  bestowed  upon  us.  How  much 
doth  it  deserve  our  acknowledgment,  that  he  should  contrive  our  re- 
covery, when  we  had  plotted  our  ruin !  that  when  he  did  from  eter- 
nity behold  the  crimes  wherewith  we  would  incense  him,  he  should 
not,  according  to  the  rights  of  justice,  cast  us  into  hell,  but  prize  us  at 


ON  THE   GOODNESS  OF  GOD.  353 

the  rate  of  tlie  blood  and  life  of  his  only  Son,  in  value  above  the 
blood  of  men  and  lives  of  angels  !  How  should  we  bless  that  God, 
that  we  have  yet  a  gospel  among  us,  that  we  are  not  driven  into  the 
utmost  regions,  that  we  can  attend  upon  him  in  the  face  of  the  sun, 
and  not  forced  to  the  secret  obscurities  of  the  night!  Whatsoever 
we  enjoy,  whatsoever  we  receive,  we  must  own  him  as  the  Donor, 
and  read  his  hand  in  it.  Eob  him  not  of  any  praise  to  give  to  an 
instrument.  No  man  hath  wherewithal  to  do  us  good,  nor  a  heart 
to  do  us  good,  nor  opportunities  of  benefitting  us  without  him. 
When  the  cripple  received  the  soundness  of  his  limbs  from  Peter,  he 
praised  the  hand  that  sent  it,  not  the  hand  that  brought  it  (Acts  iii 
6):  he  "praised  God"  (ver.  8).  When  we  want  anything  that  is 
good,  let  the  goodness  of  Divine  nature  move  us  to  David's  practice, 
to  "  thirst  after  God"  (Ps.  xlii.  1) :  and  when  we  feel  the  motions  of 
his  goodness  to  us,  let  us  imitate  the  temper  of  the  same  holy  man 
(Ps.  ciii.  2) :  "  Bless  the  Lord,  O  my  soul,  and  forget  not  all  his 
benefits."  It  is  an  unworthy  carriage  to  deal  with  him  as  a  traveller 
doth  with  a  fountain,  kneel  down  to  drink  of  it  when  he  is  thirsty, 
and  turn  his  back  upon  it,  and  perhaps  never  think  of  it  more  after 
he  is  satisfied. 

4.  And,  lastly,  Imitate  this  goodness  of  God,  If  his  goodness 
hath  such  an  influence  upon  us  as  to  make  us  love  him,  it  will  also 
move  us  with  an  ardent  zeal  to  imitate  him  in  it,  Christ  makes  this 
use  from  the  doctrine  of  Divine  goodness  (Matt.  v.  44,  45) :  "  Do 
good  to  them  that  hate  you,  that  you  may  be  the  children  of  your 
Father  which  is  in  heaven  ;  for  he  makes  his  sun  to  rise  on  the  evil 
and  on  the  good."  As  holiness  is  a  resemblance  of  God's  purity,  so 
charity  is  a  resemblance  of  God's  goodness ;  and  this  our  Saviour 
calls  perfection  (ver.  48):  "Be  ye  therefore  perfect,  even  as  3'our 
Father,  which  is  in  heaven,  is  perfect."  As  God  would  not  be  a  per- 
fect God  without  goodness,  so  neither  can  any  be  a  perfect  Christian 
without  kindness ;  charity  and  love  being  the  splendor  and  loveliness 
of  all  Christian  graces,  as  goodness  is  the  splendor  and  loveliness  of 
all  Divine  attributes.  This  and  holiness  are  ordered  in  the  Scripture 
to  be  the  grand  patterns  of  our  imitation.  Imitate  the  goodness  of 
God  in  two  things, 

(1,)  In  relieving  and  assisting  others  in  distress.  Let  our  heart  be 
as  large  in  the  capacity  of  creatures,  as  God's  is  in  the  capacity  of  a 
Creator,  A  large  heart  from  him  to  us,  and  a  strait  heart  from  us  to 
others,  will  not  suit :  let  us  not  think  any  so  far  below  us  as  to  be 
unworthy  of  our  care,  since  God  thinks  none  that  are  infinitely  dis- 
tant from  him  too  mean  for  his.  His  infinite  glory  mounts*  him 
above  the  creature,  but  his  infinite  goodness  stoops  him  to  the  mean- 
est works  of  his  hands.  As  he  lets  not  the  transgressions  of  pros- 
perity pass  without  punishment,  so  he  lets  not  the  distress  of  his  af- 
flicted people  pass  him  without  support.  Shall  God  provide  for  the 
ease  of  beasts,  and  shall  not  we  have  some  tenderness  towards  those 
that  are  of  the  same  blood  Avith  ourselves,  and  have  as  good  blood 
to  boast  of  as  runs  in  the  veins  of  the  mightiest  monarch  on  earth  ; 
and  as  mean,  and  as  little  as  they  are,  can  lay  claim  to  as  ancient  a 
pedigree  as  the  stateliest  prince  in  the  world,  who  cannot  ascend  to 

VOL,  II.— 23 


354  CHARNOCK  ON  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

ancestors  bej^ond  Adam  ?  Shall  we  glut  ourselves  with  Divine  be- 
neficence to  us,  and  wear  his  livery  only  on  our  own  backs,  forget- 
ting the  afflictions  of  some  dear  Joseph  ;  when  God,  who  hath  an 
unblemished  felicity  in  his  own  nature,  looks  out  of  himself  to  view 
and  relieve  the  miseries  of  poor  creatures  ?  Why  hath  God  increased 
the  doles  of  his  treasures  to  some  more  than  others  ?  Was  it  merely 
for  themselves,  or  rather  that  they  might  have  a  bottom  to  attain  the 
honor  of  imitating  him  ?  Shall  we  embezzle  his  goods  to  our  own 
use,  as  if  we  were  absolute  proprietors,  and  not  stewards  entrusted 
for  others  ?  Shall  we  make  a  difficulty  to  part  with  something  to 
others,  out  of  that  abundance  he  hath  bestowed  upon  any  of  us? 
Did  not  his  goodness  strip  his  Son  of  the  glory  of  heaven  for  a  time 
to  enrich  us  ?  and  shall  we  shrug  when  we  are  to  part  with  a  little 
to  pleasure  him  ?  It  is  not  very  becoming  for  any  to  be  backward 
in  supplying  the  necessities  of  others  with  a  few  morsels,  who  have 
had  the  happiness  to  have  had  their  greatest  necessities  supplied  with 
his  Son's  blood.  He  demands  not  that  we  should  strip  ourselves  of 
all  for  others,  but  of  a  pittance,  something  of  superfluity,  Avhich  will 
turn  more  to  our  account  than  what  is  vainly  and  unprofitably  con- 
sumed on  our  backs  and  bellies.  If  he  hath  given  much  to  any  of 
us,  it  is  rather  to  lay  aside  part  of  the  income  for  his  service  ;  else 
we  would  monopolize  Divine  goodness  to  ourselves,  and  seem  to  dis- 
trust under  our  present  experiments  his  future  kindness,  as  though 
the  last  thing  he  gave  us  was  attended  with  this  language.  Hoard  up 
this,  and  expect  no  more  from  me  ;  use  it  only  to  the  glutting  your 
avarice,  and  feeding  your  ambition  :  which  would  be  against  the 
whole  scope  of  Divine  goodness.  If  we  do  not  endeavor  to  write 
after  the  comely  copy  he  hath  set  us,  we  may  provoke  him  to  har- 
den himself  against  us,  and  in  wrath  bestow  that  on  the  fire,  or  on 
our  enemies,  which  his  goodness  hath  imparted  to  us  for  his  glory, 
and  the  supplying  the  necessities  of  poor  creatures.  And,  on  the 
contrary,  he  is  so  delighted  with  this  kind  of  imitation  of  him,  that 
a  cup  of  cold  water,  when  there  is  no  more  to  be  done,  shall  not  be 
unrewarded. 

(2.)  Imitate  God  in  his  goodness,  in  a  kindness  to  our  worst  ene- 
mies. The  best  man  is  more  unworthy  to  receive  anything  from  God 
than  the  worst  can  be  to  receive  from  us.  How  kind  is  God  to  those 
that  blaspheme  him,  and  gives  them  the  same  sun,  and  the  same 
showers,  that  he  doth  to  the  best  men  in  the  world !  Is  it  not  more 
our  glory  to  imitate  God  in  "doing  good  to  those  that  hate  us,"  than 
to  imitate  the  men  of  the  world  in  requiting  evil,  by  a  return  of  a 
sevenfold  mischief?  This  would  be  a  goodness  which  would  van- 
quish the  hearts  of  men,  and  render  us  greater  than  Alexanders  and 
CiBsars,  who  did  only  triumph  over  miserable  carcasses  ;  yea,  it  is  to 
triumph  over  ourselves  in  being  good  against  the  sentiments  of  cor- 
rupt nature.  Eevenge  makes  us  slaves  to  our  passions,  as  much  as 
the  offenders,  and  good  returns  render  us  victorious  over  our  adverl 
saries  (Rom.  xii.  21) :  "  Be  not  overcome  of  evil,  but  overcome  evi- 
with  good."  \Mien  we  took  up  our  arms  against  God,  his  goodness 
contrived  not  our  ruin,  but  our  recovery.  This  is  such  a  goodness 
of  God  as  could  not  be  discovered  in  an  innocent  state ;  while  man 


ON  THE  GOODNESS  OF  GOD.  855 

had  continued  in  his  duty,  he  could  not  have  been  guilty  of  an  en- 
mity ;  and  God  could  not  but  affect  him,  unless  he  had  denied  him- 
self: so  this  of  being  good  to  our  enemies  could  never  have  been 
practised  in  a  state  of  rectitude ;  since,  where  was  a  perfect  inno- 
cence, there  could  be  no  spark  of  enmity  to  one  another.  It  can  be 
no  disparagement  to  any  man's  dignity  to  cast  his  influences  on  his 
greatest  opposers,  since  God,  who  acts  for  his  own  glory,  thinks  not 
himself  disparaged  by  sending  forth  the  streams  of  his  bounty  on  the 
wickedest  persons,  who  are  far  meaner  to  him  than  those  of  the  same 
blood  can  be  to  us.  Who  hath  the  worse  thoughts  of  the  sun,  for 
shining  upon  the  earth,  that  sends  up  vapors  to  cloud  it?  it  can  be 
no  disgrace  to  resemble  God ;  if  his  hand  and  bowels  be  open  to  us, 
let  not  ours  be  shut  to  any. 


DISCOURSE    XIII. 

ON    GOD'S    DOMINION. 

Psalm  ciii.  19. — The  Lord  hath  prepared  liis  throne  in  the  heavens:  and  his  kingdom 

ruleth  over  all. 

The  Psalm  begins  with  the  praise  of  God,  wherein  the  penman 
excites  his  soul  to  a  right  and  elevated  management  of  so  great  a 
duty  (ver.  1) :  "  Bless  the  Lord,  O  my  soul :  and  all  that  is  within 
me,  bless  his  holy  name :"  and  because  himself  and  all  men  were  in- 
sufficient to  offer  up  a  praise  to  God  answerable  to  the  greatness  of 
his  benefits,  he  summons  in  the  end  of  the  psalm  the  angels,  and  all 
creatures,  to  join  in  concert  with  him.     Observe, 

1,  As  man  is  too  shallow  a  creature  to  comprehend  the  excellency 
of  God,  so  he  is  too  dull  and  scanty  a  creature  to  offer  up  a  due 
praise  to  God,  both  in  regard  of  the  excellency  of  his  nature,  and 
the  multitude  and  greatness  of  his  benefits. 

2.  We  are  apt  to  forget  Divine  benefits :  our  souls  must  therefore 
be  often  jogged,  and  roused  up.  "All  that  is  within  me,"  every  power 
of  my  rational,  and  every  affection  of  my  sensitive  part :  all  his  fac- 
ulties, all  his  thoughts.  Our  souls  will  hang  back  from  God  in  every 
duty,  much  more  in  this,  if  we  lay  not  a  strict  charge  upon  them. 
We  are  so  void  of  a  pure  and  entire  love  to  God,  that  we  have  no 
mind  to  those  duties.  Wants  will  spur  us  on  to  prayer,  but  a  pure 
love  to  God  can  only  spirit  us  to  praise.  We  are  more  ready  to 
reach  out  a  hand  to  receive  his  mercies,  than  to  lift  up  our  hearts  to 
recognize  them  after  the  receipt.  After  the  Psalmist  had  summoned 
his  own  soul  to  this  task,  he  enumerates  the  Divine  blessings  received 
by  him,  to  awaken  his  soul  by  a  sense  of  them  to  so  noble  a  work. 
He  begins  at  the  first  and  foundation  mercy  to  himself,  the  pardon 
of  his  sin  and  justification  of  his  person,  the  renewing  of  his  sickly 
and  languishing  nature  (ver.  8) :  "  Who  forgives  all  thy  iniquities, 
and  heals  all  thy  diseases."  His  redemption  from  death,  or  eternal 
destruction ;  his  expected  glorification  thereupon,  which  he  speaks 
of  with  that  certainty,  as  if  it  were  present  (ver.  4):  "Who  redeems 
thy  life  from  destruction,  who  crowns  thee  with  loving-kindness  and 
tender  mercies."  He  makes  his  progress  to  the  mercy  manifested  to 
the  church  in  the  protection  of  it  against,  or  delivery  of  it  from,  op- 
pressions (ver.  6) :  "The  Lord  executeth  righteousness  and  judgment 
for  all  that  are  oppressed."  In  the  discovery  of  his  will  and  law, 
and  the  glory  of  his  merciful  name  to  it  (ver.  7,  8) :  "  He  made  known 
his  ways  unto  Moses,  and  his  acts  unto  the  children  of  Israel.  The 
Lord  is  merciful  and  gracious,  slow  to  anger,  and  plenteous  in  mercy :" 


ON  god's  dominion.  357 

which  latter  words  may  refer  also  to  the  free  and  unmerited  spring 
of  the  benefits  he  had  reckoned  up :  viz.,  the  mercy  of  God,  which 
he  mentions  also  (ver.  10) :  "  He  hath  not  dealt  with  us  after  our 
sins,  nor  rewarded  us  according  to  our  iniquities  ;"  and  then  extols 
the  perfection  of  Divine  mercy,  in  the  pardoning  of  sin  (ver.  11,  12) ; 
the  paternal  tenderness  of  God  (ver.  18) ;  the  eternity  of  his  mercy 
(ver.  17) ;  but  restrains  it  to  the  proper  object  (ver.  11,  17),  "  to  them 
that  fear  him ;"  i.  e.  to  them  that  believe  in  him.  Fear  being  the 
word  commonly  used  for  faith  in  the  Old  Testament,  under  the  legal 
dispensation,  wherein  the  spirit  of  bondage  was  more  eminent  than 
the  spirit  of  adoption,  and  their  fear  more  than  their  confidence. 
Observe, 

1.  All  true  blessings  grow  up  from  the  pardon  of  sin  (ver.  3) : 
"  Who  forgives  all  thine  iniquities."  That  is  the  first  blessing,  the 
top  and  crown  of  all  other  favors,  which  draws  all  other  blessings 
after  it,  and  sweetens  all  other  blessings  with  it.  The  principal  in- 
tent of  Christ  was  expiation  of  sin,  redemption  from  iniquity ;  the 
purchase  of  other  blessings  was  consequent  upon  it.  Pardon  of  sin 
is  every  blessing  virtually,  and  in  the  root  and  spring  it  flows  from 
the  favor  of  God,  and  is  such  a  gift  as  cannot  be  tainted  with  a  curse, 
as  outward  things  may. 

2.  Where  sin  is  pardoned,  the  soul  is  renewed  (ver.  3) :  "  Who 
heals  all  thy  diseases."  Where  guilt  is  remitted,  the  deformity  and 
sickness  of  the  soul  is  cured.  Forgiveness  is  a  teeming  mercy  ;  it 
never  goes  single  ;  when  we  have  an  interest  in  Christ,  as  bearing 
the  chastisement  of  our  peace,  we  receive  also  a  balsam  from  his 
blood,  to  heal  the  wounds  we  feel  in  our  nature.  (Isa.  liii.  5)  :  "  The 
chastisement  of  our  peace  was  upon  him,  and  with  his  stripes  we  are 
healed,"  As  there  is  a  guilt  in  sin,  which  binds  us  over  to  punish- 
ment, so  there  is  a  contagion  in  sin,  which  fills  us  with  pestilent  dis- 
eases ;  when  the  one  is  removed,  the  other  is  cured.  We  should  not 
know  how  to  love  the  one  without  the  other.  The  renewing  the  soul 
is  necessary  for  a  delightful  relish  of  the  other  blessings  of  God.  A 
condemned  malefactor,  infected  with  a  leprosy,  or  any  other  loathsome 
distemper,  if  pardoned,  could  take  little  comfort  in  his  freedom  from 
the  gibbet  without  a  cure  of  his  plague. 

3.  God  is  the  sole  and  sovereign  Author  of  all  spiritual  blessings  : 
"  Who  forgives  all  thy  iniquities,  and  heals  all  thy  diseases."  He 
refers  all  to  God,  nothing  to  himself  in  his  own  merit  and  strength. 
All,  not  the  pardon  of  one  sin  merited  by  me,  not  the  cure  of  one 
disease  can  I  owe  to  my  own  power,  and  the  strength  of  my  free- 
will, and  the  operations  of  nature.  He,  and  he  alone  is  the  Prince 
of  pardon,  the  Physician  that  restores  me,  the  Redeemer  that  delivers 
me  ;  it  is  a  sacrilege  to  divide  the  praise  between  God  and  ourselves. 
God  only  can  knock  off  our  fetters,  expel  our  distempers,  and  restore 
a  deformed  soul  to  its  decayed  beauty. 

4.  Gracious  souls  will  bless  God  as  much  for  sanctification  as  for 
justification.  The  initials  of  sanctification  (and  there  are  no  more 
in  this  life)  are  worthy  of  solemn  acknowledgment.  It  is  a  sign  of 
growth  in  grace  when  our  hymns  are  made  up  of  acknowledgments 
of  God's  sanctifying,  as  well  as  pardoning  grace.     In  blessing  God 


358  CHARNOCK  ON  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

for  the  one,  we  rather  show  a  love  to  ourselves ;  in  blessing  God  for 
the  other,  we  cast  out  a  pure  beam  of  love  to  God  :  because,  by  puri- 
fying grace,  we  are  fitted  to  the  service  of  our  Maker,  prepared  to 
every  good  work  which  is  delightful  to  him ;  by  the  other,  we  are 
eased  in  ourselves.  Pardon  fills  us  with  inward  peace,  but  sanctifi- 
cation  fills  us  with  an  activity  for  God.  Nothing  is  so  capable  of 
setting  the  soul  in  a  heavenly  tune,  as  the  consideration  of  God  as  a 
pardoner  and  as  a  healer. 

5.  Where  sin  is  pardoned,  the  punishment  is  remitted  (ver.  3,  4) : 
"  Who  forgives  all  thy  iniquities,  and  redeems  thy  life  from  destruc- 
tion." A  malefactor's  pardon  puts  an  end  to  his  chains,  frees  him 
from  the  stench  of  the  dungeon,  and  fear  of  the  gibbet.  Pardon  is 
nothing  else  but  the  remitting  of  guilt,  and  guilt  is  nothing  else  but 
an  obligation  to  punishment  as  a  penal  debt  for  sin.  A  creditor's 
tearing  a  bond  frees  the  debtor  from  payment  and  rigor. 

6.  Growth  in  grace  is  always  annexed  to  true  sanctification.  So 
that  "  thy  youth  is  renewed  like  the  eagle's"  (ver.  5).  Interpreters 
trouble  themselves  much  about  the  manner  of  the  eagle's  renewing 
its  youth,  and  regaining  its  vigor:  he  speaks  best  that  saith,  the 
Psalmist  speaks  only  according  to  the  opinion  of  the  vulgar,  and  his 
design  was  not  to  write  a  natural  history.  i  Growth  always  accom- 
panies grace,  as  well  as  it  doth  nature  in  the  body ;  not  that  it  is 
without  its  qualms  and  languishing  fits,  as  children  are  not,  but  still 
their  distempers  make  them  grow.  Grace  is  not  an  idle,  but  an  ac- 
tive principle.  It  is  not  like  the  Psalmist  means  it  of  the  strength 
of  the  body,  or  the  prosperity  and  stability  of  his  government,  but 
the  vigor  of  his  grace  and  comfort,  since  they  are  spiritual  blessings 
here  that  are  the  matter  of  his  song.  The  healing  the  disease  con- 
duceth  to  the  sprouting  up  and  flourishing  of  the  body.  It  is  the 
nature  of  grace  to  go  from  strength  to  strength. 

7.  When  sin  is  pardoned,  it  is  perfectly  pardoned.  "  As  far  as 
the  east  is  from  the  west,  so  far  hath  He  removed  our  transgressions 
from  us"  (ver.  11,  12).  The  east  and  west  are  the  greatest  distance 
in  the  world  ;  the  terms  can  never  meet  together.  When  sin  is  par- 
doned, it  is  never  charged  again  ;  the  guilt  of  it  can  no  more  return, 
than  east  can  become  west,  or  west  become  east. 

8.  Obedience  is  necessary  to  an  interest  in  the  mercy  of  God. 
"  The  mercy  of  the  Lord  is  to  them  that  fear  him,  to  them  that  re- 
member his  commandments,  to  do  them"  (ver.  17).  Commands  are 
to  be  remembered  in  order  to  practice  ;  a  vain  speculation  is  not  the 
intent  of  the  publication  of  them. 

After  the  Psalmist  had  enumerated  the  benefits  of  God,  he  reflects 
upon  the  greatness  of  God,  and  considers  him  on  his  throne  encom- 
passed with  the  angels,  the  ministers  of  his  providence.  "  The  Lord 
hath  prepared  his  throne  in  the  heavens  and  his  kingdom  rules  over 
all"  (ver.  19).  He  brings  in  this  of  his  dominion  just  after  he  had 
largely  treated  of  his  mercy.     Either, 

1.  To  signify.  That  God  is  not  only  to  be  praised  for  his  mercy, 
but  for  his  majesty,  both  for  the  height  and  extent  of  his  authority. 

2.  To  extol  the  greatness  of  his  mercy  and  pity.     What  I  have 

q  Amyrald.  in  loc. 


ON  GOD'S  DOMINION.  859 

said  now,  0  my  soul,  of  the  mercy  of  God,  and  liis  paternal  pity,  is 
commended  by  liis  majesty;  his  grandeur  hinders  not  his  clemency  : 
though  his  throne  be  high,  his  bowels  are  tender.  He  looks  down 
upon  his  meanest  servants  from  the  height  of  his  glory.  Since  his 
majesty  is  infinite,  his  mercy  must  be  as  great  as  his  majesty.  It 
must  be  a  greater  j^ity  lodging  in  his  breast,  than  what  is  in  any 
creature,  since  it  is  not  damped  by  the  greatness  of  his  sovereignty. 

3.  To  render  his  mercy  more  comfortable.  The  mercy  I  have 
spoken  of,  O  my  soul,  is  not  the  mercy  of  a  subject,  but  of  a  sover- 
eign. An  executioner  may  torture  a  criminal,  and  strip  him  of  his 
life,  and  a  vulgar  pity  cannot  relieve  him,  but  the  clemency  of  the 
prince  can  perfectly  pardon  him.  It  is  that  God  who  hath  none 
above  him  to  control  him,  none  below  him  to  resist  him,  that  hath 
performed  all  the  acts  of  grace  to  thee.  If  God  by  his  supreme  au- 
thority pardons  us,  who  can  reverse  it?  If  all  the  subjects  of  God 
in  the  world  should  pardon  us,  and  God  withhold  his  grant,  what 
will  it  profit  us?  Take  comfort,  O  my  soul,  since  God  from  his 
throne  in  the  highest,  and  that  God  who  rules  over  every  particular 
of  the  creation,  hath  granted  and  sealed  thy  pardon  to  thee.  What 
would  his  grace  signify,  if  he  were  not  a  monarch,  extending  his 
royal  empire  over  everything,  and  swaying  all  by  his  sceptre  ? 

4.  To  render  the  Psalmist's  confidence  more  firm  in  any  pressures. 
Ver.  15,  16.  He  had  considered  the  misery  of  man  in  the  shortness 
of  his  life  ;  his  place  should  know  him  no  more  ;  he  should  never 
return  to  his  authority,  employments,  opportunities,  that  death  would 
take  from  him  ;  but,  howsoever,  the  mercy  and  majesty  of  God  were 
the  ground  of  his  confidence.  He  draws  himself  from  poring  upon 
any  calamities  which  may  assault  him,  to  heaven,  the  place  where 
God  orders  all  things  that  are  done  on  the  earth.  He  is  able  to  pro- 
tect us  from  our  dangers,  and  to  deliver  us  from  our  distresses ; 
whatsoever  miseries  thou  mayest  lie  under,  O  my  soul,  cast  thy  eye 
up  to  heaven,  and  see  a  pitying  God  in  a  majestic  authority  :  a  God 
who  can  perform  what  he  hath  promised  to  them  that  fear  him,  since 
he  hath  a  throne  above  the  heavens,  and  bears  sway  over  all  that 
envy  thy  happiness,  and  would  stain  thy  felicity :  a  God  whose  au- 
thority cannot  be  curtailed  and  dismembered  by  any.  When  the 
prophet  solicits  the  sounding  of  the  Divine  bowels,  he  urgeth  him 
by  his  dwelling  in  heaven,  the  habitation  of  his  holiness  (Isa.  Ixiii. 
15).  His  kingdom  ruleth  over  all :  there  is  none  therefore  hath  any 
authority  to  make  him  break  his  covenant,  or  violate  his  promise. 

5.  As  an  incentive  to  obedience.  The  Lord  is  merciful,  saith  he, 
to  them  "  that  remember  his  commandments  to  do  them"  (ver.  17, 
18) :  and  then  brings  in  the  text  as  an  encouragement  to  observe  his 
precepts.  He  hath  a  majesty  that  deserves  it  from  us,  and  an  au- 
thority to  protect  us  in  it.  If  a  king  in  a  small  spot  of  earth  is  to 
be  obeyed  by  his  subjects,  how  much  more  is  God,  who  is  more  ma- 
jestic than  all  the  angels  in  heaven,  and  monarchs  on  earth ;  who 
hath  a  majesty  to  exact  our  obedience,  and  a  mercy  to  allure  it ! 
We  should  not  set  upon  the  performance  of  any  duty,  without  an 
eye  lifted  up  to  God  as  a  great  king.  It  would  make  us  willing  to 
serve  him ;    the  more  noble  the  person,  the  more  honorable  and 


860  CHARNOCK  ON  THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

powerful  the  prince,  the  more  glorious  is  his  service.  A  view  of 
God  upon  his  throne  will  make  us  think  his  service  our  privilege, 
his  precepts  our  ornaments,  and  obedience  to  him  the  greatest  honor 
and  nobility.  It  will  make  us  weighty  and  serious  in  our  perform- 
ances :  it  would  stake  us  down  to  any  duty.  The  reason  we  are  so 
loose  and  unmannerly  in  the  carriage  of  our  souls  before  God,  is  be- 
cause we  consider  him  not  as  a  "  great  King"  (Mai.  i.  14).  "Oar 
Father,  which  art  in  heaven,"  in  regard  of  his  majesty,  is  the  preface 
to  prayer. 

Let  us  now  consider  the  words  in  themselves.  "  The  Lord  hath 
prepared  his  throne  in  the  heavens,  and  his  kingdom  rules  over  all." 

The  Lord  hath  prepared. — The  word  signifies  "  established,"  as 
well  as  "  prepared,"  and  might  so  be  rendered.  Due  preparation  is 
a  natural  way  to  the  establishment  of  a  thing :  hasty  resolves  break 
and  moulder.  This  notes,  1.  The  infiniteness  of  his  authority.  He 
prepares  it,  none  else  for  him.  It  is  a  dominion  that  originally  re- 
sides in  his  nature,  not  derived  from  any  by  birth  or  commission ; 
he  alone  prepared  it.  He  is  the  sole  cause  of  his  own  kingdom  ;  his 
authority  therefore  is  unbounded,  as  infinite  as  his  nature  :  none  can 
set  laws"  to  him,  because  none  but  himself  prepared  his  throne  for 
him.  As  he  will  not  impair  his  own  happiness,  so  he  will  not  abridge 
himself  of  his  own  authority.  2.  Keadiness  to  exercise  it  upon  due 
occasions.  He  hath  prepared  his  throne :  he  is  not  at  a  loss ;  he 
needs  not  stay  for  a  commission  or  instructions  from  any  how  to  act. 
He  hath  all  things  ready  for  the  assistance  of  his  people ;  he  hath 
rewards  and  punishments  ;  his  treasures  and  axes,  the  great  marks 
of  authority  lying  by  him,  the  one  for  the  good,  the  other  for  the 
wicked.  His  "  mercy  he  keeps  by  him  for  thousands"  (Exod.  xxxiv. 
7).  His  "  arrows"  he  hath  prepared  by  him  for  rebels  (Ps.  vii.  13). 
3.  Wise  management  of  it.  It  is  prepared  ;  preparations  imply  pru- 
dence ;  the  government  of  God  is  not  a  rash  and  heady  authority. 
A  prince  upon  his  throne,  a  j  udge  upon  the  bench,  manages  things 
with  the  greatest  discretion,  or  should  be  supposed  so  to  do.  4. 
Successfulness  and  duration  of  it.  He  hath  prepared  or  established. 
It  is  fixed,  not  tottering ;  it  is  an  immovable  dominion ;  all  the 
stragglings  of  men  and  devils  cannot  overturn  it,  nor  so  much  as 
shake  it.  It  is  established  above  the  reach  of  obstinate  rebels  ;  he 
cannot  be  deposed  from  it,  he  cannot  be  mated  in  it.  His  dominion, 
as  himself,  abides  forever.  And  as  his  counsel,  so  his  authority, 
shall  stand,  and  "  he  will  do  all  his  pleasure"  (Isa.  xlvi.  10). 

His  throne  in  the  heavens. — This  is  an  expression  to  signify  the 
authority  of  God ;  for  as  God  hath  no  member  properly,  though  he 
be  so  represented  to  us,  so  he  hath  properly  no  throne.  It  signifies 
his  power  of  reigning  and  judging.  A  throne  is  proper  to  royalty, 
the  seat  of  majesty  in  its  excellency,  and  the  place  where  the  deepest 
respect  and  homage  of  subjects  is  paid,  and  their  petitions  presented. 
That  the  throne  of  God  is  in  the  heavens,  that  there  he  sits  as  Sove- 
reign, is  the  opinion  of  all  that  acknowledge  a  God ;  when  they 
stand  in  need  of  his  authority  to  assist  them,  their  eyes  are  lifted  up, 
and  their  heads  stretched  out  to  heaven  ;  so  his  Son  Christ  prayed  ; 
he  "  lifted  up  his  eyes  to  heaven,"  as  the  place  where  his  Father  sat 


ON   GOD'S   DOMINION.  861 

in  majesty,  as  the  most  adorable  object  (John  xvii.  1).  Heaven  hath 
the  title  of  his  "  throne,"  as  the  earth  hath  that  of  his  "  foot- 
stool" (Isa.  Ixvi.  1.)  And,  therefore,  heaven  is  sometimes  put  for 
the  authority  of  God  (Dan.  iv.  26).  "  After  that  thou  shalt  have 
known  that  the  heavens  do  rule,"  i.  e.  that  God,  who  hath  his  throne 
in  the  heavens,  orders  earthly  princes  and  sceptres  as  he  pleases,  and 
rules  over  the  kingdoms  of  the  world.  His  throne  in  the  heavens 
notes,  1.  The  glory  of  his  dominion.  The  heavens  are  the  most 
stately  and  comely  pieces  of  the  creation.  His  majesty  is  there  most 
visible,  his  glory  most  splendid  (Ps.  xix.  1).  The  heavens  speak  out 
with  a  full  mouth  his  glory.  It  is  therefore  called  "  the  habitation" 
of  his  "  holiness  and  of  his  glory"  (Isa.  Ixiii.  15).  There  is  the 
greater  glister  and  brightness  of  his  glory.  The  whole  eartl],  indeed, 
is  full  of  his  glory,  full  of  the  beams  of  it ;  the  heaven  is  full  of  the 
body  of  it ;  as  the  rays  of  the  sun  reach  the  earth,  but  the  full  glory 
of  it  is  in  the  firmament.  In  heaven  his  dominion  is  more  acknowl- 
edged by  the  angels  standing  at  his  beck,  and  by  their  readiness  and 
swiftness  obeying  his  commands,  going  and  returning  as  a  flash  of 
lightning  (Ezek.  i.  14),  His  throne  may  well  be  said  to  be  in  the 
heavens,  since  his  dominion  is  not  disputed  there  by  the  angels  that 
attend  him,  as  it  is  on  earth  by  the  rebels  that  arm  themselves 
against  him.  2.  The  supremacy  of  his  empire.  The  heavens  are 
the  loftiest  part  of  the  creation,  and  the  only  fit  palace  for  him  ;  it  is 
in  the  heavens  his  majesty  and  dignity  are  so  sublime,  that  they  are 
elevated  above  all  earthly  empires.  3.  Peculiarity  of  this  dominion. 
He  rules  in  the  heavens  alone.  There  is  some  shadow  of  empire  in 
the  world.  Royalty  is  communicated  to  men  as  his  substitutes.  He 
hath  disposed  a  vicarious  dominion  to  men  in  his  footstool,  the  earth ; 
he  gives  them  some  share  in  his  authority  ;  and,  therefore,  the  title 
of  his  name  (Ps.  Ixxxii.  6) :  "I  have  said,  ye  are  gods ;"  but  in 
heaven  he  reigns  alone  without  any  substitutes  ;  his  throne  is  there. 
He  gives  out  his  orders  to  the  angels  himself;  the  marks  of  his 
immediate  sovereignty  are  there  most  visible.  He  hath  no  vicars- 
general  of  that  empire.  His  authority  is  not  delegated  to  any  crea- 
ture ;  he  rules  the  blessed  spirits  by  himself;  but  he  rules  men  that 
are  on  his  footstool  by  others  of  the  same  kind,  men  of  their  own 
nature.  4.  The  vastness  of  his  empire.  The  earth  is  but  a  spot  to 
the  heavens ;  what  is  England  in  a  map  to  the  whole  earth,  but  a 
spot  you  may  cover  with  your  finger  ?  much  less  must  the  whole 
earth  be  to  the  extended  heavens  ;  it  is  but  a  little  point  or  atom  to 
what  is  visible ;  the  sun  is  vastly  bigger  than  it,  and  several  stars 
arc  supposed  to  be  of  a  greater  bulk  than  the  earth  ;  and  how  many, 
and  what  heavens  are  beyond,  the  ignorance  of  man  cannot  under- 
stand. If  the  "  throne"  of  God  be  there,  it  is  a  larger  circuit  he 
rules  in  than  can  well  be  conceived.  You  cannot  conceive  the 
many  millions  of  little  particles  there  are  in  the  earth ;  and  if  all 
put  together  be  but  as  one  point  to  that  place  where  the  throne  of 
God  is  seated,  how  vast  must  his  empire  be  !  He  rules  there  over 
the  angels,  which  "excel  in  strength"  those  "hosts"  of  his  "which 
do  his  pleasure,"  in  comparison  of  whom  all  the  men  in  the  world, 
and  the  power  of  the  greatest  potentates,  is  no  more  than  the  strength 


862  CHARNOOK   ON   THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

of  an  ant  or  fly  ;  multitudes  of  them  encircle  his  throne,  and  listen 
to  his  orders  without  roving,  and  execute  them  without  disputing. 
And  since  his  throne  is  in  the  heavens,  it  will  follow,  that  all  things 
under  the  heaven  are  parts  of  his  dominion ;  his  throne  being  in 
the  highest  place,  the  inferior  things  of  earth  cannot  but  be  subject 
to  him  ;  and  it  necessarily  includes  his  influence  on  all  things  below : 
because  the  heavens  are  the  cause  of  all  the  motion  in  the  world, 
the  immediate  thing  the  earth  doth  naturally  address  to  for  corn, 
wine,  and  oil,  above  which  there  is  no  superior  but  the  Lord  (IIos. 
ii.  21,  22) :  "  The  earth  hears  the  corn,  wine,  and  oil ;  the  heavens 
hear  the  earth,  and  the  Lord  hears  the  heavens,"  5.  The  easi- 
ness of  managing  this  government.  His  throne  being  placed  on 
high,  he  cannot  but  behold  all  things  that  are  done  below ;  the 
height  of  a  place  gives  advantage  to  a  pure  and  clear  eye  to  be- 
hold things  below  it.  Had  the  sun  an  eye,  nothing  could  be  done 
in  the  open  air  out  of  its  ken.  The  "  throne"  of  God  being  in 
heaven,  he  easily  looks  from  thence  upon  all  the  children  of  men 
(Ps.  xiv.  2) :  "  The  Lord  looked  down  from  heaven  upon  the  chil- 
dren of  men,  to  see  if  there  were  any  that  did  understand."  He  looks 
not  down  from  heaven  as  if  he  were  in  regard  of  his  presence  con- 
fined there  :  but  he  looks  down  majestically,  and  by  way  of  authori- 
ty, not  as  the  look  of  a  bare  spectator,  but  the  look  of  a  governor, 
to  pass  a  sentence  upon  them  as  a  judge.  His  being  in  the  heavens 
renders  him  capable  of  doing  "  whatsoever  he  pleases"  (Ps.  cxv.  3). 
His  "  throne"  being  there,  he  can  by  a  word,  in  stopping  tlie  mo- 
tions of  the  heavens,  turn  the  whole  earth  into  confusion.  In  this 
respect,  it  is  said,  "He  rides  upon  the  heaven  in  thy  help"  (Deut. 
xxxiii.  26) ;  discharges  his  thunders  upon  men,  and  makes  the  in- 
fluences of  it  serve  his  people's  interest.  By  one  turn  of  a  cock,  as 
you  see  in  grottoes,  he  can  cause  streams  from  several  parts  of  the 
heavens  to  refresh,  or  ruin  the  world.  6.  Duration  of  it.  The 
heavens  are  incorruptible ;  his  throne  is  placed  there  in  an  incor- 
ruptible state.  Earthly  empires  have  their  decays  and  dissolutions. 
The  throne  of  God  outlives  the  dissolution  of  the  world. 

His  kingdom  rules  over  all. — He  hath  an  absolute  right  over  all 
things  within  the  circuit  of  heaven  and  earth  ;  though  his  throne  be 
in  heaven,  as  the  place  where  his  glory  is  most  eminent  and  visible, 
his  authority  most  exactly  obeyed,  yet  his  kingdom  extends  itself 
to  the  lower  parts  of  the  earth.  He  doth  not  muffle  and  cloud  up 
himself  in  heaven,  or  confine  his  sovereignty  to  that  place,  his  royal 
power  extends  to  all  visible,  as  well  as  invisible  things :  he  is  pro- 
prietor and  possessor  of  all  (Deut.  x.  14) :  "  The  heaven  and  the 
heaven  of  heavens  is  the  Lord's  thy  God,  the  earth  also,  with  all 
that  is  there."  He  hath  right  to  dispose  of  all  as  he  pleases.  He 
doth  not  say,  his  kingdom  rules  all  that  fear  him,  but,  "  over  all ;" 
so  that  it  is  not  the  kingdom  of  grace  he  here  speaks  of,  but  his 
natural  and  universal  kingdom.  Over  angels  and  men ;  Jews  and 
Gentiles ;  animate  and  inanimate  things. 

The  Psalmist  considers  God  here  as  a  great  monarch  and  general, 
and  all  creatures  as  his  hosts  and  regiments  under  him,  and  takes 
notice  principally  of  two  things.     1.  The  establishment  of  his  throne 


ON   GOD'S   DOMINION.  363 

together  with  the  seat  of  it.  He  hath  prepared  his  throne  in  the  heav- 
ens. 2.  The  extent  of  his  empire. — His  kingdom  rules  over  all.  This 
text,  in  all  the  parts  of  it,  is  a  fit  basis  for  a  discourse  upon  the  do- 
minion of  God,  and  the  observation  will  be  this. 

Doctrine. — God  is  sovereign  Lord  and  King,  and  exerciseth  a  do- 
minion over  the  whole  world,  both  heaven  and  earth.  This  is  so 
clear,  that  nothing  is  more  spoken  of  in  Scripture.  The  very  name, 
"Lord,"  imports  it;  a  name  originally  belonging  to  gods,  and  from 
them  translated  to  others.  And  he  is  frequently  called  "  the  Lord 
of  Hosts,"  because  all  the  troops  and  armies  of  spiritual  and  corporeal 
creatures  are  in  his  hands,  and  at  his  service :  this  is  one  of  his  prin- 
cipal titles.  And  the  angels  are  called  his  "hosts"  (ver.  21,  follow- 
ing the  text)  his  camp  and  militia:  but  more  plainly  (1  Kings, 
xxii.  19),  God  is  presented  upon  his  throne,  encompassed  with  all 
the  "  hosts  of  heaven"  standing  on  his  right  hand  and  on  his  left, 
which  can  be  understood  of  no  other  than  the  angels,  that  wait  for 
the  commands  of  their  Sovereign,  and  stand  about,  not  to  counsel 
him,  but  to  receive  his  orders.  The  sun,  moon,  and  stars,  are  called 
his  "hosts"  (Deut.  iv.  19);  appointed  by  him  for  the  government  of 
inferior  things :  he  hath  an  absolute  authority  over  the  greatest  and 
the  least  creatures ;  over  those  that  are  most  dreadful,  and  those  that 
are  most  beneficial ;  over  the  good  angels  that  willingly  obey  him, 
over  the  evil  angels  that  seem  most  incapable  of  government.  And 
as  he  is  thus  "  Lord  of  hosts,"  he  is  the  "  King  of  glory,"  or  a  glorious 
King  (Ps,  xxiv,  10).  You  find  him  called  a  "great  King,"  the 
"  Most  High"  (Ps.  xcii.  1),  the  Supreme  Monarch,  there  being  no 
dignity  in  heaven  or  earth  but  what  is  dim  before  him,  and  infinitely 
inferior  to  him ;  yea,  he  hath  the  title  of  "  Only  King"  (1  Tim.  vi.  15). 
The  title  of  royalty  truly  and  properly  only  belongs  to  him :  you 
may  see  it  described  very  magnificently  by  David,  at  the  free-will 
offering  for  the  building  of  the  temple  (IChron.  xxix.  11,  12) :  "  Thine, 
O  Lord,  is  the  greatness,  and  the  power,  and  the  glory,  and  the  vic- 
tory, and  the  majesty;  thine  is  the  kingdom,  O  God,  and  thou  art 
exalted  as  Head  above  all :  both  riches  and  honor  come  of  thee,  and 
thou  reignest  over  all ;  and  in  thy  hand  is  power  and  might ;  and  in 
thy  hand  it  is  to  make  great,  and  to  give  strength  to  all."  He  hath 
an  eminency  of  power  or  authority  above  all :  all  earthly  princes 
received  their  diadems  from  him,  yea,  even  those  that  will  not  ac- 
knowledge him,  and  he  hath  a  more  absolute  power  over  them  than 
they  can  challenge  over  their  meanest  vassals :  as  God  hath  a  knowl- 
edge infinitely  above  our  knowledge,  so  he  hath  a  dominion  incom- 
prehensibly above  any  dominion  of  man ;  and,  by  all  the  shadows 
drawn  from  the  authority  of  one  man  over  another,  we  can  have  but 
weak  glimmerings  of  the  authority  and  dominion  of  God. 

There  is  a  threefold  dominion  of  God.  1.  Natural,  which  is  abso- 
lute over  all  creatures,  and  is  founded  in  the  nature  of  God  as  Crea- 
tor. 2.  Spiritual,  or  gracious,  which  is  a  dominion  over  his  church 
as  redeemed,  and  founded  in  the  covenant  of  grace.  3.  A  glorious 
kingdom,  at  the  winding  up  of  all,  wherein  he  shall  reign  over  all, 
either  in  the  glory  of  his  mercy,  as  over  the  glorified  saints,  or  in  the 
glory  of  his  justice,  in  the  condemned  devils  and  men.     The  first 


364  CHARNOCK   ON  THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

dominion  is  founded  in  nature ;  the  second  in  grace ;  the  third  in  re- 
gard of  the  blessed  in  grace;  in  regard  of  the  damned,  in  demerit  in 
them,  and  justice  in  him.  He  is  Lord  of  all  things,  and  always  in 
regard  of  propriety  (Ps.  xxiv.  1):  "The  earth  is  the  Lord's,  and  the 
fulness  thereof;  the  world,  and  all  that  dwell  therein."  The  earth, 
with  the  riches  and  treasures  in  the  bowels  of  it ;  the  habitable  world, 
with  everything  that  moves  upon  it,  are  his ;  he  hath  the  sole  right, 
and  what  right  soever  any  others  have  is  derived  from  him.  In  re- 
gard also  of  possession  (Gen.  xiv.  22):  "  The  Most  High  God,  pos- 
sessor of  heaven  and  earth :"  in  respect  of  whom,  man  is  not  the 
Proprietary  nor  possessor,  but  usufructuary  at  the  will  of  this  grand 
lOrd. 

In  the  prosecution  of  this,  I.  I  shall  lay  down  some  general  prop- 
ositions for  the  clearing  and  confirming  it.  II.  I  shall  show  wherein 
this  right  of  dominion  is  founded.  III.  What  the  nature  of  it  is. 
IV.  Wherein  it  consists ;  and  how  it  is  manifested. 

I.  Some  general  propositions  for  the  clearing  and  confirming  of  it. 

1.  We  must  know  the  difference  between  the  might  or  power  of 
God  and  his  authority.  We  commonly  mean  by  the  power  of  God 
the  strength  of  God,  whereby  he  is  able  to  effect  all  his  purposes ; 
by  the  authority  of  God,  we  mean  the  right  he  hath  to  act  what  he 
pleases :  omnipotence  is  his  physical  power,  whereby  he  is  able  to 
do  what  he  will ;  dominion  is  his  moral  power,  whereby  it  is  lawful 
for  him  to  do  what  he  will.  Among  men,  strength  and  authority 
are  two  distinct  things ;  a  subject  may  be  a  giant,  and  be  stronger 
than  his  prince,  but  he  hath  not  the  same  authority  as  his  prince : 
worldly  dominion  may  be  seated,  not  in  a  brawny  arm,  but  a  sickly 
and  infirm  body.  As  knowledge  and  wisdom  are  distinguished; 
knowledge  respects  the  matter,  being,  and  nature  of  a  thing ;  wisdom 
respects  the  harmony,  order,  and  actual  usefulness  of  a  thing  ;  knowl- 
edge searcheth  the  nature  of  a  thing,  and  wisdom  employs  that  thing 
to  its  proper  use :  a  man  may  have  much  knowledge,  and  little  wis- 
dom; so  a  man  may  have  much  strength,  and  little  or  no  authority; 
a  greater  strength  may  be  settled  in  the  servant,  but  a  greater  au 
thority  resides  in  the  master ;  strength  is  the  natural  vigor  of  a  man : 
God  hath  an  infinite  strength,  he  hath  a  strength  to  bring  to  pass 
whatsover  he  decrees ;  he  acts  without  fainting  and  weakness  (Isa, 
xl.  28),  and  impairs  not  his  strength  by  the  exercise  of  it :  as  God  is 
Lord,  he  hath  a  right  to  enact ;  as  he  is  almighty,  he  hath  a  power 
to  execute ;  his  strength  is  the  executive  power  belonging  to  his 
dominion :  in  regard  of  his  sovereignty,  he  hath  a  right  to  command 
all  creatures ;  in  regard  of  his  almightiness,  he  hath  power  to  make 
his  commands  be  obeyed,  or  to  punish  men  for  the  violation  of  them : 
his  power  is  that  whereby  he  subdues  all  creatures  under  him ;  his 
dominion  is  that  whereby  he  hath  a  right  to  subdue  all  creatures 
under  him.  This  dominion  is  a  right  of  making  what  he  pleases, 
of  possessing  what  he  made,  of  disposing  of  what  he  doth  possess ; 
whereas  his  power  is  an  ability  to  make  what  he  hath  a  right  to 
create,  to  hold  what  he  doth  possess,  and  to  execute  the  manner 
wherein  he  resolves  to  dispose  of  his  creatures. 

2.  All  the  other  attributes  of  God  refer  to  this  perfection  of  domi- 


ON  GOD'S   DOMINION.  365 

nion.  They  all  bespeak  him  fit  for  it,  and  are  discovered  in  the 
exercise  of  it  (which  hath  been  manifested  in  the  discourses  of  those 
attributes  we  have  passed  through  hitherto).  His  goodness  fits  him 
for  it,  because  he  can  never  use  his  authority  but  for  the  good  of  the 
creatures,  and  conducting  them  to  their  true  end :  his  wisdom  can 
never  be  mistaken  in  the  exercise  of  it ;  his  power  can  accomplish 
the  decrees  that  flow  from  his  absolute  authority.  What  can  be 
more  rightful  than  the  placing  authority  in  such  an  infinite  Good- 
ness, that  hath  bowels  to  pity,  as  well  as  a  sceptre  to  sway  his  sub- 
jects? that  hath  a  mind  to  contrive,  and  a  will  to  regulate  his  con- 
trivances for  his  own  glory  and  his  creatures'  good,  and  an  arm  of 
power  to  bring  to  pass  what  he  orders  ?  Without  this  dominion, 
some  perfections,  as  justice  and  mercy,  would  lie  in  obscurity,  and 
much  of  his  wisdom  would  be  shrouded  from  our  sight  and  knowl- 
edge. 

3.  This  of  dominion,  as  well  as  that  of  power,  hath  been  acknowl- 
edged by  all.  The  high  priest  was  to  "  Avaive  the  offering,"  or  shake 
it  to  and  fro  (Exod.  xxix.  24),  which  the  Jews  say  was  customarily 
from  east  to  west,  and  from  north  to  south,  the  four  quarters  of  the 
world,  to  signify  God's  sovereignty  over  all  the  parts  of  the  world ; 
and  some  of  the  heathens,  in  their  adorations,  turned  their  bodies  to 
all  quarters,  to  signify  the  extensive  dominion  of  God  throughout 
the  whole  earth.  That  dominion  did  of  right  pertain  to  the  Deity, 
was  confessed  by  the  heathen  in  the  name  "  Baal,"  given  to  their 
idols,  which  signifies  Lord ;  and  was  not  a  name  of  one  idol,  adored 
for  a  god,  but  common  to  all  the  eastern  idols.  God  hath  inter- 
woven the  notion  of  his  sovereignty  in  the  nature  and  constitution 
of  man,  in  the  noblest  and  most  inward  acts  of  his  soul,  in  that  fac- 
ulty or  act  which  is  most  necessary  for  him,  in  his  converse  in  this 
world,  either  with  God  or  man :  it  is  stamped  upon  the  consicence 
of  man,  and  flashes  in  his  face  in  every  act  of  self-judgment  conscience 
passes  upon  a  man :  every  reflection  of  conscience  implies  an  obliga- 
tion of  man  to  some  law  "  written  in  his  heart"  (Rom.  ii.  15).  This 
law  cannot  be  without  a  legislator,  nor  this  legislator  without  a  sove- 
reign dominion ;  these  are  but  natural  and  easy  consequences  in  the 
mind  of  man  from  every  act  of  conscience.  The  indelible  authority 
of  conscience  in  man,  in  the  whole  exercise  of  it,  bears  a  respect  to 
the  sovereignty  of  God,  clearly  proclaims  not  only  a  supreme  Being, 
but  a  supreme  Governor,  and  points  man  directly  to  it,  that  a  man 
may  as  soon  deny  his  having  such  a  reflecting  principle  within  him, 
as  deny  God's  dominion  over  him,  and  consequently  over  the  whole 
world  of  rational  creatures. 

4.  This  notion  of  sovereignty  is  inseparable  from  the  notion  of  a 
God.  To  acknowledge  the  existence  of  a  God,  and  to  acknowledge 
him  a  rewarder,  are  linked  together  (Heb.  xi.  6).  To  acknowledge 
him  a  rewarder,  is  to  acknowledge  him  a  governor ;  rewards  being 
the  marks  of  dominion.  The  ver}^  name  of  God  includes  in  it  a 
supremacy  and  an  actual  rule.  He  cannot  be  conceived  as  God,  but 
he  must  be  conceived  as  the  highest  authority  in  the  world.  It  is  as 
possible  for  him  not  to  be  God  as  not  to  be  supreme.  Wherein  can 
the  exercise  of  his  excellencies  be  apparent,  but  in  his  soverign  rule? 


866  CHARNOCK  ON  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

To  fancy  an  infinite  power  without  a  supreme  dominion,  is  to  fancy 
a  mighty  senseless  statue,  fit  to  be  beheld,  but  not  fit  to  be  obeyed ; 
as  not  being  able  or  having  no  right  to  give  out  orders,  or  not  caring 
for  the  exercise  of  it.  God  cannot  be  supposed  to  be  the  chief  being, 
but  he  must  be  supposed  to  give  laws  to  all,  and  receive  laws  from 
none.  And  if  we  suppose  him  with  a  perfection  of  justice  and  right- 
eousness (which  we  must  do,  unless  we  would  make  a  lame  and  im- 
perfect God)  we  must  suppose  him  to  have  an  entire  dominion,  with- 
out which  he  could  never  be  able  to  manifest  his  justice.  And 
without  a  supreme  dominion  he  could  not  manifest  the  supremacy 
and  infiniteness  of  his  righteousness. 

(1.)  We  cannot  suppose  God  a  Creator,  without  supposing  a 
sovereign  dominion  in  him.  No  creature  can  be  made  without  some 
law  in  its  nature ;  if  it  had  not  law,  it  would  be  created  to  no  pur- 
pose, to  no  regular  end.  It  would  be  utterly  unbecoming  an  infinite 
wisdom  to  create  a  lawless  creature,  a  creature  wholly  vain ;  much 
less  can  a  rational  creature  be  made  without  a  law  :  if  it  had  no  law, 
it  were  not  rational :  for  the  very  notion  of  a  rational  creature 
implies  reason  to  be  a  law  to  it,  and  implies  an  acting  by  rule.  If 
you  could  suppose  rational  creatures  without  a  law,  you  might  sup- 
pose that  they  might  blaspheme  their  Creator,  and  murder  their 
fellow-creatures,  and  commit  the  most  abominable  villanies  destruc- 
tive to  human  society,  without  sin  ;  for  "  where  there  is  no  law,  there 
is  no  transgression."''  But  those  things  are  accounted  sins  by  all 
mankind,  aud  sins  against  the  Supreme  Being  :  so  that  a  dominion, 
and  the  exercise  of  it,  is  so  fast  linked  to  God,  so  entirely  in  him,  so 
intrinsic  in  his  nature,  that  it  cannot  be  imagined  that  a  rational 
creature  can  be  made  by  him,  without  a  stamp  and  mark  of  that 
dominion  in  his  very  nature  and  frame ;  it  is  so  inseparable 
from  God  in  his  very  act  of  creation. 

(2.)  It  is  such  a  dominion  as  cannot  be  renounced  by  God  himself. 
It  is  so  intrinsic  and  connatural  to  him,  so  inlaid  in  the  nature 
of  God,  that  he  cannot  strip  himself  of  it,  nor  of  the  exercise  of  it, 
while  any  creature  remains.  It  is  preserved  by  him,  for  it  could  not 
subsist  of  itself;  it  is  governed  by  him,  it  could  not  else  answer  its 
end.  It  is  impossible  there  can  be  a  creature,  which  hath  not  God 
for  its  Lord.  Christ  himself,  though  in  regard  of  his  Deity  equal 
with  God,  yet  in  regard  of  his  created  state,  and  assuming  our  nature, 
was  God's  servant,  was  governed  by  him  in  the  whole  of  his  office, 
acted  according  to  his  command  and  directions ;  God  calls  him  his 
servant  (Isa.  xlii.  1) :  and  Christ,  in  that  prophetic  psalm  of  him, 
calls  God  his  Lord  (Ps.  xvi.  2) :  "0  my  soul,  thou  hast  said  unto  the 
Lord,  Thou  art  my  Lord."  It  was  impossible  it  should  be  otherwise ; 
justice  had  been  so  far  from  being  satisfied,  that  it  had  been  highly 
incensed  if  the  order  of  things  in  the  due  subjection  to  God  had  been 
broke,  and  his  terms  had  not  been  complied  with.  It  would  be  a 
judgment  upon  the  world  if  God  should  give  up  the  government  to 
any  else,  as  it  is  when  he  gives  "  children  to  be  princes"  (Isa.  iii.  4) ; 
i.  e.  children  in  understanding. 

(3.)  It  is  so  inseparable,  that  it  cannot  be  communicated  to  any 

'  Maccov.  CoUeg.  Theolog.  10  Disput.  18,  pp.  6,  7,  or  thereabout. 


ON   GOD'S  DOMINION.  867 

creature.  No  creature  is  able  to  exercise  it ;  every  creature  is  unable 
to  perform  all  the  offices  that  belong  to  this  dominion.  No  creature 
can  impose  laws  upon  the  consciences  of  men :  man  knows  not  tlic 
inlets  into  the  soul,  his  pen  cannot  reach  the  inwards  of  man.  What 
laws  he  hath  power  to  propose  to  conscience,  he  cannot  see  executed ; 
because  every  creature  wants  omniscience ;  he  is  not  able  to  perceive 
all  those  breaches  of  the  law  which  may  be  committed  at  the  same 
time  in  so  many  cities,  so  many  chambers.  Or,  suppose  an  angel,  in 
regard  to  the  height  of  his  standing,  and  the  insufficiency  of  walls, 
and  darkness,  and  distance  to  obstruct  his  view,  can  behold  men's 
actions,  yet  he  cannot  know  the  internal  acts  of  men's  minds  and 
wills,  without  some  outward  eruption  and  appearance  of  them.  And 
if  he  be  ignorant  of  them,  how  can  he  execute  his  laws  ?  If  he  only 
understand  the  outward  fact  without  the  inward  thought,  how  can 
he  dispense  a  justice  proportionable  to  the  crime  ?  he  must  needs  be 
ignorant  of  that  which  adds  the  greatest  aggravation  sometimes  to  a 
sin,  and  inflicts  a  lighter  punishment  upon  that  which  receives 
a  deeper  tincture  from  the  inward  posture  of  the  mind,  than  another 
fact  may  do,  which  in  the  outward  act  may  appear  more  base  and 
unjust;  and  so  while  he  intends  righteousness,  may  act  a  degree  of 
injustice.  Besides,  no  creature  can  inflict  a  due  punishment  for  sin  ; 
that  which  is  due  to  sin,  is  a  loss  of  the  vision  and  sight  of  God  ;  but 
none  can  deprive  any  of  that  but  God  himself;  nor  can  a  creature 
reward  another  with  eternal  life,  which  consists  in  communion  with 
God,  which  none  but  God  can  bestow.^ 

II.  "Wherein  the  dominion  of  God  is  founded. 

1.  On  the  excellency  of  his  nature.  Indeed,  a  bare  excellency  of 
nature  bespeaks  a  fitness  for  government,  but  doth  not  properly  con- 
vey a  right  of  government.  Excellency  speaks  aptitude,  not  title : 
a  subject  may  have  more  wisdom  than  the  prince,  and  be  fitter  to 
hold  the  reins  of  government,  but  he  hath  not  a  title  to  royalty.  A 
man  of  large  capacity  and  strong  virtue  is  fit  to  serve  his  country  in 
parliament,  but  the  election  of  the  people  conveys  a  title  to  him. 
Yet  a  strain  of  intellectual  and  moral  abilities  beyond  others,  is 
a  foundation  for  dominion.  And  it  is  commonly  seen  that  such 
eminences  in  men,  though  they  do  not  invest  them  with  a  civil  author- 
ity, or  an  authority  of  jurisdiction,  yet  they  create  a  veneration  in 
the  minds  of  men  ;  their  virtue  attracts  reverence,  and  their  advice 
is  regarded  as  an  oracle.  Old  men  by  their  age,  when  stored  with 
more  wisdom  and  knowledge  by  reason  of  their  long  experience, 
acquire  a  kind  of  power  over  the  younger  in  their  dictates  and 
councils,  so  that  they  gain,  by  the  strength  of  that  excellency,  a  real 
authority  in  the  minds  of  those  men  they  converse  with,  and  possess 
themselves  of  a  deep  respect  for  them.  God  therefore  being  an  in- 
comprehensible ocean  of  all  perfection,  and  possessing  infinitely  all 
those  virtues  that  may  lay  a  claim  to  dominion,  hath  the  first  foun- 
dation of  it  in  his  own  nature.  His  incomparable  and  unparalleled 
excellency,  as  well  as  the  greatness  of  his  work,  attracts  the  volun- 
tary worship  of  him  as  a  sovereign  Lord  (Ps.  Ixxxvi.  8) :  "  Among 
the  gods,  there  is  none  like  unto  thee ;  neither  are  there  any  v  orks 

•  Maceav.  CuUeg.  Theolog.  Disput.  18,  pp.  12,  13. 


368  CHARNOCK   ON  THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

like  unto  thy  work.  All  nations  shall  come  and  worship  before 
thee."  Though  his  benefits  are  great  engagements  to  our  obedience 
and  affection,  yet  his  infinite  majesty  and  perfection  requires  the 
first  place  in  our  acknowledgements  and  adorations.  Upon  this  ac- 
count God  claims  it  (Isa.  xlvi.  9) :  "I  am  God,  and  there  is  none 
like  me ;  I  will  do  all  my  pleasure  :"  and  the  prophet  Jeremiah  upon 
the  same  account  acknowledgeth  it  (Jer.  x.  6,  7) :  "  Forasmuch  as 
there  is  none  like  unto  thee,  O  Lord,  thou  art  great,  and  thy  name 
is  great  in  might :  who  would  not  fear  thee,  O  King  of  nations  ?  for 
to  thee  doth  it  appertain :  forasmuch  as  there  is  none  like  unto 
thee,"  And  this  is  a  more  noble  title  of  dominion,  it  being  an  un- 
created title,  and  more  eminent  than  that  of  creation  or  preservation. 
This  is  the  natural  order  God  hath  placed  in  his  creatures,  that  the 
more  excellent  should  rule  the  inferior.'  He  committed  not  the 
government  of  lower  creatures  to  lions  and  tigers,  that  have  a  delight 
in  blood,  but  no  knowledge  of  virtue  ;  but  to  man,  who  had  an  emi- 
nence in  his  nature  above  other  creatures,  and  was  formed  with  a 
perfect  rectitude,  and  a  height  of  reason  to  guide  the  reins  over  them. 
In  man,  the  soul  being  of  a  more  sublime  nature,  is  set  of  right  to 
rule  over  the  body  ;  the  mind,  the  most  excellent  faculty  of  the  soul, 
to  rule  over  the  other  powers  of  it :  and  wisdom,  the  most  excellent 
habit  of  the  mind,  to  guide  and  regulate  that  in  its  determinations ; 
and  when  the  body  and  sensitive  appetite  control  the  soul  and  mind, 
it  is  an  usurpation  against  nature,  not  a  rule  according  to  nature. 
The  excellency,  thereof,  of  the  Divine  nature  is  the  natural  founda- 
tion for  his  dominion.  He  hath  wisdom  to  know  what  is  fit  for  him 
to  do,  and  an  immutable  righteousness  whereby  he  cannot  do  any 
thing  base  and  unworthy  :  he  hath  a  foreknowledge  whereby  he  is 
able  to  order  all  things  to  answer  his  own  glorious  designs  and  the 
end  of  his  government,  that  nothing  can  go  awry,  nothing  put  him 
to  a  stand,  and  constrain  him  to  meditate  new  counsels.  So  that 
if  it  could  be  supposed  that  the  Avorld  had  not  been  created  by  him, 
that  the  parts  of  it  had  met  together  by  chance,  and  been  compo.cte'd 
into  such  a  body,  none  but  God,  the  supreme  and  most  excellent 
Being  in  the  world,  could  have  merited,  and  deservedly  challenged 
the  government  of  it ;  because  nothing  had  an  excellency  of  nature 
to  capacitate  it  for  it,  as  he  hath,  or  to  enter  into  a  contest  with  him 
for  a  sufficiency  to  govern." 

2.  It  is  founded  in  his  act  of  creation.  He  is  the  sovereign  Lord, 
as  he  is  the  almighty  Creator.  The  relation  of  an  entire  Creator  in- 
duceth  the  relation  of  an  absolute  Lord;  he  that  gives  being, 
motion,  that  is  the  sole  cause  of  the  being  of  a  thing,  which  was  be- 
fore nothing,  that  hath  nothing  to  concur  with  him,  nothing  to  as- 
sist him,  but  by  his  sole  power  commands  it  to  stand  up  into  being, 
is  the  unquestionable  Lord  and  proprietor  of  that  thing  that  hath  no 
dependence  but  upon  him;  and  by  this  act  of  creation,  which 
extended  to  all  things,  he  became  universal  Sovereign  over  all  things : 
and  those  that  waive  the  excellency  of  his  nature  as  the  foundation 
of  his  government,  easily  acknowledge  the  sufficiency  of  it  upon  his 
actual  creation.     His  dominion  of  jurisdiction  results  from  creation. 

*  Raynaud,  Theolog.  Nat.  p.  757.         "  Camero.  p.  371.    Amyrald,  Dissert,  pp.  72,  73. 


ON  god's  dominion.  869 

When  God  himself  makes  an  oration  in  defence  of  his  sovereignty 
(Job  xxxviii.),  liis  chief  arguments  are  drawn  from  creation ;  and 
(Ps.  xcv.  3,  5),  "  The  Lord  is  a  great  King  above  all  gods ;  the  sea 
is  his,  and  he  made  it :"  and  so  the  apostle,  in  his  sermon  to  the 
Athenians,  As  he  "  made  the  world,  and  all  things  therein,"  he  is 
styled,  "  Lord  of  heaven  and  earth"  (Acts  xvii.  24).  His  dominion, 
also,  of  property  stands  upon  this  basis :  "  The  heavens  are  thine, 
the  earth  also  is  thine :  as  for  the  world,  and  the  fulness  thereof, 
thou  hast  founded  them"  (Ps.  Ixxxix.  11).  Upon  this  title  of  form- 
ing Israel  as  a  creature,  or  rather  as  a  church,  he  demands  their  ser- 
vice to  him  as  their  Sovereign :  "  O  Jacob  and  Israel,  thou  art  my 
servant,  I  have  formed  thee :  thou  art  my  servant,  O  Israel"  (Isa. 
xliv.  21).  The  sovereignty  of  God  naturally  ariseth  from  the  rela- 
tion of  all  things  to  himself  as  their  entire  Creator,  and  their  natural 
and  inseparable  dependence  upon  him  in  regard  of  their  being  and 
well-being.  It  depends  not  upon  the  election  of  men  ;  God  hath  a 
natural  dominion  over  us  as  creatures,  before  he  hath  a  dominion  by 
consent  over  us  as  converts :  as  soon  as  ever  anything  began  to  be  a 
creature,  it  was  a  vassal  to  God,  as  a  Lord.  Every  man  is  acknow- 
ledged to  have  a  right  of  possessing  what  he  hath  made,  and  a  power 
of  dominion  over  what  he  hath  framed  :  he  may  either  cherish  his 
own  work,  or  dash  it  in  pieces ;  he  may  either  add  a  greater  come- 
liness to  it,  or  deface  what  he  hath  already  imparted.  He  hath  a 
right  of  property  in  it :  no  other  man  can,  without  injury,  pilfer  his 
own  work  from  him.  The  work  hath  no  propriety  in  itself;  the 
right  must  lie  in  the  immediate  framer,  or  in  the  person  that  em- 
ployed him.  The  first  cause  of  everything  hath  an  unquestionable 
dominion  of  propriety  in  it  upon  the  score  of  justice.  By  the  law 
of  nations,  the  first  finder  of  a  country  is  esteemed  the  rightful  pos- 
sessor and  lord  of  that  country,  and  the  first  inventor  of  an  art  hath 
a  right  of  exercising  it.  If  a  man  hath  a  just  claim  of  dominion  over 
that  thing  whose  materials  were  not  of  his  framing,  but  from  only 
the  addition  of  a  new  figure  from  his  skill ;  as  a  limner  over  his  pic- 
ture, the  cloth  whereof  he  never  made,  nor  the  colors  wherewith  he 
draws  it  were  never  endued  by  him  with  their  distinct  qualities,  but 
only  he  applies  them  by  his  art,  to  compose  such  a  figure ;  much 
more  hath  God  a  rightful  claim  of  dominion  over  his  creatures, 
whose  entire  being,  both  in  matter  and  form,  and  every  particle  of 
their  excellency,  was  breathed  out  by  the  word  of  his  mouth.  He 
did  not  only  give  the  matter  a  form,  but  bestowed  upon  the  matter 
itself  a  being ;  it  was  formed  by  none  to  his  hand,  as  the  matter  is 
on  which  an  artist  works.  He  had  the  being  of  all  things  in  his  own 
power,  and  it  was  at  his  choice  whether  he  would  impart  it  or  no  ; 
there  can  be  no  juster  and  stronger  ground  of  a  claim  than  this.  A 
man  hath  a  right  to  a  piece  of  brass  or  gold  by  his  purchase,  but 
when  by  his  engraving  he  hath  formed  it  into  an  excellent  statue, 
there  results  an  increase  of  his  right  upon  the  account  of  his  artifice. 
God's  creatior  of  the  matter  of  man  gave  him  a  right  over  man  ;  but 
his  creation  of  him  in  so  eminent  an  excellency,  with  reason  to  guide 
him,  a  clear  eye  of  understanding  to  discern  light  from  darkness,  and 
truth  from  falsehood,  a  freedom  of  will  to  act  accordingly,  and 
VOL.  u. — 24 


870  CHARNOCK   ON   THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

an  original  righteousness  as  the  varnisli  and  beauty  of  all ;  here  is 
the  strongest  foundation  for  a  claim  of  authority  over  man,  and  the 
strongest  obligation  on  man  for  subjection  to  God.  If  all  those 
things  had  been  past  over  to  God  by  another  hand,  he  could  not  be 
the  supreme  Lord,  nor  could  have  an  absolute  right  to  dispose  of 
them  at  his  pleasure :  that  would  have  been  the  invasion  of  another's 
right.  Besides,  creation  is  the  only  first  discovery  of  liis  dominion. 
Before  the  world  was  framed  there  was  nothing  but  God  himself, 
and,  properly,  nothing  is  said  to  have  dominion  over  itself;  this  is  a 
relative  attribute,  reflecting  on  the  works  of  God,^  He  had  a  right 
of  dominion  in  his  nature  from  eternity,  but  before  creation  he  was 
actually  Lord  only  of  a  nullity ;  where  there  is  nothing  it  can  have 
no  relation ;  nothing  is  not  the  subject  of  possession  nor  of  dominion. 
There  could  be  no  exercise  of  this  dominion  without  creation :  what 
exercise  can  a  sovereign  have  without  subjects?  Sovereignty  speaks 
a  relation  to  subjects,  and  none  is  properly  a  sovereign  without  sub- 
jects. To  conclude :  from  hence  doth  result  God's  universal  do- 
minion ;  for  being  Maker  of  all,  he  is  the  ruler  of  all,  and  his  per- 
petual dominion ;  for  as  long  as  God  continues  in  the  relation  of 
Creator,  the  right  of  his  sovereignty  as  Creator  cannot  be  abolished. 
3.  As  God  is  the  final  cause,  or  end  of  all,  he  is  Lord  of  all. 
The  end  hath  a  greater  sovereignty  in  actions  than  the  actor  itself: 
the  actor  hath  a  sovereignty  over  others  in  action,  but  the  end  for 
which  any  one  works  hath  a  sovereignty  over  the  agent  himself :  a 
limner  hath  a  sovereignty  over  the  picture  he  is  framing,  or  hath 
framed,  but  the  end  for  which  he  framed  it,  either  his  profit  he  de- 
signed from  it,  or  the  honor  and  credit  of  skill  he  aimed  at  in  it, 
hath  a  dominion  over  the  limner  himself:  the  end  moves  and  ex- 
cites the  artist  to  work ;  it  spirits  him  in  it,  conducts  him  in  his 
whole  business,  possesses  his  mind,  and  sits  triumphant  in  him  in  all 
the  progress  of  his  work ;  it  is  the  first  cause  for  which  the  whole 
work  is  wrought. y  Now  God,  in  his  actual  creation  of  all,  is  the 
sovereign  end  of  all;  "for  thy  pleasure  they  are  and  were  created" 
(Eev.  iv.  11) ;  "  The  Lord  hath  made  all  things  for  himself"  (Prov. 
xvi.  4).  Man,  indeed,  is  the  subordinate  and  immediate  end  of  the 
lower  creation,  and  therefore  had  the  dominion  over  other  creatures 
granted  to  him :  but  God  being  the  ultimate  and  principal  end,  hath 
the  sovereign  and  principal  dominion ;  all  things  as  much  refer  to 
him,  as  the  last  end,  as  they  flow  from  him  as  the  first  cause.  So 
that,  as  I  said  before,  if  the  world  had  been  compacted  together  by 
a  jumbling  chance,  without  a  wise  hand,  as  some  have  foolishly  im- 
agined, none  could  have  been  an  antagonist  with  God  for  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  world ;  but  God,  in  regard  of  the  excellency  of  his 
nature,  would  have  been  the  Kector  of  it,  unless  those  atoms  that 
had  composed  the  world  had  had  an  ability  to  govern  it.  Since 
there  could  be  no  universal  end  of  all  things  but  God,  God  only  can 
claim  an  entire  right  to  the  government  of  it ;  for  though  man  be 
the  end  of  the  lower  creation,  yet  man  is  not  the  end  of  himself  and 
his  own  being;  he  is  not  the  end  of  the  creation  of  the  supreme 

'  Stougliton's  "  Righteous  Man's  Plea,"  Serm.  VI.  p.  28 
1  Vid.  Lessium  de  Perfect.  Divin.  pp.  77,  78. 


ON   GOD'S   DOMINION".  371 

heavens ;  he  is  not  able  to  govern  them ;  they  are  out  of  his  ken, 
and  out  of  his  reach.  None  fit  in  regard  of  the  excellency  of  na- 
ture, to  be  the  chief  end  of  the  whole  Avorld  but  God ;  and  therefore 
none  can  have  a  right  to  the  dominion  of  it  but  God :  in  this  regard 
God's  dominion  ditfers  from  the  dominion  of  all  earthly  potentates. 
All  the  subjects  in  creation  were  made  for  God  as  their  end,  so  are 
not  people  for  rulers,  but  rulers  made  for  people  for  their  protec- 
tion, and  the  preservation  of  order  ia  societies. 

4.  The  dominion  of  God  is  founded  upon  his  preservation  of 
things.  (Ps.  xcv.  8,  4) ;  "  The  Lord  is  a  great  King  above  all  gods  :" 
why?  "In  his  hand  are  all  the  deep  places  of  the  earth."  While 
his  hand  holds  things,  his  hand  hath  a  dominion  over  them.  He 
that  holds  a  stone  in  the  air,  exerciseth  a  dominion  over  its  natural 
inclination  in  hindering  it  from  falling.  The  creature  depends 
wholly  upon  God  in  its  preservation ;  as  soon  as  that  Divine  hand 
which  sustains  everything  were  withdrawn,  a  languishment  and 
swooning  would  be  the  next  turn  in  the  creature.  He  is  called 
Lord,  Adona>\  in  regard  of  his  sustentation  of  all  things  by  his  con- 
tinual influx;  the  word  coming  of  tis,  which  signifies  a  basis  or 
pillar,  that  supports  a  building.  God  is  the  Lord  of  all,  as  he  is  the 
sustainer  of  all  by  his  power,  as  well  as  the  Creator  of  all  by  his 
word.  The  sun  hath  a  sovereign  dominion  over  its  own  beams, 
which  depend  upon  it,  so  that  if  he  withdraws  himself,  they  all  at- 
tend him,  and  the  world  is  left  in  darkness.  God  maintains  the 
vigor  of  all  things,  conducts  them  in  their  operations ;  so  that  no- 
thing that  they  are,  nothing  that  they  have,  but  is  owing  to  his  pre- 
serving power.  The  Master  of  this  great  family  may  as  well  be  call- 
ed the  Lord  of  it,  since  every  member  of  it  depends  upon  him  for 
the  support  of  that  being  he  first  gave  them,  and  holds  of  his  em- 
pire. As  the  right  to  govern  resulted  from  creation,  so  it  is  perpet- 
uated by  the  preservation  of  things. 

5.  The  dominion  of  God  is  strengthened  by  the  innumerable 
benefits  he  bestows  upon  his  creatures :  the  benefits  he  confers  upon 
us  after  creation,  are  not  the  original  ground  of  his  dominion.  A 
man  hath  not  authority  over  his  servant  from  the  kindness  he  shows 
to  him,  but  his  authority  commenceth  before  any  act  of  kindness, 
and  is  founded  upon  a  right  of  purchase,  conquest,  or  compact. 
Dominion  doth  not  depend  upon  mere  benefits ;  then  inferiors 
might  have  dominions  over  superiors.  A  peasant  may  save  the  life 
of  a  prince  to  whom  he  was  not  subject ;  he  hath  not  therefore  a 
right  to  step  up  into  his  throne  and  give  laws  to  him :  and  children 
that  maintain  their  parents  in  their  poverty,  might  then  acquire  an 
authority  over  them  which  they  can  never  climb  to ;  because  the 
benefits  they  confer  cannot  parallel  the  benefits  they  have  received 
from  the  authors  of  their  lives.  The  bounties  of  God  to  us  add 
nothing  to  the  intrinsic  right  of  his  natural  dominion ;  they  being 
the  effects  of  that  sovereignty,  as  he  is  a  rewarder  and  governor ;  as 
the  benefits  a  prince  bestows  upon  his  favorite  increases  not  that 
right  of  authority  which  is  inherent  in  the  crown,  but  strengthens 
that  dominion  as  it  stands  in  relation  to  the  receiver,  by  increasing 
the  obligation  of  the  favorite  to  an  observance  of  him,  not  only  as 


372  CHAENOCK  ON  THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

his  natural  prince,  but  his  gracious  benefactor.  The  beneficence  of 
God  adds,  though  not  an  original  right  of  power,  yet  a  foundation 
of  a  stronger  upbraiding  the  creature,  if  he  walks  in  a  violation  and 
forgetfulness  of  those  benefits,  and  pull  in  pieces  the  links  of  that 
ingenuous  duty  they  call  for ;  and  an  occasion  of  exercising  of  jus- 
tice in  punishing  the  delinquent,  which  is  a  part  of  his  empire  (Isa.  i. 
2)  :  "  Hear,  0  heavens,  and  give  ear,  0  earth,  the  Lord  hath  spoken ; 
I  have  nourished  children,  and  they  have  rebelled  against  me." 
Thus  the  fundamental  right  as  Creator  is  made  more  indisputable  by 
his  relation  as  a  benefactor,  and  more  as  being  so  after  a  forfeiture 
of  what  was  enjoyed  by  creation.  The  benefits  of  God  are  innumer- 
able, and  so  magnificent  that  they  cannot  meet  with  any  compensa- 
tion from  the  creature ;  and,  therefore,  do  necessarily  require  a  sub- 
mission from  the  creature,  and  an  acknowledgment  of  Divine 
authority.  But  that  benefit  of  redemption  doth  add  a  stronger  right 
of  dominion  to  God  ;  since  he  hath  not  only  as  a  Creator  given  them 
being  and  life  as  his  creatures,  but  paid  a  price,  the  price  of  his  Son's 
blood,  for  their  rescue  from  captivity ;  so  that  he  hath  a  sovereignty 
of  grace  as  well  as  nature,  and  the  ransomed  ones  belong  to  him  as 
Eedeemer  as  well  as  Creator  (1  Cor.  vi.  19,  20) :  "  Ye  are  not  your 
own,  for  ye  are  bought  with  a  price ;"  therefore  your  body  and  your 
spirit  are  God's.  By  this  he  acquired  a  right  of  another  kind,  and 
bought  us  from  that  uncontrollable  lordship  we  affected  over  our- 
selves by  the  sin  of  Adam,  that  he  might  use  us  as  his  own  peculiar 
for  his  own  glory  and  service.  By  this  redemption  there  results  to 
God  a  right  over  our  bodies,  over  our  spirits,  over  our  services,  as 
well  as  by  creation ;  and  to  show  the  strength  of  this  riglit,  tlie 
apostle  repeats  it,  "  you  are  bought ;"  a  purchase  cannot  be  without 
a  price  paid;  but  he  adds  price  also,  "bought  with  a  price."  To 
strengthen  the  title,  purchase  gave  him  a  new  right,  and  the  great- 
ness of  the  price  established  that  right.  The  more  a  man  pays  for 
a  thing,  the  more  usually  we  say,  he  deserves  to  have  it,  he  hath 
paid  enough  for  it ;  it  was,  indeed,  price  enough,  and  too  much  for 
such  vile  creatures  as  we  are. 

III.  The  third  thing  is.  The  nature  of  this  dominion. 

1.  This  dominion  is  independent.  His  throne  is  in  the  heavens; 
the  heavens  depend  not  upon  the  earth,  nor  God  upon  his  creatures. 
Since  he  is  independent  in  regard  of  his  essence,  he  is  so  in  his  do- 
minion, which  flows  from  the  excellency  and  fulness  of  his  essence ; 
as  he  receives  his  essence  from  none,  so  he  derives  his  dominion  from 
none ;  all  other  dominion  except  paternal  authority  is  rooted  origin- 
ally in  the  wills  of  men.  The  first  title  was  the  consent  of  the 
people,  or  the  conquest  of  others  by  the  help  of  those  people  that 
first  consented  ;  and  in  the  exercise  of  it,  earthly  dominion  depends 
upon  assistance  of  the  subjects,  and  the  members  being  joined  with 
the  head  carry  on  the  work  of  government,  and  prevent  civil  dissen- 
sions ;  in  the  support  of  it,  it  depends  upon  the  subjects'  contribu- 
tions and  taxes ;  the  subjects  in  their  strength  are  the  arms,  and  in 
their  purses  the  sinews  of  government ;  but  God  depends  uj^on  none 
in  the  foundation  of  his  government ;  he  is  not  a  Lord  by  the  votes 


ON  GOD'S  DOMINION.  373 

of  his  vassals.z  Nor  is  it  successively  handed  to  him  by  any  prede- 
cessor, nor  constituted  by  the  power  of  a  superior  ;  nor  forced  he  his 
way  by  war  and  conquest,  nor  precariously  attained  it  by  suit  or 
flattery,  or  bribing  promises.  He  holds  not  the  right  of  his  empire 
from  any  other  ;  he  hath  no  superior  to  hand  him  to  his  throne,  and 
settle  him  by  commission ;  he  is  therefore  called  "  King  of  kings, 
and  Lord  of  lords,"  having  none  above  him  ;  "  A  great  King  above 
all  gods"  (Ps.  xcv.  3) :  needing  no  license  from  any  when  to  act,  nor 
direction  how  to  act,  or  assistance  in  his  action  ;  he  owes  not  any  of 
those  to  any  person  ;  he  was  not  ordered  by  any  other  to  create,  and 
therefore  received  not  orders  from  any  other  to  rule  over  what  he 
hath  created.  He  received  not  his  power  and  wisdom  from  another, 
and  therefore  is  not  subject  to  any  for  the  rule  of  his  government. 
He  only  made  his  own  subjects,  and  from  himself  hath  the  sole 
authority  ;  his  own  will  was  the  cause  of  their  beings,  and  his  own 
will  is  the  director  of  their  actions.  He  is  not  determined  by  his 
creatures  in  any  of  his  motions,  but  determines  the  creatures  in  all ; 
his  actions  are  not  regulated  by  any  law  without  him,  but  by  a  law 
within  him,  the  law  of  his  own  nature.  It  is  impossible  he  can  have 
any  rule  without  himself,  because  there  is  nothing  superior  to  him- 
self, nor  doth  he  depend  upon  any  in  the  exercise  of  his  govern- 
ment ;  he  needs  no  servants  in  it,  when  he  uses  creatures :  it  is  not 
out  of  want  of  their  help,  but  for  the  manifestationof  his  wisdom  and 
power.  What  he  doth  by  his  subjects,  he  can  do  by  himself:  "  The 
government  is  upon  his  shoulder"  (Isa.  ix.  6),  to  show  that  he  needs 
not  any  supporters.  All  other  governments  flow  from  him,  all  other 
authorities  depend  upon  him ;  Dei  Gratia^  or  Dei  Providential  is  in 
the  style  of  princes.  As  their  being  is  derived  from  his  power,  so 
their  authority  is  but  a  branch  of  his  dominion.  They  are  govern- 
ors by  Divine  providence ;  God  is  governor  by  his  sole  nature.  All 
motions  depend  upon  the  first  heaven,  which  moves  all ;  but  that 
depends  upon  nothing.  The  government  of  Christ  depends  upon 
God's  uncreated  dominion,  and  is  by  commision  from  him ;  Christ 
assumed  not  this  honor  to  himself,  "  But  he  that  said  unto  him.  Thou 
art  my  Son,"  bestowed  it  upon  him.  "  He  put  all  things  under  his 
feet,"  but  not  himself  (1  Cor.  xv.  27).  "When  he  saith.  All  things 
are  put  under  him,  he  is  excepted,  which  did  put  all  things  under 
him."     He  sits  still  as  an  independent  governor  upon  his  throne. 

2.  This  dominion  is  absolute.  If  his  throne  be  in  the  heavens, 
there  is  nothing  to  control  him.  If  he  be  independent,  he  must 
needs  be  absolute  ;  since  he  hath  no  cause  in  conjunction  with  him 
as  Creator,  that  can  share  with  him  in  his  right,  or  restrain  him  in 
the  disposal  of  his  creature.  His  authority  is  unlimited  ;  in  this  re- 
gard the  title  of  "Lord"  becomes  not  any  but  God  properly.  Ti- 
berius, though  none  of  the  best,  though  one  of  the  subtilest  princes, 
accounted  the  title  of  "  Lord"  a  reproach  to  him  :  since  he  was  not 
absolute,"'^ 

1st.  Absolute  in  regard  of  freedom  and  liberty.  (1.)  Thus  creation 
is  a  work  of  his  mere  sovereignty ;  he  created,  because  it  was  his  plea- 

»  Rnyiiaud,  Theolog.  Natural,  pp.  760 — 762. 
•  Suetou.  de  Tiberio,  cap.  27. 


374  CHAENOCK   ON  THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

sure  to  create  (Rev.  iv.  11).  He  is  not  necessitated  to  do  this  or  that. 
He  might  have  chosen  whether  he  would  have  framed  an  earth  and 
heavens,  and  laid  the  foundations  of  his  chambers  in  the  waters.  He 
was  under  no  obligation  to  reduce  things  from  nullity  to  existence. 
(2.)  Preservation  is  the  fruit  of  his  sovereignty.  When  he  had 
called  the  world  to  stand  out,  he  might  have  ordered  it  to  return 
into  its  dark  den  of  nothingness,  ripped  up  every  part  of  its  founda- 
tion, or  have  given  being  to  many  more  creatures  then  he  did.  If 
you  consider  his  absolute  sovereignty,  why  might  he  not  have  di- 
vested Adam  presently  of  those  rational  perfections  wherewith  he 
had  endowed  him  ?  And  might  he  not  have  metamorphosed  him 
into  some  beast,  and  elevated  some  beast  into  a  rational  nature? 
Why  might  he  not  have  degraded  an  angel  to  a  worm,  and  advanced 
a  worm  to  the  nature  and  condition  of  an  angel  ?  Why  might  he 
not  have  revoked  that  grant  of  dominion,  which  he  had  passed  to 
man  over  all  creatures  ?  It  was  free  to  him  to  permit  sin  to  enter 
into  the  earth,  or  to  have  excluded  it  out  of  he  earth,  as  he  doth 
out  of  heaven.  (3.)  Redemption  is  a  fruit  of  his  sovereignty.  By 
his  absolute  sovereignty  he  might  have  confirmed  all  the  angels  in 
their  standing  by  grace,  and  prevented  the  revolt  of  any  of  their 
members  from  him ;  and  when  there  was  a  revolt  both  in  heaven 
and  earth,  it  was  free  to  him  to  have  called  out  his  Son  to  assume 
the  angelical,  as  well  as  the  human,  nature,  or  have  exercised  his  do- 
minion in  the  destruction  of  men  and  devils,  rather  than  in  the  re- 
demption of  any ;  he  was  under  no  obligation  to  restore  either  the 
one  or  the  other.  (4.)  May  he  not  impose  what  terms  he  pleases  ? 
May  he  not  impose  what  laws  he  pleases,  and  exact  what  he  will  of 
his  creature  without  promising  any  rewards?  May  he  not  use  his 
own  for  his  own  honor,  as  well  as  men  use  for  their  credit  what  they 
do  possess  by  his  indulgence  ?  (5.)  Affliction  is  an  act  of  his  sover- 
eignty. By  this  right  of  sovereignty,  may  not  God  take  away  any 
man's  goods,  since  they  were  his  doles  ?  As  he  was  not  indebted  to 
us  when  he  bestowed  them,  so  he  cannot  wrong  us  when  he  removes 
them.  He  takes  from  us  what  is  more  his  own  than  it  is  ours,  and 
was  never  ours  but  by  his  gift,  and  that  for  a  time  only,  not  forever. 
By  this  right  he  may  determine  our  times,  put  a  period  to  our  days 
when  he  pleases,  strip  us  of  one  member,  and  lop  off  another.  Man's 
being  was  from  him,  and  why  should  he  not  have  a  sovereignty  to 
take  what  he  had  a  sovereignty  to  give  ?  Why  should  this  seem 
strange  to  any  of  us,  since  we  ourselves  exercise  an  absolute  domin- 
ion over  those  things  in  our  possession,  which  have  sense  and  feel- 
ing, as  well  as  over  those  that  want  it  ?  Doth  not  every  man  think 
he  hath  an  absolute  authority  over  the  utensils  of  his  house,  over  his 
horse,  his  dog,  to  preserve  or  kill  him,  to  do  what  he  please  with 
him,  without  rendering  any  other  reason  than,  It  is  my  own  1  May 
not  God  do  much  more  ?  Doth  not  his  dominion  over  the  work  of 
his  hands  transcend  that  which  a  man  can  claim  over  his  beast  that 
he  never  gave  life  unto  ?  He  that  dares  dispute  against  God's  abso- 
lute right,  fancies  himself  as  much  a  god  as  his  Creator :  understands 
not  the  vast  difference  between  the  Divine  nature  and  his  own ;  be- 
tween the  sovereignty  of  God  and  his  own,  which  is  all  the  theme 


ON   GODS   DOMINION.  375 

God  himself  discoursetli  upon  in  those  stately  chapters  (Job.  xxxviii. 
xxxix.  &c.) ;  not  mentioning  a  word  of  Job's  sin,  but  only  vindicat- 
ing the  rights  of  his  own  authority.  Nor  doth  Job,  in  his  reply 
(Job  xl,  4),  speak  of  his  sin,  but  of  his  natural  vileness  as  a  creature 
in  the  presence  of  his  Creator.  By  this  right,  God  unstops  the  bot- 
tles of  heaven  in  one  place,  and  stops  them  in  another,  causing  it 
"  to  rain  upon  one  city,  and  not  upon  another"  (Amos  iv.  7) ;  order- 
ing the  clouds  to  move  to  this  or  that  quarter  where  he  hath  a  mind 
to  be  a  benefactor  or  a  judge.  (6.)  Unequal  dispensations  are  acts 
of  his  sovereignty.  By  this  right  he  is  patient  toward  those  whose 
sins,  by  the  common  voice  of  men,  deserve  speedy  judgments,  and 
pours  out  pain  upon  those  that  are  patterns  of  virtue  to  the  world. 
By  this  he  gives  sometimes  the  worst  of  men  an  ocean  of  wealth  and 
honor  to  swim  in,  and  reduceth  an  useful  and  exemplary  grace  to  a 
scanty  poverty.  By  this  he  "rules  the  kingdoms  of  men,"  and  sets 
a  crown  upon  the  head  of  the  basest  of  men  (Dan.  iv.  17),  while  he 
deposeth  another  that  seemed  to  deserve  a  weightier  diadem.  This 
is,  as  he  is  the  Lord  of  the  ammunition  of  his  thunders,  and  the  trea- 
sures of  his  bounty.  (7.)  He  may  inflict  what  torments  he  pleases. 
Some  say,  by  this  right  of  sovereignty  he  may  inflict  what  torments 
he  pleascth  upon  an  innocent  person  ;  which,  indeed,  will  not  bear 
the  nature  of  a  punishment  as  an  effect  of  justice,  without  the  sup- 
posal  of  a  crime ;  but  a  torment,  as  an  effect  of  that  sovereign  right 
he  hath  over  his  creature,  which  is  as  absolute  over  his  work  as  the 
"potter's"  power  is  "  over  his  own  clay"  (Jer.  xviii.  6  ;  Kom.  ix.  21). 
May  not  the  potter,  after  his  labor,  either  set  his  "  vessel"  up  to 
adorn  his  house,  or  knock  it  in  pieces,  and  fling  it  upon  the  dung- 
hill ;  separate  it  to  some  noble  use,  or  condemn  it  to  some  sordid 
service?''  Is  the  right  of  God  over  his  creatures  less  than  that  of 
the  potter  over  his  vessel,  since  God  contributed  all  to  his  creature, 
but  the  potter  never  made  the  clay,  which  is  the  substance  of  the 
vessel,  nor  the  water  which  was  necessary  to  make  it  tractable,  but 
only  moulded  the  substance  of  it  into  such  a  shape  ?  The  vessel  that 
is  framed,  and  the  potter  that  frames  it,  differ  only  in  life  :  the  body 
of  the  potter,  whereby  he  executes  his  authority,  is  of  no  better  a 
mould  than  the  clay,  the  matter  of  his  vessel.  Shall  he  have  so 
absolute  a  power  over  that  which  is  so  near  him,  and  shall  not 
God  over  that  which  is  so  infinitely  distant  from  him  ?  The  "  ves- 
sel," perhaps,  might  plead  for  itself  that  it  was  once  part  of  the  body 
of  a  man,  and  as  good  as  the  "potter"  himself;  whereas  no  creature 
can  plead  it  was  part  of  God,  and  as  good  as  God  himself.  Though 
there  be  no  man  in  the  world  but  deserves  affliction,  yet  the  Scrip- 
ture sometimes  lays  affliction  upon  the  score  of  God's  dominion, 
without  any  respect  to  the  sin  of  the  afflicted  person.  Speaking  of 
a  sick  person  (James  v.  15),  "  If  he  have  committed  sins,  they  shall 
be  forgiven  him ;"  whereby  is  implied,  that  he  might  be  struck  into 
sickness  by  God,  without  any  respect  to  a  particular  sin,  but  in  a 
way  of  trial ;  and  that  his  affliction  sprung  not  from  any  exercise  of 
Divine  justice,  but  from  his  absolute  sovereignty  ;  and  so,  in  the  case 
of  the  blind  man,  when  the  disciples  asked  for  what  sin  it  was, 

''  Lessius  de  Perfect.  Diviii.  pp.  66,  67. 


376  CHARNOCK  ON  THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

wliether  for  liis  "own,"  or  his  "parents  sin,"  he  was  born  blind? 
(John  ix.  3),  "Neither  hath  this  man  sinned,  nor  his  parents;"  which 
speaks,  in  itself,  not  against  the  whole  current  of  Scripture ;  but  the 
words  import  thus  much,  that  God,  in  this  blindness  from  the  birth, 
neither  respected  any  sin  of  the  man's  own,  nor  of  his  parents,  but 
he  did  it  as  an  absolute  sovereign,  to  manifest  his  own  glory  in  that 
miraculous  cure  which  was  wrought  by  Christ.  Though  afflictions 
do  not  happen  without  the  desert  of  the  creature,  yet  some  afflic- 
tions may  be  sent  without  any  particular  respect  to  that  desert, 
merely  for  the  manifestation  of  God's  glory,  since  the  creature  was 
made  for  God  himself,  and  his  honor,  and  therefore  may  be  used  in 
a  serviceableness  to  the  glory  of  the  Creator. 

2d.  His  dominion  is  absolute  in  regard  of  unlimitedness  by  any 
law  without  him.  He  is  an  absolute  monarch  that  makes  laws  for 
his  subjects,  but  is  not  bound  by  any  himself,  nor  receives  any  rules 
and  laws  from  his  subjects,  for  the  management  of  his  government. 
But  most  governments  in  the  world  are  bounded  by  laws  made  by 
common  consent.  Bat  when  kings  are  not  limited  by  the  laws  of 
their  kingdoms,  yet  they  are  bounded  by  the  law  of  nature,  and  by 
the  providence  of  God.  But  God  is  under  no  law  without  himself; 
his  rule  is  within  him,  the  rectitude  and  righteousness  of  his  own 
nature ;  he  is  not  under  that  law  he  hath  prescribed  to  man.  The 
law  was  not  made  for  a  "  righteous  man"  (1  Tim.  i.  9),  much  less  for 
a  righteous  God.  God  is  his  own  law  ;  his  own  nature  is  his  rule, 
as  his  own  glory  is  his  end ;  himself  is  his  end,  and  himself  is  his 
law.  He  is  moved  by  nothing  without  himself;  nothing  hath  the 
dominion  of  a  motive  over  him  but  his  own  will,  which  is  his  rule 
for  all  his  actions  in  heaven  and  earth,  (Dan,  iv,  32),  "  He  rules  in 
the  kingdom  of  men,  and  gives  it  to  whomsoever  he  will."  And, 
(Rom,  ix,  18,)  "  He  hath  mercy  on  whom  he  will  have  mercy  ;"  as 
all  things  are  wrought  by  him  according  to  his  own  eternal  ideas  in 
his  own  mind,  so  all  is  wrought  by  him  according  to  the  inward 
motive  in  his  own  will,  which  was  the  manifestation  of  his  own 
honor.  The  greatest  motives,  therefore,  that  the  best  persons  have 
used,  when  they  have  pleaded  for  any  grant  from  God,  was  his 
own  glory,  which  would  be  advanced  by  an  answer  of  their  pe- 
tition. 

3d.  His  dominion  is  absolute  in  regard  of  supremacy  and  uncon- 
trollableness.  None  can  implead  him,  and  cause  him  to  render  a 
reason  of  his  actions.  He  is  the  sovereign  King,  "  Who  may  say 
unto  him.  What  dost  thou  ?"  (Eccles,  viii.  4.)  It  is  an  absurd  thing 
for  any  to  dispute  with  God.  (Rom.  xi.  20),  "  Who  art  thou,  O  man, 
that  repliest  against  God  ?"  Thou,  a  man,  a  piece  of  dust,  to  argue 
with  a  God  incomprehensibly  above  thy  reason,  about  the  reason  of 
his  works !  Let  the  potsherds  strive  with  the  potsherds  of  the  earth, 
but  "  not  with  Him  that  fashioned  them"  (Isa.  xlv,  9),  In  all  the 
desolations  he  works,  he  asserts  his  own  supremacy  to  silence  men. 
(Ps.  xlvi.  10),  "  Be  still,  and  know  that  I  am  God  !"  Beware  of  any 
quarrelling  motions  in  your  minds  ;  it  is  sufficient  than  I  am  God, 
that  is  supreme,  and  will  not  be  impleaded,  and  censured,  or  worded 
with  by  any  creature  about  what  I  do.     He  is  not  bound  to  render  a 


ON  GOD'S  DOMINION.  377 

reason  of  any  of  his  proceedings.  Subjects  are  accountable  totbeir 
princes,  and  princes  to  God,  God  to  none  ;  since  he  is  not  hmited  by 
any  superior,  his  prerogative  is  supreme, 

4th.  His  dominion  is  absolute  in  regard  of  irresistibleness.  Othc? 
governments  are  bounded  by  law ;  so  that  what  a  governor  hath 
strength  to  do,  he  hath  not  a  right  to  do ;  other  governors  have  a 
limited  ability,  that  what  they  have  a  right  to  do,  they  have  not  al- 
ways a  strength  to  do  ;  they  may  want  a  power  to  execute  their  own 
counsels.  But  God  is  destitute  of  neither ;  he  hath  an  infinite  right, 
and  an  infinite  strength  ;  his  word  is  a  law ;  he  commands  things  to 
stand  out  of  nothing,  and  they  do  so.  "  He  commanded,"  or  spake, 
0  einu)"^  "light  to  shine  out  of  darkness"  (2  Cor.  iv.  6).  There  is 
no  distance  of  time  between  his  word :  "  Let  there  be  light ;  and 
there  was  light"  (Gen.  i.  3).  Magistrates  often  use  not  their  author- 
ity, for  fear  of  giving  occasion  to  insurrections,  which  may  overturn 
their  empire.  But  if  the  Lord  will  work,  "  who  shall  let  it  ?"  (Isa. 
xliii.  19) :  and  if  God  will  not  work,  who  shall  force  him  ?  He  can 
check  and  overturn  all  other  powers ;  his  decrees  cannot  be  stopped, 
nor  his  hand  held  back  by  any :  if  he  wills  to  dash  the  whole  world 
in  pieces,  no  creature  can  maintain  its  being  against  his  order.  He 
sets  the  ordinances  of  the  heavens,  and  the  dominion  thereof  in  the 
earth ;  and  sends  lightnings,  that  they  may  go,  and  say  unto  him, 
"  Here  we  are"  (Job.  xxxviii.  33,  34). 

3.  Yet  this  dominion,  though  it  be  absolute,  is  not  tyrannical,  but 
it  is  managed  by  the  rules  of  wisdom,  righteousness,  and  goodness. 
If  his  throne  be  in  the  heavens,  it  is  pure  and  good :  because  the 
heavens  are  the  purest  parts  of  the  creation,  and  influence  by  their 
goodness  the  lower  earth.  Since  he  is  his  own  rule,  and  his  nature 
is  infinitely  wise,  holy,  and  righteous,  he  cannot  do  a  thing  but  what 
is  unquestionably  agreeable  with  wisdom,  justice,  and  purity.  In  all 
the  exercises  of  his  sovereign  right,  he  is  never  unattended  Avith 
those  perfections  of  his  nature.  Might  not  God,  by  his  absolute 
power,  have  pardoned  men's  guilt,  and  thrown  the  invading  sin  out 
of  his  creatures  ?  but  in  regard  of  his  truth  pawned  in  his  threaten- 
ing, and  in  regard  of  his  justice,  which  demanded  satisfaction,  he 
would  not.  Might  not  God,  by  his  absolute  sovereignty,  admit  a 
man  into  his  friendship,  without  giving  him  any  grace  ?  but  in  re- 
gard of  the  incongruity  of  such  an  act  to  his  wisdom  and  holiness, 
he  will  not.  May  he  not,  by  his  absolute  power,  refuse  to  accept  a 
man  that  desires  to  please  him,  and  reject  a  purely  innocent  crea- 
ture ?  but  in  regard  of  his  goodness  and  righteousness,  he  will  not. 
Though  innocence  be  amiable  in  its  own  nature,  yet  it  is  not  neces- 
sary in  regard  of  God's  sovereignty,  that  he  should  love  it ;  but  in 
regard  of  his  goodness  it  is  necessary,  and  he  will  never  do  other- 
wise. As  God  never  acts  to  the  utmost  of  his  power,  so  he  never 
exerts  the  utmost  of  his  sovereignty  :  because  it  would  be  inconsist- 
ent with  those  other  properties  which  render  him  perfectly  adora- 
ble to  the  creature.  As  no  intelligent  creature,  neither  angel  nor 
man,  can  be  framed  without  a  law  in  his  nature,  so  we  cannot  imag- 
ine God  without  a  law  in  his  own  nature,  unless  we  would  fancy 
him  a  rude,  tyrannical,  foolish  being,  that  hath  nothing  of  holiness, 


378  CHAENOCK  ON  THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

goodness,  rigliteousness,  wisdom.  If  he  "  made  the  heavens  in  wis- 
dom" (Ps.  cxxxvi.  5),  he  made  them  by  some  rule,  not  by  a  mere 
will,  but  a  rule  within  himself,  not  without.  A  wise  work  is  never 
the  result  of  an  absolute  unguided  will. 

(1.)  This  dominion  is  managed  by  the  rule  of  wisdom.  What 
may  appear  to  us  to  have  no  other  spring  than  absolute  sovereignty, 
would  be  found  to  have  a  depth  of  amazing  wisdom,  and  account- 
able reason,  were  our  short  capacities  long  enough  to  fathom  it. 
When  the  apostle  had  been  discoursing  of  the  eternal  counsels  of 
God,  in  seizing  upon  one  man,  and  letting  go  another,  in  neglecting 
the  Jews,  and  gathering  in  the  Gentiles,  which  appears  to  us  to  be 
results  only  of  an  absolute  dominion,  yet  he  resolves  not  those  amaz- 
ing acts  into  that,  without  taking  it  for  granted  that  they  were  gov- 
erned by  exact  wisdom,  though  beyond  his  ken  to  see  and  his  line 
to  sound.  "  O,  the  depth  of  the  riches,  both  of  the  wisdom  and 
knowledge  of  God ;  how  unsearchable  are  his  judgments,  and  his 
ways  past  finding  out"  (Rom.  ii.  33) !  There  are  some  things  in 
matters  of  state,  that  may  seem  to  be  acts  of  mere  will,  but  if  we 
were  acquainted  with  the  arcana  imperii^  the  inward  engines  which 
moved  them,  and  the  ends  aimed  at  in  those  undertakings,  we  might 
find  a  rich  vein  of  prudence  in  them,  to  incline  us  to  judge  other- 
wise than  bare  arbitrary  proceedings.  The  other  attributes  of  power 
and  goodness  are  more  easily  perceptible  in  the  works  of  God  than 
his  wisdom.  The  first  view  of  the  creation  strikes  us  with  this  sen- 
timent, that  the  Author  of  this  great  fabric  was  mighty  and  benefi- 
cial ;  but  his  wisdom  lies  deeper  than  to  be  discerned  at  the  first 
glance,  without  a  diligent  inquiry ;  as  at  the  first  casting  our  eyes 
upon  the  sea,  we  behold  its  motion,  color,  and  something  of  its  vast- 
ness,  but  we  cannot  presently  fathom  the  depth  of  it,  and  understand 
those  lower  fountains  that  supply  that  great  ocean  of  waters.  It  is 
part  of  God's  sovereignity,  as  it  is  of  the  wisest  princes,  that  he  hath 
a  wisdom  beyond  the  reach  of  his  subjects;  it  is  not  for  a  finite  na- 
ture to  understand  an  Infinite  Wisdom,  nor  for  a  foolish  creature 
tliat  hath  lost  his  understanding  by  the  fall,  to  judge  of  the  reason 
of  the  methods  of  a  wise  Counsellor.  Yet  those  actions  that  savor 
most  of  sovereignty,  present  men  with  some  glances  of  his  wisdom. 
Was  it  mere  will,  that  he  suffered  some  angels  to  fall?  But  his  wis- 
dom was  in  it  for  the  manifestation  of  his  justice,  as  it  was  also  in 
the  case  of  Pharaoh.  Was  it  mere  will,  that  he  suffered  sin  to  be 
committed  by  man  ?  Was  not  his  wisdom  in  this  for  the  discovery 
of  his  mercy,  which  never  had  been  known  without  that,  which 
should  render  a  creature  miserable  ?  "  He  hath  concluded  them  all  in 
unbelief,  that  he  might  have  mercy  upon  all"  (Rom.  xi.  32).  Though 
God  had  such  an  absolute  right,  to  have  annihilated  the  world  as 
soon  as  ever  he  had  made  it,  yet  how  had  this  consisted  with  his 
wisdom,  to  have  erected  a  creature  after  his  own  image  one  day,  and 
despised  it  so  much  the  next,  as  to  cashier  it  from  being  ?  What 
wisdom  had  it  been  to  make  a  thing  only  to  destroy  it ;  to  repent  of 
his  work  as  soon  as  ever  it  came  out  of  his  hands,  without  any  occa- 
sion offered  by  the  creature  ?  If  God  be  supposed  to  be  Creator,  he 
must  be  supposed  to  have  an  end  in  creation  ;  what  end  can  that  be 


ON  GOD'S  DOMINION.  879 

but  himself  and  his  own  glory,  the  manifestation  of  the  perfections 
of  his  nature  ?  What  perfection  could  have  been  discovered  in  so 
quick  an  annihilation,  but  that  of  his  power  in  creating,  and  of  his 
sovereignty  in  snatching  away  the  being  of  his  rational  creature,  be- 
fore it  had  laid  the  methods  of  acting?  What  wisdom  to  make  a 
world,  and  a  reasonable  creature  for  no  use ;  not  to  praise  and  honor 
him,  but  to  be  broken  in  pieces,  and  destroyed  by  him  ? 

(2.)  His  sovereignty  is  managed  according  to  the  rule  of  righteous- 
ness. Worldly  princes  often  fancy  tyranny  and  oppression  to  be  the 
chief  marks  of  sovereignty,  and  think  their  sceptres  not  beautiful 
till  died  in  blood,  nor  the  throne  secure  till  established  upon  slain 
carcasses.  But  "justice  and  judgment"  are  the  foundation  of  the 
throne  of  God  (Ps.  Ixxxix.  14) ;  alluding  perhaps  to  the  supporters 
of  arms  and  thrones,  which  among  princes  are  the  figures  of  lions, 
emblems  of  courage,  as  Solomon  had  (1  Kings,  x.  19).  But  God 
makes  not  so  much  might,  as  right,  the  support  of  his.  He  sits  on 
a  "  throne  of  holiness"  (Ps.  xlvii.  8).  As  he  reigns  over  the  heath- 
ens, referring  to  the  calling  of  the  Gentiles  after  the  rejecting  of  the 
Jews ;  the  Psalmist  here  praising  the  righteousness  of  it,  as  the 
Apostle  had  the  unsearchable  wisdom  of  it  (Rom.  xi.  33).  "  In  all 
his  ways  he  is  righteous"  (Ps.  cxlv.  17) :  in  his  ways  of  terror  as  well 
as  those  of  sweetness  ;  in  those  works  wherein  little  else  but  that  of 
his  sovereignty  appears  to  us.  It  is  always  linked  with  his  holiness, 
that  he  will  not  do  by  his  absolute  right  anything  but  what  is  con- 
formable to  it :  since  his  dominion  is  founded  upon  the  excellency 
of  his  nature,  he  will  not  do  anything  but  what  is  agreeable  to  it, 
and  becoming  his  other  perfections.  Though  he  be  an  absolute  sov- 
ereign, he  is  not  an  arbitrary  governor ;  "  Shall  not  the  Judge  of  all 
the  earth  do  right"  (Gen.  xviii.  25)  ?  i.  e.  it  is  impossible  but  he  should 
act  righteously  in  every  punctilio  of  his  government,  since  his  right- 
eousness capacitates  him  to  be  a  judge,  not  a  tyrant,  of  all  the  earth. 
The  heathen  poets  represented  their  chief  god  Jupiter  Avitli  Themis, 
or  Right,  sitting  by  him  upon  his  throne  in  all  his  orders.  God 
cannot  by  his  absolute  sovereignty  command  some  things,  because 
they  are  directly  against  unchangeable  righteousness ;  as  to  com- 
mand a  creature  to  hate  or  blaspheme  the  Creator,  not  to  own  him 
nor  praise  him.  It  would  be  a  manifest  unrighteousness  to  order  the 
creature  not  to  own  him,  upon  whom  he  depends  both  in  its  being 
and  well-being ;  this  would  bo  against  that  natural  duty  which  is  in- 
dispensably due  from  every  rational  creature  to  God.  This  would 
be  to  order  him  to  lay  aside  his  reason,  while  he  retains  it ;  to  dis- 
own him  to  be  the  Creator,  while  man  remains  his  creature.  This 
is  repugnant  to  the  nature  of  God,  and  the  true  nature  of  the  crea- 
ture ;  or  to  exact  anything  of  man,  but  what  he  had  given  him  a 
capacity,  in  his  original  nature,  to  perform.  If  any  command  were 
above  our  natural  power,  it  would  be  unrighteous;  as  ta command 
a  man  to  grasp  the  globe  of  the  earth,  to  stride  over  the  sea,  to  lave 
out  the  waters  of  the  ocean ;  these  things  are  impossible,  and  become 
not  the  righteousness  and  wisdom  of  God  to  enjoin.  There  can  be 
no  obligation  on  man  to  an  impossibility.  God  had  a  free  dominion 
over  nullity  before  the  creation  ;  he  could  call  it  out  into  the  being 


380  CHARNOCK  ON  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

of  man  and  beast,  but  lie  could  not  do  anything  in  creation  foolishly, 
because  of  his  infinite  wisdom ;  nor  could  he  by  the  right  of  his  ab- 
solute sovereignty  make  man  sinful,  because  of  his  infinite  purit3^ 
As  it  is  impossible  for  him  not  to  be  sovereign,  it  is  impossible  for 
him  to  deny  his  Deity  and  his  purity.  It  is  laAvful  for  God  to  do 
what  he  will,  but  his  will  being  ordered  by  the  righteousness  of  his 
nature,  as  infinite  as  his  will,  he  cannot  do  anything  but  what  is  just ; 
and  therefore  in  his  dealing  with  men,  you  find  him  in  Scripture 
submitting  the  reasonableness  and  equity  of  his  proceedings  to  the 
judgment  of  his  depraved  creatures,  and  the  inward  dictates  of  their 
own  conscience.  "  And  now,  0  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem,  and  men 
of  Judah,  judge,  I  pray  you,  between  me  and  my  vineyard"  (Isa.  v. 
3).  Though  God  be  the  great  Sovereign  of  the  Avorld,  yet  he  acts 
not  in  a  way  of  absolute  sovereignty.  He  rules  by  law ;  he  is  a 
"  Lawgiver"  as  well  as  a  "  King"  (Isa.  xxxiii.  22).  It  had  been  re- 
pugnant to  the  nature  of  a  rational  creature  to  be  ruled  otherwise ; 
to  be  governed  as  a  beast,  this  had  been  to  frustrate  those  faculties 
of  will  and  understanding  which  had  been  given  him.  To  conclude 
this :  when  we  say,  God  can  do  this  or  that,  or  command  this  or  that, 
his  authority  is  not  bounded  and  limited  properly.  Who  can  reason- 
ably detract  from  his  almightiness,  because  he  cannot  do  anything 
which  savors  of  weakness  ;  and  what  detracting  is  it  from  his  author- 
ity, that  he  cannot  do  anything  unseemly  for  the  dignity  of  his  na- 
ture ?  It  is  rather  from  the  infiniteness  of  his  righteousness  than 
the  straitness  of  his  authority  ;  at  most  it  is  but  a  voluntary  bound- 
ing his  dominion  by  the  law  of  his  own  holiness. 

(3.)  His  sovereignty  is  managed  according  to  the  rule  of  goodness. 
Some  potentates  there  have  been  in  the  world,  that  have  loved  to 
suck  the  blood,  and  drink  the  tears,  of  their  subjects ;  that  would 
rule  more  by  fear  than  love  ;  like  Clearchus,  the  tyrant  of  Heraclea, 
who  bore  the  figure  of  a  thunderbolt  instead  of  a  sceptre,  and  named 
his  son  Thunder,  thereby  to  tutor  him  to  terrify  his  subjects.^  But 
as  God's  throne  is  a  throne  of  holiness,  so  it  is  a  "  throne  of  grace" 
(Heb.  iv.  16),  a  throne  encircled  with  a  rainbow :  "In  sight  like  to 
an  emerald"  (Rev.  iv.  23)  :  an  emblem  of  the  covenant,  that  hath  the 
pleasantness  of  a  green  color,  delightful  to  the  eye,  betokening  mercy. 
Though  his  nature  be  infinitely  excellent  above  us,  and  his  power 
infinitely  transcendent  over  us,  yet  the  majesty  of  his  government 
is  tempered  with  an  unspeakable  goodness.  He  acts  not  so  much  as 
an  absolute  Lord,  as  a  gracious  Sovereign  and  obliging  Benefactor. 
He  delights  not  to  make  his  subjects  slaves ;  exacts  not  from  them 
any  servile  and  fearful,  but  a  generous  and  cheerful,  obedience.  He 
requires  them  not  to  fear,  or  worship  him  so  much  for  his  power,  as 
his  goodness.  He  requires  not  of  a  rational  creature  anything  re- 
pugnant to  the  honor,  dignity,  and  principles  of  such  a  nature  ;  not 
anything  that  may  shame,  disgrace  it,  and  make  it  weary  of  its  own 
being,  and  the  service  it  owes  to  its  Sovereign.  He  draws  by  the 
cords  of  a  man ;  his  goodness  renders  his  laws  as  sweet  as  honey  or 
the  honey-comb  to  an  unvitiated  palate  and  a  renewed  mind.  And 
though  it  be  granted  he  hath  a  full  dispose  of  his  creature,  as  the 

<=  Causin,  Poly-Histor.  lib.  iv.  cap.  22. 


ON   GOD'S  DOMINION,  381 

potter  of  his  vessel,  and  might  by  his  absolute  sovereignty  inflict 
upon  an  innocent  an  eternal  torment,  yet  his  goodness  will  never 
permit  him  to  use  this  sovereign  right  to  the  hurt  of  a  creature  that 
deserves  it  not.  If  God  should  cast  an  innocent  creature  into  the 
furnace  of  his  wrath,  who  can  question  him  ?  But  who  can  think 
that  his  goodness  will  do  so,  since  that  is  as  infinite  as  his  authority? 
As  not  to  punish  the  sinner  would  be  a  denial  of  his  justice,  so  to 
torment  an  innocent  would  be  a  denial  of  his  goodness.  A  man 
hath  an  absolute  power  over  his  beast,  and  may  take  away  his  life, 
and  put  him  to  a  great  deal  of  pain  ;  but  that  moral  virtue  of  pity 
and  tenderness  would  not  permit  him  to  use  this  right,  but  when  it 
conduceth  to  some  greater  good  than  that  can  be  evil ;  either  for  the 
good  of  man,  which  is  the  end  of  the  creature,  or  for  the  good  of 
the  poor  beast  itself,  to  rid  him  of  a  greater  misery  ;  none  but  a  sav- 
age nature,  a  disposition  to  be  abhorred,  would  torture  a  poor  beast 
merely  for  his  pleasure.  It  is  as  much  against  the  nature  of  God  to 
punish  one  eternally,  that  hath  not  deserved  it,  as  it  is  to  deny  him- 
self, and  act  anything  foolishly  and  unbeseeming  his  other  perfections, 
which  render  him  majestical  and  adorable.  To  afflict  an  innocent 
creature  for  his  own  good,  or  for  the  good  of  the  world,  as  in  the 
case  of  the  Kedeemer,  is  so  far  from  being  against  goodness,  that  it 
is  the  highest  testimony  of  his  tender  bowels  to  the  sons  of  men. 
God,  though  he  be  mighty,  "withdraws  not  his  eyes,"  i.  e.  his  tender 
respect,  "from  the  righteous"  (Job,  xxxvi.  5,  7 — 10).  And  if  he 
"  bind  them  in  fetters,"  it  is  to  "  show  them  their  transgressions,"  and 
"  open  their  ear  to  discipline,"  and  renewing  commands,  in  a  more 
sensible  strain,  "  to  depart  from  iniquity."  What  was  said  of  Fab- 
ritius,  "  You  may  as  soon  remove  the  sun  from  its  course,  as  Fabri- 
tius  from  his  honesty,"  may  be  of  God :  you  may  as  soon  dash  in 
pieces  his  throne,  as  separate  his  goodness  from  his  sovereignty. 

4.  This  sovereignty  is  extensive  over  all  creatures.  He  rules  ail, 
as  the  heavens  do  over  the  earth.  He  is  "  King  of  worlds.  King  of 
ages,"  as  the  word  translated  "eternal"  signifies  (1  Tim.  i.  17),  ji-j  Si 
^uotXfj  iwy  utwrujy :  and  the  same  word  is  so  translated  (Heb.  i.  2), 
"  By  whom  also  he  made  the  worlds."  The  same  word  is  rendered 
"  worlds"  (Heb.  xi.  3) :  "  The  worlds  were  framed  by  the  Word  of 
God."  God  is  King  of  ages  or  worlds,  of  the  invisible  world  and  the 
sensible  ;  of  all  from  the  beginning  of  their  creation,  of  whatsoever 
is  measured  by  a  time.  It  extends  over  angels  and  devils,  over 
wicked  and  good,  over  rational  and  irrational  creatures ;  all  things 
bow  down  under  his  hand ;  nothing  can  be  exempted  from  him : 
because  there  is  nothing  but  was  extracted  by  him  from  nothing  into 
being.  All  things  essentially  depend  upon  him ;  and,  therefore, 
must  be  essentially  subject  to  him  ;  the  extent  of  his  dominion  flows 
from  the  perfection  of  his  essence ;  since  his  essence  is  unlimited,  his 
royalty  cannot  be  restrained.  His  authority  is  as  void  of  any  im- 
perfection as  his  essence  is ;  it  reaches  out  to  all  points  of  the  heaven 
above,  and  the  earth  below.  Other  princes  reign  in  a  spot  of  ground. 
Every  worldly  potentate  hath  the  confines  of  his  dominions.  The 
Pyrenean  mountains  divide  France  from  Spain,  and  the  Alps,  Italy 
from  France.     None  are  called  kings  absolutely,  but  kings  of  this  or 


882  CHARNOCK   ON  THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

that  p]ace.  But  God  is  the  King ;  the  spacious  firmament  limits 
not  his  dominion  ;  if  we  could  suppose  him  bounded  by  any  place, 
in  regard  of  his  presence,  yet  he  could  never  be  out  of  his  own  do- 
minion ;  whatsoever  he  looks  upon,  wheresoever  he  were,  would  be 
under  his  rule.  Earthly  kings  may  step  out  of  their  own  country 
into  the  territory  of  a  neighbor  prince ;  and  as  one  leaves  his  country, 
so  he  leaves  his  dominion  behind  him ;  but  heaven  and  earth,  and 
every  particle  of  both,  is  the  territory  of  God.  "He  hath  prepared 
his  throne  in  the  heavens,  and  his  kingdom  rules  over  all." 

(1.)  The  heaven  of  angels,  and  other  excellent  creatures,  belong  to 
his  authority.  He  is  principally  called  "  The  Lord  of  Hosts,"  in  re- 
lation to  his  entire  command  over  the  angelical  legions :  therefore, 
ver.  21,  following  the  text,  they  are  called  his  "  hosts,"  and  "  minis- 
ters that  do  his  pleasure."  Jacob  called  him  so  before  (Gen.  xxxii. 
1,  2).  When  he  met  the  angels  of  God,  he  calls  them  "  the  host  of 
God ;"  and  the  Evangelist,  long  after,  calls  them  so  (Luke,  ii.  13) : 
"A  multitude  of  the  heavenly  host,  praising  God ;"  and  all  this  host 
he  commands  (Isa.  xlv.  12):  "My  hands  have  stretched  out  the 
heavens,  and  all  their  host  have  I  commanded."  He  employs  them 
all  in  his  service ;  and  when  he  issues  out  his  orders  to  them  to  do 
this  or  that,  he  finds  no  resistance  of  his  will.  And  the  inanimate 
creatures  in  heaven  are  at  his  beck  ;  they  are  his  armies  in  heaven, 
disposed  in  an  excellent  order  in  their  several  ranks  (Ps.  cxlvii.  4) : 
"  He  calls  the  stars  by  name ;"  they  render  a  due  obedience  to  him  as 
servants  to  their  master,  when  he  singles  them  out,  "  and  calls  them 
by  name,"  to  do  some  special  service ;  he  calls  them  out  to  their 
several  ofiices,  as  the  general  of  an  army  appoints  the  station  of 
every  regiment  in  a  battalia.  Or  "he  calls  them  by  name,"  ^.  e.  he 
imposeth  names  upon  them,  a  sign  of  dominion :  the  giving  names 
to  the  inferior  creatures  being  the  first  act  of  Adam's  derivative  do- 
minion over  them.  These  are  under  the  sovereignty  of  God.  The 
stars,  by  their  influences,  fight  against  Sisera  (Judges,  v.  20).  And 
the  sun  holds  in  its  reins,  and  stands  stone  still,  to  light  Joshua  to  a 
complete  victory  (Josh.  x.  12).  They  are  all  marshalled  in  their 
ranks  to  receive  his  word  of  command,  and  fight  in  close  order,  as 
being  desirous  to  have  a  share  in  the  ruin  of  the  enemies  of  their 
Sovereign.  And  those  creatures  which  mount  up  from  the  earth, 
and  take  their  place  in  the  lower  heavens,  vapors,  whereof  hail  and 
snow  are  formed,  are  part  of  the  army,  and  do  not  only  receive,  but 
fulfil,  his  word  of  command  (Ps.  cxlviii.  8).  These  are  his  stores 
and  magazines  of  judgment  against  a  time  of  trouble,  and  "  a  day  of 
battle  and  war"  (Job,  xxxviii.  22.  23).  The  sovereignty  of  God  is 
visible  in  all  their  motions,  in  their  going  and  returning.  If  he  says, 
Go,  they  go ;  if  he  say.  Come,  they  come ;  if  he  say,  do  this,  they 
gird  up  their  loins,  and  stand  stiff  to  their  duty. 

(2.)  The  hell  of  devils  belong  to  his  authority.  They  have  cast 
themselves  out  of  the  arms  of  his  grace  into  the  furnace  of  his  jus- 
tice ;  they  have,  by  their  revolt,  forfeited  the  treasure  of  his  good- 
ness, but  cannot  exempt  themselves  from  the  sceptre  of  his  dominion ; 
when  they  would  not  own  him  as  a  Lord  Father,  they  are  under 
him  as  a  Lord  Judge ;  they  are  cast  out  of  his  affection,  but  not 


ON   GOD'S  DOMINION".  383 

freed  from  liis  yoke.  He  rules  over  tlie  good  angels  as  liis  subjects 
over  the  evil  ones  as  his  rebels.  In  whatsoever  relation  he  stands, 
either  as  a  friend  or  enemy,  he  never  loses  that  of  a  Lord.  A  prince 
is  the  lord  of  his  criminals  as  well  as  of  his  loyalest  subjects.  By 
this  right  of  his  sovereignty,  he  uses  them  to  punish  some,  and  be 
the  occasion  of  benefit  to  others  :  on  the  wicked  he  employs  them  as 
instruments  of  vengeance ;  towards  the  godly,  as  in  the  case  of  Job, 
as  an  instrument  of  kindness  for  the  manifestation  of  his  sincerity 
against  the  intention  of  that  malicious  executioner.  Though  the 
devils  are  the  executioners  of  his  justice,  it  is  not  by  their  own  au- 
thority, but  God's  ;  as  those  that  are  employed  either  to  rack  or  ex- 
ecute a  malefactor,  are  subjects  to  the  prince  not  only  in  the  quality 
of  men,  but  in  the  execution  of  their  function.  The  devil,  by  draw- 
ing men  to  sin,  acquires  no  right  to  himself  over  the  sinner :  for 
man  by  sin  offends  not  the  devil,  but  God,  and  becomes  guilty  of 
punishment  under  God."!  When,  therefore,  the  devil  is  used  by  God 
for  the  punishment  of  any,  it  is  an  act  of  his  sovereignty  for  the  man- 
ifestation of  the  order  of  his  justice.  And  as  most  nations  use  the 
vilest  persons  in  offices  of  execution,  so  doth  God  those  vile  spirits. 
He  doth  not  ordinarily  use  the  good  angels  in  those  offices  of  ven- 
geance, but  in  the  preservation  of  his  people.  When  he  would  solely 
punish,  he  employs  "  evil  angels"  (Ps.  Ixxviii.  49),  a  troop  of  devils. 
His  sovereignty  is  extended  over  the  "  deceiver  and  the  deceived" 
(Job,  xii.  16) ;  over  both  the  malefactor  and  the  executioner,  the 
devil  and  his  prisoner.  He  useth  the  natural  malice  of  the  devils 
for  his  own  just  ends,  and  by  his  sovereign  authority  orders  them 
to  be  the  executioners  of  his  judgments  upon  their  own  vassals,  as 
well  as  sometimes  inflicters  of  punishments  upon  his  own  servants. 

(8.)  The  earth  of  men  and  other  creatures  belongs  to  his  authority 
(Ps.  xlvii.  7).  God  is  King  of  "all  the  earth,"  and  rules  to  the 
"  ends"  of  it  (Ps.  lix.  13).  Ancient  atheists  confined  God's  dominion 
to  the  heavenly  orbs,  and  bounded  it  within  the  circuit  of  the  celes- 
tial sphere  (Job,  xxii.  14) :  "  He  walks  in  the  circuit  of  heaven,"  i.  e. 
he  exerciseth  his  dominion  only  there.  Pedum  positio  was  the  sign 
of  the  possession  of  a  piece  of  land,  and  the  dominion  of  the  possessor 
of  it ;  and  land  was  resigned  by  such  a  ceremony,  as  now,  by  the 
delivery  of  a  twig  or  turf^     But  his  dominion  extends, 

1st.  Over  the  least  creatures.  All  the  creatures  of  the  earth  are 
listed  in  Christ's  muster-roll,  and  make  up  the  number  of  his  regi- 
ments. He  hath  an  host  on  earth  as  well  as  in  heaven  (Gen.  ii.  1) : 
"  The  heavens  and  earth  were  finished,  and  all  the  host  of  them." 
And  they  are  "  all  his  servants"  (Ps.  cxiv.  91),  and  move  at  his 
pleasure.  And  he  vouchsafes  the  title  of  his  army  to  the  locust, 
caterpillar,  and  palmer  worm  (Joel,  ii.  25) ;  and  describes  their  motions 
by  military  words,  "  climbing  the  walls,  marching,  not  breaking  their 
ranks"  (ver.  7).  He  hath  the  command,  as  a  great  general,  over  the 
highest  angel  and  the  meanest  worm  ;  all  the  kinds  of  the  smallest 
insects  he  presseth  for  his  service.  By  this  sovereignty  he  muzzled 
the  devouring  nature  of  the  fire  to  preserve  the  three  children,  and 
let  it  loose  to  consume  their  adversaries  ;  and  if  he  speaks  the  word, 

"*  Suarez.  Vol.  II.  lib.  viii.  cap,  20.  p.  736.  •  Bolduc.  in  loc. 


384  CHARNOCK  ON  THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

the  stormy  waves  are  liuslied,  as  if  they  had  no  principle  of  rage 
within  them  (Ps.  Ixxxix.  9).  Since  the  meanest  creature  attains  its 
end,  and  no  arrow  that  God  hath  by  his  power  shot  into  the  world 
but  hits  the  mark  he  aimed  at,  we  must  conclude,  that  there  is  a 
sovereign  hand  that  governs  all :  not  a  spot  of  earth,  or  air,  or  water 
in  the  world,  but  is  his  possession ;  not  a  creature  in  any  element 
but  is  his  subject. 

2d.  His  dominion  extends  over  men.  It  extends  over  the 
highest  potentate,  as  well  as  the  meanest  peasant ;  the  proudest 
monarch  is  no  more  exempt  than  the  most  languishing  beggar. 
He  lays  not  aside  his  authority  to  please  the  prince,  nor  strains 
it  up  to  terrify  the  indigent.  "  He  accepts  not  the  persons  of 
princes,  nor  regards  the  rich  more  than  the  poor ;  for  they  are  all 
the  work  of  his  hand"  (Job,  xxxiv.  19).  Both  the  powers  and 
weaknesses,  the  gallantry  and  peasantry  of  the  earth,  stand  and  fall 
at  his  pleasure.  Man,  in  innocence,  was  under  his  authority  as  his 
creature ;  and  man,  in  his  revolt,  is  further  under  his  authority 
as  a  criminal :  as  a  person  is  under  the  authority  of  a  prince,  as  a 
governor,  while  he  obeys  his  laws  ;  and  further  under  the  authority 
of  the  prince,  as  a  judge,  when  he  violates  his  laws.  Man  is  under 
God's  dominion  in  everything,  in  his  settlement,  in  his  calling,  in  the 
ordering  his  very  habitation  (Acts,  xvii.  26):  "He  determines  the 
bounds  of  their  habitations."  He  never  yet  permitted  any  to  be 
universal  monarch  in  the  world,  nor  over  the  fourth  part  of  it,  though 
several,  in  the  pride  of  their  heart,  have  designed  and  attempted  it : 
the  pope,  who  hatli  bid  the  fairest  for  it  in  spirituals,  never  attained 
it ;  and  when  his  power  was  most  flourishing,  there  were  multitudes 
that  would  never  acknowledge  his  authority. 

3d.  But  especially  this  dominion,  in  the  peculiarity  of  its  extent, 
is  seen  in  the  exercise  of  it  over  the  spirits  and  hearts  of  men. 
Earthly  governors  have,  by  his  indulgence,  a  share  with  him  in  a  do- 
minion over  men's  bodies,  upon  which  account  he  graceth  princes 
and  judges  with  the  title  of  "  gods"  (Ps.  Ixxxii.  6) ;  but  the  highest 
prince  is  but  a  prince  "according  to  the  flesh,"  as  the  apostle  calls 
masters  in  relation  to  their  servants  (Col.  iii.  22). 

God  is  the  sovereign ;  man  rules  over  the  beast  in  man,  the  body ; 
and  God  rules  over  the  man  in  man,  the  soul.  It  sticks  not  in  the 
outward  surface,  but  pierceth  to  the  inward  marrow.  It  is  impossible 
God  should  be  without  this  ;  if  our  wills  were  independent  of  him, 
we  were  in  some  sort  equal  with  himself,  in  part  gods,  as  well  as 
creatures.  It  is  impossible  a  creature,  either  in  whole  or  in  part,  can 
be  exempted  from  it ;  since  he  is  the  fashioner  of  hearts  as  well  as 
of  bodies.  He  is  the  Father  of  spirits,  and  therefore  hath  the  right 
of  a  paternal  dominion  over  them.  When  he  established  man  lord 
of  the  other  creatures,  he  did  not  strip  himself  of  the  propriety  ;  and 
when  he  made  man  a  free  agent,  and  lord  of  the  acts  of  his  will,  he 
did  not  divest  himself  of  the  sovereignty.     His  sovereignty  is  seen, 

[1.]  In  gifting  the  spirits  of  men.  Earthly  magistrates  have  hands 
too  short  to  inspire  the  hearts  of  their  subjects  with  worthy  senti- 
ments :  when  they  confer  an  employment,  they  are  not  able  to  convey 
an  ability  with  it  fit  for  the  station :  they  may  as  soon  frame  a  statue 


ON  god's  DOMINION".  385 

of  liquid  water,  and  gild,  or  paint  it  over  witli  the  costliest  colors,  as 
impart  to  any  a  state-head  for  a  state-ministry.  But  when  God 
chooseth  a  Saul  from  so  mean  an  employment  as  seeking  of  asses,  he 
can  treasure  up  in  him  a  spirit  fit  for  government ;  and  fire  David, 
in  age  a  stripling,  and  by  education  a  shepherd,  with  courage  to  en- 
counter, and  skill  to  defeat,  a  massy  Goliath,  And  when  he  designs 
a  person  for  glory,  to  stand  before  his  throne,  he  can  put  a  new  and 
a  royal  spirit  into  him  (Ezek.  xxxvi.  26).  God  only  can  infuse  habits 
into  the  soul,  to  capacitate  it  to  act  nobly  and  generously. 

[2.]  His  sovereignty  is  seen  in  regard  of  the  inclinations  of  men's 
wills.  No  creature  can  immediately  work  upon  the  will,  to  guide  it 
to  what  point  he  pleaseth,  though  mediately  it  may,  by  proposing 
reasons  which  may  master  the  understanding,  and  thereby  determine 
the  will.  But  God  bows  the  hearts  of  men,  by  the  eflicacy  of  his 
dominion,  to  what  centre  he  pleaseth.  When  the  more  overweaning 
sort  of  men,  that  thought  their  own  heads  as  fit  for  a  crown  as  Saul's, 
scornfully  despised  him ;  yet  God  touched  the  hearts  of  a  band  of 
men  to  follow  and  adhere  to  him  (1  Sam.  x.  26,  27).  When  the  anti- 
christian  whore  shall  be  ripe  for  destruction,  God  shall  "  put  it  into 
the  heart"  of  the  ten  horns  or  kings,  "  to  hate  the  whore,  burn  her 
with  fire,  and  fulfil  his  will"  (Rev.  xvii.  16,  17).  He  "  fashions  the 
hearts"  alike,  and  tunes  one  string  to  answer  another,  and  both  to 
answer  his  own  design  (Ps.  xxxiii.  15).  And  while  men  seem  to 
gratify  their  own  ambition  and  malice,  they  execute  the  will  of  God, 
by  his  secret  touch  upon  their  spirits,  guiding  their  inclinations  to 
serve  the  glorious  manifestation  of  truth.  While  the  Jews  would, 
in  a  reproachful  disgrace  to  Christ,  crucify  two  thieves  with  him,  to 
render  him  more  incapable  to  have  any  followers,  they  accomplished 
a  prophecy,  and  brought  to  light  a  mark  of  the  Messiah,  whereby 
he  had  been  charactered  in  one  of  their  prophets,  that  he  should  be 
"  numbered  among  transgressors"  (Isa.  liii.  12).  He  can  make  a  man 
of  not  willing,  willing ;  the  wills  of  all  men  are  in  his  hand ;  %.  e. 
under  the  power  of  his  sceptre,  to  retain  or  let  go  upon  this  or  that 
errand,  to  bend  this  or  that  way ;  as  water  is  carried  by  pipes  to  what 
house  or  place  the  owner  of  it  is  pleased  to  order.  "  The  king's 
heart  is  in  the  hand  of  the  Lord,  as  the  rivers  of  waters ;  he  turns 
it  whithersoever  he  will"  (Prov.  xxi.  1)  without  any  limitation.  He 
speaks  of  the  heart  of  princes ;  because,  in  regard  of  their  height, 
they  seem  to  be  more  absolute,  and  impetuous  as  waters ;  yet  God 
holds  them  in  his  hand,  under  his  dominion  ;  turns  them  to  acts  of 
clemency  or  severity,  like  waters,  either  to  overflow  and  damage,  or 
to  refresh  and  fructify.  He  can  convey  a  spirit  to  them,  or  "  cut  it 
off"  from  them  (Ps.  Ixxvi.  12).  It  is  with  reference  to  his  efficacious 
power,  in  graciously  turning  the  heart  of  Paul,  that  the  apostle  breaks 
off"  his  discourse  of  the  story  of  his  conversion,  and  breaks  out  into 
a  magnifying  and  glorifying  of  God's  dominion.  "  Now  unto  the 
King  eternal,"  &c.  "be  honor  and  glory  forever  and  ever"  (1  Tim.  i. 
17).  Our  hearts  are  more  subject  to  the  Divine  sovereignty  than  our 
members  in  their  motions  are  subject  to  our  own  wills.  As  we  can 
move  our  hand  east  or  west  to  any  quarter  of  the  world,  so  can  God 
bend  our  wills  to  what  mark  he  pleases.     The  second  cause  in  every 

VOL.  II. — 25 


386  CHARNOCK  ON  THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

motion  depends  upon  the  first ;  and  that  will,  being  a  second  cause, 
may  be  furthered  or  hindered  in  its  inclinations  or  executions  by  God ; 
he  can  bend  or  unbend  it,  and  change  it  from  one  actual  inclination 
to  another.  It  is  as  much  under  his  authority  and  power  to  move, 
or  hinder,  as  the  vast  engine  of  the  heavens  is  in  its  motion  or  stand- 
ing still,  which  he  can  affect  by  a  word.  The  work  depends  upon 
the  workman  ;  the  clock  upon  the  artificer  for  the  motions  of  it. 

[3.]  His  dominion  is  seen  in  regard  of  terror  or  comfort.  The 
heart  or  conscience  is  God's  special  throne  on  earth,  which  he  hath 
reserved  to  himself,  and  never  indulged  human  authority  to  sit  upon 
it.  He  solely  orders  this  in  ways  of  conviction  or  comfort.  He  can 
flash  terror  into  men's  spirits  in  the  midst  of  their  earthly  jollities, 
and  put  death  into  the  pot  of  conscience,  when  they  are  boiling  up 
themselves  in  a  high  pitch  of  worldly  delights,  and  can  raise  men's 
spirits  above  the  sense  of  torment  under  racks  and  flames.  He  can 
draw  a  hand- writing  not  only  in  the  outward  chamber,  but  the  in- 
ward closet ;  bring  the  rack  into  the  inwards  of  a  man.  None  can 
infuse  comfort  when  he  writes  bitter  things,  nor  can  any  fill  the  heart 
with  gall,  when  he  drops  in  honey.  Men  may  order  outward  duties, 
but  they  cannot  unlock  the  conscience,  and  constrain  men  to  think 
them  duties  which  they  are  forced,  by  human  laws,  outwardly  to  act : 
and  as  the  laws  of  earthly  princes  are  bounded  by  the  outward  man, 
so  do  their  executions  and  punishments  reach  no  further  than  the 
case  of  the  body  :  but  God  can  run  upon  the  inward  man,  as  a  giant, 
and  inflict  wounds  and  gashes  there. 

5.  It  is  an  eternal  dominion.  In  regard  of  the  exercise  of  it,  it 
was  not  from  eternity,  because  there  was  not  from  eternity  any  crea- 
ture under  the  government  of  it ;  but  in  regard  of  the  foundation 
of  it,  his  essence,  his  excellency,  it  is  eternal;  as  God  was  from 
eternity  almighty,  but  there  was  no  exercise  or  manifestation  of  it  till 
he  began  to  create.  Men  are  kings  only  for  a  time  ;  their  lives  ex- 
pire like  a  lamp,  and  their  dominion  is  extinguished  with  their  lives ; 
they  hand  their  empire  by  succession  to  others,  but  many  times  it  is 
snapped  off  before  they  are  cold  in  their  graves.  How  are  the  fa- 
mous empires  of  the  Chaldeans,  Medes,  Persians,  and  Greeks,  mould- 
ered away,  and  their  place  knows  them  no  more !  and  how  are  the 
wings  of  the  Roman  eagle  cut,  and  that  empire  which  overspread  a 
great  part  of  the  world,  hath  lost  most  of  its  feathers,  and  is  confined 
to  a  narrower  compass  !  The  dominion  of  God  flourisheth  from  one 
generation  to  another :  "  He  sits  King  forever"  (Ps.  xxix.  10).  His, 
"  session"  signifies  the  establishment,  and  "  forever"  the  duration ; 
and  he  "  sits  now,"  his  sovereignty  is  as  absolute,  as  powerful  as  ever. 
How  many  lords  and  princes  hath  this  or  that  kingdom  had !  in  how 
many  families  hath  the  sceptre  lodged !  when  as  God  hath  had  an 
uninterrupted  dominion ;  as  he  hath  been  always  the  same  in  his 
essence,  he  hath  been  always  glorious  in  his  sovereignty:  among 
men,  he  that  is  lord  to-day,  may  be  stripped  of  it  to-morrow ;  the 
dominions  in  the  world  vary ;  he  that  is  a  prince  may  see  his  royalty 
upon  the  wings,  and  feel  himself  laden  with  fetters ;  and  a  prisoner 
may  be  "  lifted  from  his  dungeon"  to  a  throne.  But  there  can  be  no 
diminution  of  God's  government ;    "  His  throne  is  from  generation 


ON   GOD'S   DOMINION.  387 

to  generation"  (Lam.  v.  19) ;  it  cannot  be  shaken :  liis  sceptre,  like 
Aaron's  rod,  is  always  green ;  it  cannot  be  wrested  out  of  his  hands ; 
none  raised  him  to  it,  none  therefore  can  depose  him  from  it ;  it  bears 
the  same  splendor  in  all  human  affairs;  he  is  an  eternal,  an  "immortal 
King"  (1  Tim.  i.  17) ;  as  he  is  eternally  mighty,  so  he  is  eternally 
sovereign  ;  and,  being  an  eternal  King,  he  is  a  King  that  gives  not 
a  momentary  and  perishing,  but  a  durable  and  everlasting  life,  to 
them  that  obey  him :  a  durable  and  eternal  punishment  to  them  that 
resist  him. 

IV.  "Wherein  this  dominion  and  sovereign  consists,  and  how  it  is 
manifested. 

First.  The  first  act  of  sovereignty  is  the  making  laws.  This  is 
essential  to  God ;  no  creature's  will  can  be  the  first  rule  to  the  crea- 
ture, but  only  the  will  of  God :  he  only  can  prescribe  man  his  duty, 
and  establish  the  rule  of  it ;  hence  the  law  is  called  "  the  royal  law" 
(James,  ii.  8) :  it  being  the  first  and  clearest  manifestation  of  sover- 
eignty, as  the  power  of  legislation  is  of  the  authority  of  a  prince. 
Both  are  joined  together  in  Isa.  liii,  22  :  "  The  Lord  is  our  Lawgiver ; 
the  Lord  is  our  King ;"  legislative  power  being  the  great  mark  of 
royalty.  God,  as  King,  enacts  his  laws  by  his  own  proper  authority, 
and  his  law  is  a  declaration  of  his  own  sovereignty,  and  of  men's 
moral  subjection  to  him,  and  dependence  on  him.  His  sovereignty 
doth  not  appear  so  much  in  his  promises  as  in  his  precepts :  a  man's 
power  over  another  is  not  discovered  by  promising,  for  a  promise 
doth  not  suppose  the  promiser  either  superior  or  inferior  to  the  per- 
son to  whom  the  promise  is  made.f  It  is  not  an  exercising  authority 
over  another,  but  over  a  man's  self;  no  man  forceth  another  to  the 
acceptance  of  his  promise,  but  only  proposeth  and  encourageth  to  an 
embracing  of  it.  But  commanding  supposeth  always  an  authority 
in  the  person  giving  the  precept ;  it  obligeth  the  person  to  whom  the 
command  is  directed ;  a  promise  obligeth  the  person  by  whom  the 
promise  is  made.  God,  by  his  command,  binds  the  creature ;  by  his 
promise  he  binds  himself;  he  stoops  below  his  sovereignty,  to  lay 
obligations  upon  his  own  majesty ;  by  a  precept  he  binds  the  creature, 
by  a  promise  he  encourageth  the  creature  to  an  observance  of  his  pre- 
cept :  what  laws  God  makes,  man  is  bound,  by  virtue  of  his  creation, 
to  observe ;  that  respects  the  sovereignty  of  God :  what  promises 
God  makes,  man  is  bound  to  believe ;  but  that  respects  the  faithful- 
ness of  God.  God  manifested  his  dominion  more  to  the  Jews  than 
to  any  other  people  in  the  world ;  he  was  their  Lawgiver,  both  as 
they  were  a  church  and  a  commonwealth :  as  a  church,  he  gave  them 
ceremonial  laws  for  the  regulating  their  worship ;  as  a  state,  he  gave 
them  judicial  laws  for  the  ordering  their  civil  affairs;  and  as  both, 
he  gave  them  moral  laws,  upon  which  both  the  laws  of  the  church 
and  state  were  founded.  This  dominion  of  God,  in  this  regard,  will 
be  manifest, 

(1.)  In  the  supremacy  of  it.  The  sole  power  of  making  laws  doth 
originally  reside  in  him  (James,  iv.  12);  "  There  is  one  Lawgiver, 
who  is  able  to  save,  and  to  destroy."  By  his  own  law  he  judges  of 
the  eternal  states  of  men,  and  no  law  of  man  is  obligatory,  but  as  it 

''  Suarez.  de  Legib.  p.  23. 


388  CHARNOCK   ON    THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

is  agreeable  to  the  Jaws  of  this  supreme  Lawgiver,  and  pursuant  to 
his  righteous  rules  for  the  government  of  the  world.  The  power 
that  the  potentates  of  the  world  have  to  make  laws  is  but  derivative 
from  God,  If  their  dominion  be  from  him,  as  it  is,  for  "  by  him 
kings  reign"  (Prov.  viii.  15),  their  legislative  power,  which  is  a  prime 
flower  of  their  sovereignty,  is  derived  from  him  also :  and  the  apos- 
tle resolves  it  into  this  original  when  he  orders  us  to  be  "  subject  to 
the  higher  powers,  not  only  for  wrath,  but  for  conscience  sake"  (Rom. 
xiii.  5).  Conscience,  in  its  operations,  solely  respects  God;  and 
therefore,  when  it  is  exercised  as  the  principle  of  obedience  to  the 
laws  of  men,  it  is  not  with  respect  to  them,  singly  considered,  but  as 
the  majesty  of  God  appears  in  their  station  and  in  their  decrees. 
This  power  of  giving  laws  was  acknowledged  by  the  heathen  to  be 
solely  in  God  by  way  of  original ;  and  therefore  the  greatest  law- 
givers among  the  heathen  pretended  their  laws  to  be  received  from 
some  deity  or  supernatural  power,  by  special  revelation :  now, 
whether  they  did  this  seriously,  acknowledging  themselves  this  part 
of  the  dominion  of  God, — for  it  is  certain  that  whatsoever  just  orders 
were  issued  out  by  princes  in  the  world,  was  by  the  secret  influ- 
ence of  God  upon  their  spirits  (Prov.  viii.  15):  "  By  me  princes  de- 
cree justice ;"  by  the  secret  conduct  of  Divine  wisdom, — or  whether 
they  pretended  it  only  as  a  public  engine,  to  enforce  upon  people 
the  observance  of  their  decrees,  and  gain  a  greater  credit  to  their 
edicts,  yet  this  will  result  from  it,  that  the  people  in  general  enter- 
tained this  common  notion,  that  God  was  the  great  Lawgiver  of  the 
world.  The  first  founders  of  their  societies  could  never  else  have  so 
absolutely  gained  upon  them  by  such  a  pretence.  There  was  always 
a  revelation  of  a  law  from  the  mouth  of  God  in  every  age :  the  ex- 
hortation of  Eliphaz  to  Job  (Job,  xxii.  22),  of  receiving  a  "  law  from 
the  mouth"  of  God,  at  the  time  before  the  moral  law  was  published, 
had  been  a  vain  exhortation  had  there  been  no  revelation  of  the 
mind  of  God  in  all  ages. 

(2.)  The  dominion  of  God  is  manifest  in  the  extent  of  his  laws. 
As  he  is  the  Governor  and  Sovereign  of  the  whole  world,  so  he  en- 
acts laws  for  the  whole  world.  One  prince  cannot  make  laws  for 
another,  unless  he  makes  him  his  subject  by  right  of  conquest; 
Spain  cannot  make  laws  for  England,  or  England  for  Spain ;  but  God 
having  the  supreme  government,  as  King  over  all,  is  a  Lawgiver  to 
all,  to  irrational,  as  well  as  rational  creatures.  The  "  heavens  have 
their  ordinances"  (Job,  xxxviii.  33);  all  creatures  have  a  law  im- 
printed on  their  beings;  rational  creatures  have  Divine  statutes 
copied  in  their  heart :  for  men,  it  is  clear  (Rom.  ii.  14),  every  son  of 
Adam,  at  his  coming  into  the  world,  brings  with  him  a  law  in  his 
nature,  and  when  reason  clears  itself  up  from  the  clouds  of  sense,  he 
can  make  some  diflPerence  between  good  and  evil ;  discern  something 
of  fit  and  just.  Every  man  finds  a  law  within  him  that  checks  him 
if  he  ofiends  it :  none  are  without  a  legal  indictment  and  a  legal  exe- 
cutioner within  them ;  God  or  none  was  the  Author  of  this  as  a 
sovereign  Lord,  in  establishing  a  law  in  man  at  the  same  time, 
wherein,  as  an  Almighty  Creator,  he  imparted  a  being.  This  law 
proceeds  from  God's  general  power  of  governing,  as  he  is  the  Author 


f 


ON"  GOD'S  DOMINION.  889 

of  nature,  and  binds  not  barely  as  it  is  the  reason  of  man,  but  by  the 
authority  of  God,  as  it  is  a  law  engraven  on  his  conscience :  and  no 
doubt  but  a  law  was  given  to  the  angels ;  God  did  not  govern  those 
intellectual  creatures  as  he  doth  brutes,  and  in  a  way  inferior  to  his 
rule  of  man.  Some  sinned ;  all  might  have  sinned  in  regard  to  the 
changeableness  of  their  nature.  Sin  cannot  be  but  against  some 
rule ;  "  where  there  is  no  law,  there  is  no  transgression ;"  what  that 
law  was  is  not  revealed ;  but  certainly  it  must  be  the  same  in  part 
witli  tlie  moral  law,  so  far  as  it  agreed  with  their  spiritual  natures ; 
a  love  to  God,  a  worship  of  him,  and  a  love  to  one  another  in  their 
societies  and  persons. 

(3.)  The  dominion  of  God  is  manifest  in  the  reason  of  some  laws, 
which  seem  to  be  nothing  else  than  purely  his  own  will.  Some 
laws  there  are  for  which  a  reason  may  be  rendered  from  the  nature 
of  the  thing  enjoined,  as  to  love,  honor,  and  worship  God :  for  others, 
none  but  this,  God  will,  have  it  so :  such  was  that  positive  law  to  Adam 
of  "  not  eating  of  the  tree  of  knowledge  of  good  and  evil"  (Gen. 
ii.  17),  which  was  merely  an  asserting  his  own  dominion,  and  was 
different  from  that  law  of  nature  God  had  written  in  his  heart.  No 
other  reason  of  this  seems  to  us,  but  a  resolve  to  try  man's  obedience 
in  a  way  of  absolute  sovereignty,  and  to  manifest  his  right  over  all 
creatures,  to  reserve  what  he  pleased  to  himself,  and  permit  the  use 
of  what  he  pleased  to  man,  and  to  signifj-  to  man  that  he  was  to  de- 
pend on  him,  who  was  his  Lord,  and  not  on  his  own  will.  There 
was  no  more  hurt  in  itself,  for  Adam  to  have  eaten  of  that,  than  of 
any  other  in  the  garden ;  the  fruit  was  pleasant  to  the  eye,  and  good 
for  food ;  but  God  would  show  the  right  he  had  over  his  own  goods, 
and  his  authority  over  man,  to  reserve  what  he  pleases  of  his  own 
creation  from  his  touch ;  and  since  man  could  not  claim  a  propriety 
in  anything,  he  was  to  meddle  with  nothing  but  by  the  leave  of  his 
Sovereign,  either  discovered  by  a  special  or  general  license.  Thus 
God  showed  himself  the  Lord  of  man,  and  that  man  was  but  his 
steward,  to  act  by  his  orders.  If  God  had  forbidden  man  the  use 
of  more  trees  in  the  garden,  his  command  had  been  just ;  since,  as  a 
sovereign  Lord,  he  might  dispose  of  his  own  goods ;  and  when  he 
had  granted  him  the  whole  compass  of  that  pleasant  garden,  and  the 
whole  world  round  about  for  him  and  his  posterity,  it  was  a  more 
tolerable  exercise  of  his  dominion  to  reserve  this  "one  tree,"  as  a 
mark  of  his  sovereignty,  when  he  had  left  "  all  others"  to  the  use  of 
Adam.  He  reserved  nothing  to  himself,  as  Lord  of  the  manor,  but 
this ;  and  Adam  was  prohibited  nothing  else  but  this  one,  as  a  sign 
of  his  subjection.  Now  for  this  no  reason  can  be  rendered  by  any 
man  but  merely  the  will  of  God ;  this  Avas  merely  a  fruit  of  his  do- 
minion. For  the  moral  laws  a  reason  may  be  rendered ;  to  love 
God  hath  reason  to  enforce  it  besides  God's  will ;  viz.,  the  excellency 
of  his  nature,  and  the  greatness  and  multitudes  of  his  benefits.  To 
love  our  neighbor  hath  enforcing  reasons;  viz.^  the  conjunction  in 
blood,  the  preservation  of  human  society,  and  the  need  we  may 
stand  in  of  their  love  ourselves :  but  no  reason  can  be  assigned  of 
this  positive  command  about  the  tree  of  knowledge  of  good  and  evil, 
but  the  pleasure  of  God.     It  was  a  branch  of  his  pure  dominion  to 


390  CHARNOCK  ON  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

but  merely  the  pleasure  of  God.  It  was  a  brancli  of  liis  pure  dominion 
to  try  man's  obedience,  and  a  mark  of  bis  goodness  to  try  it  by  so 
and  light  a  precept,  when  he  might  have  extended  his  authority 
further.  Had  not  God  given  this  or  the  like  order,  his  absolute 
dominion  had  not  been  so  conspicuous.  It  is  true,  Adam  had  a  law 
of  nature  in  him,  whereby  he  was  obliged  to  perpetual  obedience ; 
and  though  it  was  a  part  of  God's  dominion  to  implant  it  in  him,  yet 
his  supreme  dominion  over  the  creatures  had  not  been  so  visible  to 
man  but  by  this,  or  a  precept  of  the  same  kind.  What  was  com- 
manded or  prohibited  by  the  law  of  nature,  did  bespeak  a  comeliness 
in  itself,  it  appeared  good  or  evil  to  the  reason  of  man ;  but  this  was 
neither  good  nor  evil  in  itself,  it  received  its  sole  authority  from  the 
absolute  will  of  God,  and  nothing  could  result  from  the  fruit  itself, 
as  a  reason  why  man  should  not  taste  it,  but  only  the  sole  will  of 
God.  And  as  God's  dominion  was  most  conspicuous  in  this  precept, 
so  man's  obedience  had  been  most  eminent  in  observing  it :  for  in 
his  obedience  to  it,  nothing  but  the  sole  power  and  authority  of  God, 
which  is  the  proper  rule  of  obedience,  could  have  been  respected,  not 
any  reason  from  the  thing  itself.  To  this  we  may  refer  some  other 
commands,  as  that  of  appointing  the  time  of  solemn  and  public  wor- 
ship, the  seventh  day ;  though  the  worship  of  God  be  a  part  of  the 
law  of  nature,  yet  the  appointing  a  particular  day,  wherein  he  Avould 
be  more  formally  and  solemnly  acknowledged  than  on  other  days, 
was  grounded  upon  his  absolute  right  of  legislation :  for  there  was 
nothing  in  the  time  itself  that  could  render  that  day  more  holy  than 
another,  though  God  respected  his  "  finishing  the  work  of  creation" 
in  his  institution  of  that  day  (Gen.  ii.  3).  Such  were  the  ceremonial 
commands  of  sacrifices  and  washings  under  the  law,  and  the  com- 
mands of  sacraments  under  the  gospel :  the  one  to  last  till  the  first 
coming  of  Christ  and  his  passion ;  the  other  to  last  till  the  second 
coming  of  Christ  and  his  triumph.  Thus  he  made  natural  and  un- 
avoidable uncleannesses  to  be  sins,  and  the  touching  a  dead  body  to 
be  pollution,  which  in  their  own  nature  were  not  so. 

(4.)  The  dominion  of  God  appears  in  the  moral  law,  and  his 
majesty  in  publishing  it.  As  the  law  of  nature  was  writ  by  his  own 
fingers  in  the  nature  of  man,  so  it  was  engraven  by  his  own  finger 
in  the  "  tables  of  stone"  (Exod.  xxxi.  18),  which  is  very  emphatic- 
ally expressed  to  be  a  mark  of  God's  dominion,  "  And  the  tables 
were  the  work  of  God,  and  the  writing  was  the  writing  of  God  en- 
graven upon  the  tables"  (Exod.  xxxii.  16) ;  and  when  the  first  tables 
were  broken,  though  he  orders  Moses  to  frame  the  tables,  yet  the 
writing  of  the  law  he  reserves  to  himself  (Exod.  xxxiv.  1).  It  is 
not  said  of  any  part  of  the  Scripture,  that  it  was  writ  by  the  finger 
of  God,  but  only  of  the  Decalogue  :  herein  he  would  have  his  sov- 
ereignty eminently  appear ;  it  was  published  by  God  in  state,  with 
a  numerous  attendance  of  his  heavenly  militia  (Deut.  xxxii.  2) ;  and 
the  artillery  of  heaven  was  shot  off  at  the  solemnity ;  and  therefore 
it  is  called  a  fiery  law,  coming  from  his  right  hand,  i.  e.  his  sovereign 
power.     It  was  published  with  all  the  marks  of  supreme  majesty. 

(5.)  The  dominion  of  God  appears  in  the  obligation  of  the  law, 
which  reacheth  the  conscience.     The  laAvs  of  every  prince  are  fram- 


ON  GOD'S   DOMINION.  391 

ed  for  tlie  outward  conditions  of  men ;  they  do  not  by  their  author- 
ity bind  the  conscience ;  and  what  obligations  do  result  from  them 
upon  the  conscience,  is  either  from  their  being  the  same  immediately 
with  Divine  laws,  or  as  they  are  according  to  the  just  power  of  the 
magistrate,  founded  on  the  law  of  God.  Conscience  hath  a  protec- 
tion from  the  King  of  kings,  and  cannot  be  arrested  by  any  human 
power,  God  hath  given  man  but  an  authority  over  half  the  man, 
and  the  worst  half  too,  that  which  is  of  an  earthly  original ;  but  re- 
served the  authority  over  the  better  and  more  heavenly  half  to  him- 
self. The  dominion  of  earthly  princes  extends  only  to  the  bodies  of 
men ;  they  have  no  authority  over  the  soul,  their  punishment  and 
rewards  cannot  reach  it :  and  therefore  their  laws,  by  their  single 
authority,  cannot  bind  it,  but  as  they  are  coincident  with  the  law  of 
God,  or  as  the  equity  of  them  is  subservient  to  the  preservation  of 
human  society,  a  regular  and  righteous  thing,  which  is  the  divine 
end  in  government ;  and  so  they  bind,  as  they  have  relation  to  God 
as  the  supreme  magistrate.  The  conscience  is  only  intelligible  to 
God  in  its  secret  motions,  and  therefore  only  guidable  by  God ;  God 
only  pierceth  into  the  conscience  by  his  eye,  and  therefore  only  can 
conduct  it  by  his  rule.  Man  cannot  tell  whether  we  embrace  this 
law  in  our  heart  and  consciences,  or  only  in  appearance  ;  "  He  only 
can  judge  it"  (Luke  xii.  3,  4),  and  therefore  he  only  can  impose 
laws  upon  it ;  it  is  out  of  the  reach  of  human  penal  authority,  if 
their  laws  be  transgressed  inwardly  by  it.  Conscience  is  a  book  in 
some  sort  as  sacred  as  the  Scripture ;  no  addition  can  be  lawfully 
made  to  it,  no  subtraction  from  it.  Men  cannot  diminish  the  duty 
of  conscience,  or  raze  out  the  law  God  hath  stamped  upon  it.  They 
cannot  put  a  supersedeas  to  the  Avrit  of  conscience,  or  stop  its  mouth 
with  a  noli  prosequi.  They  can  make  no  addition  by  their  authority 
to  bind  it ;  it  is  a  flower  in  the  crown  of  Divine  sovereignty  only. 

2.  His  sovereignty  appears  in  a  jDower  of  dispensing  with  his  own 
laws.  It  is  as  much  a  part  of  his  dominion  to  dispense  with  his 
laws,  as  to  enjoin  them ;  he  only  hath  the  power  of  relaxing  his 
own  right,  no  creature  hath  power  to  do  it ;  that  would  be  to  usurp 
a  superiority  over  him,  and  order  above  God  himself.  Repealing  or 
dispensing  with  the  law  is  a  branch  of  royal  authority.  It  is  true, 
God  will  never  dispense  with  those  moral  laws  which  have  an  eter- 
nal reason  in  themselves  and  their  own  nature ;  as  for  a  creature  to 
fear,  love,  and  honor  God ;  this  would  be  to  dispense  with  his  own 
holiness,  and  the  righteousness  of  his  nature,  to  sully  the  purity  of 
his  own  dominion  ;  it  would  write  folly  upon  the  first  creation  of 
man  after  the  image  of  God,  by  writing  mutability  upon  himself,  in 
framing  himself  after  the  corrupted  image  of  man ;  it  would  null 
and  frustrate  the  excellency  of  the  creature,  wherein  the  image  of 
God  mostly  shines ;  nay,  it  -would  be  to  dispense  with  a  creature's 
being  a  Creator,  and  make  him  independent  upon  the  Sovereign  of 
the  world  in  moral  obedience.  But  God  hath  a  right  to  dispense 
with  the  ordinary  laws  of  nature  in  the  inferior  creatures  ;  he  hath 
a  power  to  alter  their  course  by  an  arrest  of  miracles,  and  make 
them  come  short,  or  go  beyond  his  ordinances  established  for  them. 
He  hath  a  right  to  make  the  sun  stand  still,  or  move  backward ;  to 


392  CHARNOCK   ON  THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

bind  up  the  womb  of  the  earth,  and  bar  the  influences  of  the  clouds  ; 
bridle  in  the  rage  of  the  fire,  and  the  fury  of  lions ;  make  the  liquid 
waters  stand  like  a  wall,  or  pull  up  the  dam,  which  he  hath  set  to 
the  sea,  and  command  it  to  overflow  the  neighboring  countries :  he 
can  dispense  with  the  natural  laws  of  the  whole  creation,  and  strain 
everything  beyond  its  ordinary  pitch.  Positive  laws  he  hath  revers- 
ed ;  as  the  ceremonial  law  given  to  the  Jews.  The  very  nature,  in- 
deed, of  that  law  required  a  repeal,  and  fell  of  course  ;  when  that 
which  was  intended  by  it  was  come,  it  was  of  no  longer  significancy ; 
as  before  it  was  a  useful  shadow,  it  would  afterwards  have  been  an 
empty  one :  had  not  God  took  away  this,  Christianity  had  not,  in 
all  likelihood,  been  propagated  among  the  Gentiles.  This  was  the 
"  partition  wall  between  Jews  and  Gentiles"  (Eph.  xii.  14) ;  which 
made  them  a  distinct  family  from  all  the  world,  and  was  the  occa- 
sion of  the  enmity  of  the  Gentiles  against  the  Jews.  "When  God 
had,  by  bringing  in  what  was  signified  by  those  rites,  declared  his 
decree  for  the  ceasing  of  them ;  and  when  the  Jews,  fond  of  those 
Divine  institutions,  would  not  allow  him  the  right  of  repealing  what 
he  had  the  authority  of  enacting ;  he  resolved,  for  the  asserting  his 
dominion,  to  bury  them  in  the  ruins  of  the  temple  and  city,  and 
make  them  forever  incapable  of  practising  the  main  and  essential 
parts  of  them ;  for  the  temple  being  the  pillar  of  the  legal  service, 
by  demolishing  that,  God  hath  taken  away  their  rights  of  sacrificing, 
it  being  peculiarly  annexed  to  that  place  ;  they  have  no  altar  digni- 
fied with  a  fire  from  heaven  to  consume  their  sacrifices,  no  legal 
high-priest  to  offer  them.  God  hath  by  his  providence  changed  his 
own  law  as  well  as  by  his  precept ;  yea,  he  hath  gone  higher,  by  virtue 
of  his  sovereignty,  and  changed  the  whole  scene  and  methods  of  his 
government  after  the  fall,  from  King  Creator  to  King  Kedeemer. 
He  hath  revoked  the  law  of  works  as  a  covenant ;  released  the 
penalty  of  it  from  the  believing  sinner,  by  transferring  it  upon  the 
Surety,  who  interposed  himself  by  his  own  will  and  Divine  designa- 
tion. He  hath  established  another  covenant  upon  other  promises 
in  a  higher  root,  with  greater  privileges,  and  easier  terms.  Had 
not  God  had  this  right  of  sovereignty,  not  a  man  of  Adam's  pos- 
terity could  have  been  blessed  ;  he  and  they  must  have  lain  groan- 
ing under  the  misery  of  the  fall,  which  had  rendered  both  himself 
and  all  in  his  loins  unable  to  observe  the  terms  of  the  first  covenant. 
He  hath,  as  some  speak,  dispensed  with  his  own  moral  law  in  some 
cases ;  in  commanding  Abraham  to  sacrifice  his  son,  his  only  son, 
a  righteous  son,  a  son  whereof  he  had  the  promise,  that  "  in  Isaac 
should  his  seed  be  called ;"  yet  he  was  commanded  to  sacrifice  him 
by  the  right  of  his  absolute  sovereignty  as  the  supreme  Lord  of  the 
lives  of  his  creatures,  from  the  highest  angel  to  the  lowest  worm, 
whereby  he  bound  his  subjects  to  this  law,  not  himself.  Our  lives 
are  due  to  him  when  he  calls  for  them,  and  they  are  a  just  forfeit 
to  him,  at  the  very  moment  we  sin,  at  the  very  moment  we  come 
into  the  world,  by  reason  of  the  venom  of  our  nature  against  him, 
and  the  disturbance  the  first  sin  of  man  (whereof  we  are  inheritors) 
gave  to  his  glory.  Had  Abraham  sacrificed  his  son  of  his  own 
head,  he   had  sinned,  yea,  in  attempting  it;  but  being  authorized 


ON"  god's  dominion.  393 

from  heaven,  his  act  was  obedience  to  the  Sovereign  of  the  world, 
who  had  a  power  to  dispense  with  his  own  law ;  and  with  this  law 
he  had  before  dispensed,  in  the  case  of  Cain's  murder  of  Abel,  as 
to  the  immediate  punishment  of  it  with  death,  which,  indeed,  was 
settled  afterwards  by  his  authority,  but  then  omitted  because  of  the 
paucity  of  men,  and  for  the  peopling  the  world  ;  but  settled  after- 
wards, when  there  was  almost,  though  not  altogether,  the  like  occa- 
sion of  omitting  it  for  a  time. 

3.  His  sovereignty  appears  in  punishing  the  transgression  of  his 
law. 

(1.)  This  is  a  branch  of  God's  dominion  as  lawgiver.  So  was  the 
vengeance  God  would  take  upon  the  Amalekites  (Exod.  xvii.  16) ; 
"  The  Lord  hath  sworn,  that  the  Lord  will  have  war ;"  the  Hebrew 
is,  "  The  hand  upon  the  throne  of  the  Lord,"  as  in  the  margin :  as  a 
"  lawgiver"  he  "  saves  or  destroys"  (James,  iv.  12).  He  acts  accord- 
ing to  his  own  law,  in  a  congruity  to  the  sanction  of  his  own  pre- 
cepts ;  though  he  be  an  arbitrary  lawgiver,  appointing  what  laws  he 
pleases,  yet  he  is  not  an  arbitrary  judge.  As  he  commands  nothing 
but  what  he  hath  a  right  to  command,  so  he  punisheth  none  but 
whom  he  hath  a  right  to  punish,  and  with  such  punishment  as  the 
law  hath  denounced.  All  his  acts  of  justice  and  inflictions  of  curses 
are  the  effects  of  this  sovereign  dominion  (Ps.  xxix.  10) :  "  He  sits 
King  upon  the  floods ;"  upon  the  deluge  of  waters  wherewith  he 
drowned  the  world,  say  some.  It  is  a  right  belonging  to  the  au- 
thority of  magistrates  to  pull  up  the  infectious  weeds  that  corrupt  a 
commonwealth ;  it  is  no  less  the  right  of  God,  as  the  lawgiver  and 
judge  of  all  the  earth,  to  subject  criminals  to  his  vengeance,  after 
they  have  rendered  themselves  abominable  in  his  eyes,  and  carried 
themselves  unworthy  subjects  of  so  great  and  glorious  a  King.  The 
first  name  whereby  God  is  made  known  in  Scripture,  is  Elohim  (Gen. 
i.  1) :  "  In  the  beginning  God  created  the  heaven  and  earth ;"  a 
name  which  signifies  his  power  of  judging,  in  the  opinion  of  some 
critics ;  from  him  it  is  derived  to  earthly  magistrates ;  their  judg- 
ment is  said,  therefore,  to  be  the  "judgment  of  God"  (Deut.  i.  17). 
When  Christ  came,  he  proposed  this  great  motive  of  repentance 
from  the  "kingdom  of  heaven  being  at  hand  ;"  the  kingdom  of  his 
grace,  whereby  to  invite  men ;  the  kingdom  of  his  justice  in  the 
punishment  of  the  neglecters  of  it,  whereby  to  terrify  men.  Punish- 
ments as  well  as  rewards  belong  to  royalty ;  it  issued  accordingly ; 
those  that  believed  and  repented  came  under  his  gracious  sceptre, 
those  that  neglected  and  rejected  it  fell  under  his  iron  rod ;  Jerusa- 
lem Avas  destroyed,  the  temple  demolished,  the  inhabitants  lost  their 
lives  by  the  edge  of  the  sword,  or  lingered  them  out  in  the  chains  of 
a  miserable  captivity.  This  term  of  "judge,"  which  signifies  a 
sovereign  right  to  govern  and  punish  delinquents,  Abraham  gives 
him,  when  he  came  to  root  out  the  people  of  Sodom,  and  make  them 
the  examples  of  his  vengeance  (Gen.  xviii.  26). 

(2.)  Punishing  the  transgressions  of  his  law.  This  is  a  necessary 
branch  of  dominion.  His  sovereignty  in  making  laws  would  be  a 
trifle,  if  there  were  not  also  an  authority  to  vindicate  those  laws 
from  contempt  and  injury  ;  he  would  be  a  Lord  only  spurned  at  by 


394  CHARNOCK  ON"  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

rebels.  Sovereignty  is  not  preserved  without  justice.  "When  the 
Psahnist  speaks  of  the  majesty  of  God's  kingdom,  he  tells  us,  that 
"righteousness  and  judgment  arc  the  habitation  of  his  throne"  (Ps. 
xcvii.  1,  2).  These  arc  the  engines  of  Divine  dignity  which  render 
him  glorious  and  majestic.  A  legislative  power  would  be  tramj^led 
on  without  executive ;  by  this  the  reverential  apprehensions  of  God 
are  preserved  in  the  world.  He  is  known  to  be  Lord  of  the  world 
"by  the  judgments  which  he  executes"  (Ps.  ix.  16).  When  he 
seems  to  have  lost  his  dominion,  or  given  it  up  in  the  world,  he  re- 
covers it  by  punishment.  When  he  takes  some  away  "  with  a  whirl- 
wind, and  in  his  wrath,"  the  natural  consequence  men  make  of  it,  is 
this  :  "  Surely  there  is  a  God  that  judgeth  the  earth"  (Ps.  Iviii.  9,  11). 
He  reduceth  the  creature,  by  the  lash  of  his  judgments,  that  would 
not  acknowledge  his  authority  in  his  precepts.  Those  sins  which 
disown  his  government  in  the  heart  and  conscience,  as  pride,  inward 
blasphemy,  &c.,  he  hath  reserved  a  time  hereafter  to  reckon  for.  He 
doth  not  presently  shoot  his  arrows  into  the  marrow  of  every  delin- 
quent, but  those  sins  which  traduce  his  government  of  the  world, 
and  tear  up  the  foundations  of  human  converse,  and  a  public  respect 
to  him,  he  reckons  with  particularly  here,  as  well  as  hereafter,  that 
the  life  of  his  sovereignty  might  not  always  faint  in  the  world. 

(3.)  This  of  punishing  was  the  second  discovery  of  his  dominion 
in  the  world.  His  first  act  of  sovereignty  was  the  giving  a  law  ;  the 
next,  his  appearance  in  the  state  of  a  judge.  When  his  orders  were 
violated,  he  rescues  the  honor  of  them  by  an  execution  of  justice. 
He  first  judged  the  angels,  punishing  the  evil  ones  for  their  crime : 
the  first  court  he  kept  among  them  as  a  governor,  was  to  give  them 
a  law ;  the  second  court  he  kept  was  as  a  judge  trying  the  delin- 
quents, and  adjudging  the  offenders  to  be  "reserved  in  chains  of 
darkness"  till  the  final  execution  (Jude,  6) ;  and,  at  the  same  time 
probably,  he  confirmed  the  good  ones  in  their  obedience  by  grace. 
So  the  first  discovery  of  his  dominion  to  man,  was  the  giving  him  a 
precept,  the  next  was  the  inflicting  a  punishment  for  the  breach  of 
it.  He  summons  Adam  to  the  bar,  indicts  him  for  his  crime,  finds 
him  guilty  by  his  own  confession,  and  passeth  sentence  on  him,  ac- 
cording to  the  rule  he  had  before  acquainted  him  with. 

(4.)  The  means  whereby  he  punisheth  shows  his  dominion. 
Sometimes  he  musters  up  hail  and  mildew  ;  sometimes  he  sends 
regiments  of  wild  beasts ;  so  he  threatens  Israel  (Lev.  xxvi.  22). 
Sometimes  he  sends  out  a  party  of  angels  to  beat  up  the  quarters  of 
men,  and  make  a  carnage  among  them  (2  Kings,  xix.  35).  Some- 
times he  mounts  his  thundering  battery,  and  shoots  forth  his  ammu- 
nition from  the  clouds,  as  against  the  Philistines  (1  Sam.  vii.  10). 
Sometimes  he  sends  the  slightest  creatures  to  shame  the  pride  and 
punish  the  sin  of  man,  as  "  lice,  frogs,  locusts,"  as  upon  the  Egypt- 
ians (Exod.  viii. — x.). 

Secondly.  This  dominion  it  manifested  by  God  as  a  proprietor  and 
Lord  of  his  creatures  and  his  own  goods.     And  this  is  evident, 

1.  In  the  choice  of  some  persons  from  eternity.  He  hath  set 
apart  some  from  eternity,  wherein  he  will  display  the  invincible  effi- 
cacy of  his  grace,  and  thereby  infallibly  bring  them  to  the  fruition 


ON   GOD'S  DOMINION.  895 

of  glory  (Epli.  i.  4,  5) :  "  According  as  lie  liath  cliosen  us  in  him  be- 
fore the  foundation  of  the  world,  that  we  should  be  holy  and  without 
blame  before  him  in  love,  having  predestinated  us  to  the  adoption 
of  children  by  Jesus  Christ  to  himself,  according  to  the  good  pleasure 
of  his  will,"  Why  doth  he  write  some  names  in  the  "book  of  life," 
and  leave  out  others  ?  Why  doth  he  enrol  some,  whom  he  intends 
to  make  denizens  of  heaven,  and  refuse  to  put  others  in  his  register  ? 
The  apostle  tells  us,  it  is  the  pleasure  of  his  will.  You  may  render 
a  reason  for  many  of  God's  actions,  till  you  come  to  this,  the  top  and 
foundation  of  all ;  and  under  what  head  of  reason  can  man  reduce 
this  act  but  to  that  of  his  royal  prerogative?  Why  doth  God  save 
some,  and  condemn  others  at  last  ?  because  of  the  faith  of  the  one, 
and  unbelief  of  the  other.  Why  do  some  men  believe?  because 
God  hath  not  only  given  them  the  means  of  grace,  but  accompanied 
those  means  with  the  efficacy  of  his  Spirit.  Why  did  God  accom- 
pany those  means  with  the  efficacy  of  his  Spirit  in  some,  and  not  in 
others  ?  because  he  had  decreed  by  grace  to  prepare  them  for  glory. 
But  why  did  he  decree,  or  choose  some,  and  not  others  ?  Into  what 
will  3^ou  resolve  this  but  into  his  sovereign  pleasure  ?  Salvation  and 
condemnation  at  the  last  upshot,  are  acts  of  God  as  the  Judge,  con- 
formable to  his  own  law  of  giving  life  to  believers,  and  inflicting 
death  upon  unbelievers ;  for  those  a  reason  may  be  rendered ;  but 
the  choice  of  some,  and  pretention  of  others,  is  an  act  of  God  as  he 
is  a  sovereign  monarch,  before  any  law  was  actually  transgressed, 
because  not  actually  given.  When  a  prince  redeems  a  rebel,  he  acts 
as  a  judge  according  to  law ;  but  when  he  calls  some  out  to  pardon, 
he  acts  as  a  sovereign  by  a  prerogative  above  law  ;  into  this  the  apos- 
tle resolves  it  (Rom.  ix.  13,  15).  When  he  speaks  of  God's  loving 
Jacob  and  hating  Esau,  and  that  before  they  had  done  either  good  or 
evil,  it  is,  "  because  God  will  have  mercy  on  whom  he  will  have 
mercy,  and  compassion  on  whom  he  will  have  compassion."  Though 
the  first  scope  of  the  apostle,  in  the  beginning  of  the  chapter,  was  to 
declare  the  reason  of  God's  rejecting  the  Jews,  and  calling  in  the 
Gentiles ;  had  he  only  intended  to  demolish  the  pride  of  the  Jews, 
and  flat  their  opinion  of  merit,  and  aimed  no  higher  than  that  pro- 
vidential act  of  God ;  he  might,  convincingly  enough  to  the  reason 
of  men,  have  argued  from  the  justice  of  God,  provoked  by  the  ob- 
stinacy of  the  Jews,  and  not  have  had  recourse  to  his  absolute  will ; 
but,  since  he  asserts  this  latter,  the  strength  of  his  argument  seems  to 
lie  thus :  if  God  by  his  absolute  sovereignty  may  resolve,  and  fix  his 
love  upon  Jacob  and  estrange  it  from  Esau,  or  any  other  of  his 
creatures,  before  they  have  done  good  or  evil,  and  man  have  no 
ground  to  call  his  infinite  majesty  to  account,  may  he  not  deal  thus 
with  the  Jews,  when  their  demerit  would  be  a  bar  to  any  complaints 
of  the  creature  against  him  7s  If  God  were  considered  here  in  the 
quality  of  a  judge,  it  had  been  fit  to  have  considered  the  matter  of 
fact  in  the  criminal ;  but  he  is  considered  as  a  sovereign,  rendering 
no  other  reason  of  his  action  but  his  own  will ;  "  whom  he  will  he 
hardens"  (ver.  18).  And  then  the  apostle  concludes  (ver.  20),  "  AVho 
art  thou,  O  man,  that  repliest  against  God  ?"     K  the  reason  drawn 

8  Auayrald,  Dissert,  pp.  101,  102. 


396  CHARNOCK  ON  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

from  God's  sovereignty  doth  not  satisfy  in  this  inquiry,  no  other  rea- 
son can  be  found  wherein  to  acquiesce  :  for  the  last  condemnation 
there  will  be  sufficient  reason  to  clear  the  justice  of  his  proceedings. 
But,  in  this  case  of  election,  no  other  reason  but  what  is  alleged,  viz., 
the  will  of  God,  can  be  thought  of,  but  what  is  liable  to  such  knotty 
exceptions  that  cannot  well  be  untied. 

(1.)  It  could  not  be  any  merit  in  the  creature  that  might  determine 
God  to  choose  him.  If  the  decree  of  election  falls  not  under  the 
merit  of  Christ's  passion,  as  the  procuring  cause,  it  cannot  fall  under 
the  merit  of  any  part  of  the  corrupted  mass.  The  decree  of  sending 
Christ  did  not  precede,  but  followed,  in  order  of  nature,  the  determi- 
nation of  choosing  some.  When  men  were  chosen  as  the  subjects 
for  glory,  Christ  was  chosen  as  the  means  for  the  bringing  them  to 
glory  (Eph.  i.  4)  :  "  Chosen  us  in  him,  and  predestinated  us  to  the 
adoption  of  children  by  Jesus  Christ."  The  choice  was  not  merely 
in  Christ  as  the  moving  cause  ;  that  the  apostle  asserts  to  be  "  the 
good  pleasure  of  his  will ;"  but  in  Christ,  as  the  means  of  conveying 
to  the  chosen  ones  the  fruits  of  their  election.  What  could  there  be 
in  any  man  that  could  invite  God  to  this  act,  or  be  a  cause  of  dis- 
tinction of  one  branch  of  Adam  from  another  ?  Were  they  not  all 
hewed  out  of  the  same  rock,  and  tainted  with  the  same  corruption  in 
blood  ?  Had  it  been  possible  to  invest  them  with  a  power  of  merit 
at  the  first,  had  not  that  venom,  contracted  in  their  nature,  degraded 
all  of  power  for  the  future  ?  What  merit  was  there  in  any  but  of 
wrathful  punishment,  since  they  were  all  considered  as  criminals, 
and  the  cursed  brood  of  an  ungTateful  rebel  ?  What  dignity  can 
there  be  in  the  nature  of  the  purest  part  of  clay,  to  be  made  a  vessel 
of  honor,  more  than  in  another  part  of  clay,  as  pure  as  that  which 
was  formed  into  a  vessel  for  mean  and  sordid  use  ?  What  had  any 
one  to  move  his  mercy  more  than  another,  since  they  were  all  chil- 
dren of  wrath,  and  equally  daubed  with  original  guilt  and  filth  ? 
Had  not  all  an  equal  proportion  of  it  to  provoke  his  justice  ?  What 
merit  is  there  in  one  dry  bone  more  than  another,  to  be  inspired 
with  the  breath  of  a  spiritual  life  ?  Did  not  all  lie  wallowing  in  their 
own  filthy  blood  ?  and  what  could  the  steam  and  noisomeness  of  that 
deserve  at  the  hands  of  a  pure  Majesty,  but  to  be  cast  into  a  sink 
furthest  from  his  sight  ?  Were  they  not  all  considered  in  this  de- 
plorable posture,  with  an  equal  proportion  of  poison  in  their  nature, 
when  God  first  took  his  pen,  and  singled  out  some  names  to  write  in 
the  book  of  life  ?  It  could  not  be  merit  in  any  one  piece  of  this 
abominable  mass,  that  should  stir  up  that  resolution  in  God  to  set 
apart  this  person  for  a  vessel  of  glory,  while  he  permitted  another  to 
putrefy  in  his  own  gore.  He  loved  Jacob,  and  hated  Esau,  though 
they  were  both  parts  of  the  common  mass,  the  seed  of  the  same  loins, 
and  lodged  in  the  same  womb. 

(2.)  Nor  could  it  be  any  foresight  of  works  to  be  done  in  time  by 
them,  or  of  faith,  that  might  determine  God  to  choose  them.  What 
good  could  he  foresee  resulting  from  extreme  corruption,  and  a 
nature  alienated  from  him  ?  What  could  he  foresee  of  good  to  be 
done  by  them,  but  what  he  resolved  in  his  own  will,  to  bestow  an 
ability  upon  them  to  bring  forth  ?     His  choice  of  them  was  to  a 


ON   god's   DOMINION".  897 

holiness,  not  for  a  holiness  preceding  liis  determination  (Eph.  i.  4). 
He  liath  chosen  us,  "  that  we  might  be  holy"  before  him  ;  he  ordain- 
ed us  "  to  good  works,"  not  for  them  (Eph.  ii,  10).  What  is  a  fruit 
cannot  be  a  moving  cause  of  that  whereof  it  is  a  fruit :  grace  is  a 
stream  from  the  spring  of  electing  love  ;  the  branch  is  not  the  cause 
of  the  root,  but  the  root  of  the  branch  ;  nor  the  stream  the  cause  of 
the  spring,  but  the  spring  the  cause  of  the  stream.  Good  works 
suppose  grace,  and  a  good  and  right  habit  in  the  person,  as  rational 
acts  suppose  reason.  Can  any  man  say  that  the  rational  acts  man 
performs  after  his  creation  were  a  cause  why  God  created  him  ? 
This  would  make  creation,  and  everything  else,  not  so  much  an  act 
of  his  will,  as  an  act  of  his  understanding.  God  foresaw  no  rational 
act  in  man,  before  the  act  of  his  will  to  give  him  reason  ;  nor  fore- 
sees faith  in  any,  before  the  act  of  his  will  determining  to  give  him 
faith :  "  Faith  is  the  gift  of  God"  (Eph.  ii.  8).  In  the  salvation 
which  grows  up  from  this  first  purpose  of  God,  he  regards  not  the 
works  we  have  done,  as  a  principal  motive  to  settle  the  top-stone  of 
our  happiness,  but  his  own  purpose,  and  the  grace  given  in  Christ ; 
"  who  hath  saved  us,  and  called  us  with  a  holy  calling,  not  accord- 
ing to  our  own  works,  but  according  to  his  own  purpose  and  grace, 
which  was  given  to  us  in  Christ,  before  the  world  began"  (2  Tim.  i. 
9).  The  honor  of  our  salvation  cannot  be  challenged  by  our  works, 
much  less  the  honor  of  the  foundation  of  it.  It  was  a  pure  gift  of 
grace,  without  any  respect  to  any  spiritual,  much  less  natural,  per- 
fection. Why  should  the  apostle  mention  that  circumstance,  when 
he  speaks  of  God's  loving  Jacob,  and  hating  Esau,  "  when  neither 
of  them  had  done  good  or  evil"  (Kom.  ix.  11),  if  there  were  any  fore- 
sight of  men's  works  as  the  moving  cause  of  his  love  or  hatred? 
God  regarded  not  the  works  of  either  as  the  first  cause  of  his  choice, 
but  acted  by  his  own  liberty,  without  respect  to  any  of  their  actions 
which  were  to  be  done  by  them  in  time.  If  faith  be  the  fruit  of 
election,  the  prescience  of  faith  doth  not  influence  the  electing  act  of 
God.  It  is  called  "  the  faith  of  God's  elect"  (Tit.  i.  1) :  "  Paul,  an 
apostle  of  Jesus  Christ,  according  to  the  faith  of  God's  elect ;"  i.  e. 
settled  in  this  ofiice  to  bring  the  elect  of  God  to  faith.  If  men  be 
chosen  by  God  upon  the  foresight  of  faith,  or  not  chosen  till  they 
have  faith,  they  are  not  so  much  God's  elect,  as  God  their  elect ; 
they  choose  God  by  faith,  before  God  chooseth  them  by  love :  it  had 
not  been  the  faith  of  God's  elect,  ^.  e.  of  those  already  chosen,  but 
the  faith  of  those  that  were  to  be  chosen  by  God  afterwards.  Elec- 
tion is  the  cause  of  faith,  and  not  faith  the  cause  of  election  ;  fire  is 
the  cause  of  heat,  and  not  the  heat  of  fire ;  the  sun  is  the  cause  of 
the  day,  and  not  the  day  the  cause  of  the  rising  of  the  sun.  Men 
are  not  chosen  because  they  believe,  but  they  believe  because  they 
are  chosen :  the  apostle  did  ill,  else,  to  appropriate  that  to  the  elect 
which  they  had  no  more  interest  in,  by  virtue  of  their  election,  than 
the  veriest  reprobate  in  the  world.^  If  the  foresight  of  what  works 
might  be  done  by  his  creatures  was  the  motive  of  his  choosing  them, 
why  did  he  not  choose  the  devils  to  redemption,  who  could  have 
done  him  better  service,  by  the  strength  of  their  nature,  than  the 

^  Daille,  in  he. 


398  CHARNOCK  ON  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

whole  mass  of  Adam's  posterity  ?  Well,  then,  there  is  no  possible 
way  to  lay  the  original  foundation  of  this  act  of  election  and  preteri- 
tiou  in  anything  but  the  absolute  sovereignty  of  God.  Justice  or  in- 
justice comes  not  into  consideration  in  this  case.  There  is  no  debt 
which  justice  or  injustice  always  respects  in  its  acting :  if  he  had 
pleased,  he  might  have  chosen  all ;  if  he  had  pleased,  he  might  have 
chosen  none.  It  was  in  his  supreme  power  to  have  resolved  to  have 
left  all  Adam's  posterity  under  the  rack  of  his  justice ;  if  he  deter- 
mined to  snatch  out  any,  it  was  a  part  of  his  dominion,  but  without 
any  injury  to  the  creatures  he  leaves  under  their  own  guilt.  Did  he 
not  pass  by  the  angels,  and  take  man  ?  and,  by  the  same  right  of 
dominion,  may  he  pick  out  some  men  from  the  common  mass,  and 
lay  aside  others  to  bear  the  punishment  of  their  crimes.  Are  they 
not  all  his  subjects  ?  all  are  his  criminals,  and  may  be  dealt  with  at 
the  pleasure  of  their  undoubted  Lord  and  Sovereign.  This  is  a  work 
of  arbitrary  power ;  since  he  might  have  chosen  none,  or  chosen  all, 
as  he  saw  good  himself  It  is  at  the  liberty  of  the  artificer  to  deter- 
mine his  wood  or  stone  to  such  a  figure,  that  of  a  prince,  or  that  of 
a  toad ;  and  his  materials  have  no  right  to  complain  of  him,  since  it 
lies  wholly  upon  his  own  liberty.  They  must  have  little  sense  of 
their  own  vileness,  and  God's  infinite  excellency  above  them  by 
right  of  creation,  that  will  contend  that  God  hath  a  lesser  right  over 
his  creatures  than  an  artificer  over  his  wood  or  stone.  If  it  were  at 
his  liberty  whether  to  redeem  man,  or  send  Christ  upon  such  an  un- 
dertaking, it  is  as  much  at  his  liberty,  and  the  prerogative  is  to  be 
allowed  him,  what  person  he  will  resolve  to  make  capable  of  enjoy- 
ing the  fruits  of  that  redemption.  One  man  was  as  fit  a  subject  for 
mercy  as  another,  as  they  all  lay  in  their  original  guilt :  why  would 
not  Divine  mercy  cast  its  eye  upon  this  man,  as  well  as  upon  his 
neighbor  ?  There  was  no  cause  in  the  creature,  but  all  in  God  ;  it 
must  be  resolved  into  his  own  will :  yet  not  into  a  will  without  wis- 
dom. God  did  not  choose  hand  over  head,  and  act  by  mere  will, 
without  reason  and  understanding  ;  an  Infinite  Wisdom  is  far  from 
such  a  kind  of  procedure  ;  but  the  reason  of  God  is  inscrutable  to  us, 
unless  we  could  understand  God  as  well  as  he  understands  himself; 
the  whole  ground  lies  in  God  himself,  no  part  of  it  in  the  creature ; 
"  not  in  him  that  wills,  nor  in  him  that  runs,  but  in  God  that  shows 
mercy"  (Rom.  ix.  15,  16).  Since  God  hath  revealed  no  other  cause 
than  his  will,  we  can  resolve  it  into  no  other  than  his  sovereign  em- 
pire over  all  creatures.  It  is  not  without  a  stop  to  our  curiosity, 
that  in  the  same  place  where  God  asserts  the  absolute  sovereignty 
of  his  mercy  to  Moses,  he  tells  him  he  could  not  see  his  face :  "I 
will  be  gracious  to  whom  I  will  be  gracious ;"  and  he  said,  "  Thou 
canst  not  see  my  face"  (Exod.  xxxiii.  19,  20) :  the  rays  of  his  infinite 
wisdom  are  too  bright  and  dazzling  for  our  weakness.  The  apostle 
acknowledged  not  only  a  wisdom  in  this  proceeding,  but  a  riches 
and  treasure  of  wisdom ;  not  only  that,  but  a  depth  and  vastness  of 
those  riches  of  wisdom ;  but  was  unable  to  give  us  an  inventory  and 
scheme  of  it  (Rom.  xi.  33).  The  secrets  of  his  counsels  are  too  deep 
for  us  to  wade  into  ;  in  attempting  to  know  the  reason  of  those  acts, 
we  should  find  ourselves  swallowed  up  into  a  bottomless  gulf :  though 


ON  GOD'S  DOMINIOlSr.  399 

the  understanding  be  above  our  capacity,  yet  tbe  admiration  of  his 
authority  and  submission  to  it  are  not.  "  We  should  cast  ourselves 
down  at  his  feet,  with  a  full  resignation  of  ourselves  to  his  sovereign 
pleasure."'  This  is  a  more  comely  carriage  in  a  Christian  than  all 
the  contep-tious  endeavors  to  measure  God  by  our  line. 

2.  In  bestowing  grace  where  he  pleases.  God  in  conversion 
and  pardon  works  not  as  a  natural  agent,  putting  forth  strength  to 
the  utmost,  which  God  must  do,  if  he  did  renew  man  naturall}^,  as 
the  sun  shines,  and  the  fire  burns,  Avhich  always  act,  ad  extremum 
virium,  unless  a  cloud  interpose  to  eclipse  the  one,  and  water  to  ex- 
tinguish the  other.  But  God  acts  as  a  voluntary  agent,  which  can 
freely  exert  his  power  when  he  please,  and  suspend  it  when  he 
please.  Though  God  be  necessarily  good,  yet  he  is  not  necessitated 
to  manifest  all  the  treasures  of  his  goodness  to  every  subject ;  he 
hath  power  to  distil  his  dews  upon  one  part,  and  not  upon  another. 
If  he  were  necessitated  to  express  his  goodness  without  a  liberty,  no 
thanks  were  due  to  him.  Who  thanks  the  sun  for  shining  on  him, 
or  the  fire  for  warming  him  ?  None ;  because  they  are  necessary 
agents,  and  can  do  no  other.  What  is  the  reason  he  did  not  reach 
out  his  hand  to  keep  all  the  angels  from  sinking,  as  well  as  some,  or 
recover  them  when  they  were  sunk  ?  What  is  the  reason  he  en- 
grafts one  man  into  the  true  Vine,  and  lets  the  other  remain  a  wild 
olive  ?  Why  is  not  the  efficacy  of  the  Spirit  always  linked  with  the 
motions  of  the  Spirit?  Why  does  he  not  mould  the  heart  into  a 
gospel  frame  when  he  fills  the  ear  with  a  gospel  sound  ?  Why  doth 
he  strike  off  the  chains  from  some,  and  tear  the  veil  from  the  heart, 
while  he  leaves  others  under  their  natural  slavery  and  Egyptian 
darkness  ?  Why  do  some  lie  under  the  bands  of  death,  while  an- 
other is  raised  to  a  spiritual  life  ?  What  reason  is  there  for  all  this 
but  his  absolute  will?  The  apostle  resolves  the  question,  if  the 
question  be  asked,  why  he  begets  one  and  not  another  ?  Not  from 
the  will  of  the  creature,  but  "  his  own  will,"  is  the  determination  of 
one  (James,  i.  18).  Why  doth  he  work  in  one  "to  will  and  to  do," 
and  not  in  another?  Because^of  "his  good  pleasure,"  is  the  an- 
swer of  another  (Phil.  ii.  13).  He  could  as  well  new  create  every 
one,  as  he  at  first  created  them,  and  make  grace  as  universal  as  na- 
ture and  reason,  but  it  is  not  his  pleasure  so  to  do. 

(1.)  It  is  not  from  want  of  strength  in  himself.  The  power  of 
God  is  unquestionably  able  to  strike  off  the  chains  of  unbelief  from 
all ;  he  could  surmount  the  obstinacy  of  every  child  of  wrath,  and 
inspire  every  son  of  Adam  with  faith  as  well  as  Adam  himself.  He 
wants  not  a  virtue  superior  to  the  greatest  resistance  of  his  creature ; 
a  victorious  beam  of  light  might  be  shot  into  their  understandings, 
and  a  flood  of  grace  might  overspread  their  wills  with  one  word  of 
his  mouth,  without  putting  forth  the  utmost  of  his  power.  What 
hindrance  could  there  be  in  any  created  spirit,  which  cannot  be 
easily  pierced  into  and  new  moulded  by  the  Father  of  spirits  ?  Yet 
he  only  breathes  this  ef&cacious  virtue  into  some,  and  leaves  others 
under  that  insensibility  and  hardness  which  they  love,  and  suffer 
them  to  continue  in  their  benighting  ignorance,  and  consume  them- 

•  Tills  was  Dr.  Goodwin's  speech  when  he  was  in  trouble. 


400  CHAKNOCK   ON   THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

selves  in  the  embraces  of  their  dear,  though  deceitful  Delilahs.  He 
could  have  conquered  the  resistance  of  the  Jews,  as  well  as  chased 
away  the  darkness  and  ignorance  of  the  Gentiles.  No  doubt  but  he 
could  overpower  the  heart  of  the  most  malicious  devil,  as  well  as 
that  of  the  simplest  and  weakest  man.  But  the  breath  of  the  Al- 
mighty Spirit  is  in  his  own  power,  to  breathe  "  where  he  lists" 
(John,  iii.  8).  It  is  at  his  liberty  whether  he  will  give  to  any  the 
feelings  of  the  invincible  ef&cacy  of  his  grace ;  he  did  not  want 
strength  to  have  kept  man  as  firm  as  a  rock  against  the  temptation 
of  Satan,  and  poured  in  such  fortifying  grace,  as  to  have  made  him 
impregnable  against  the  powers  of  hell,  as  well  as  he  did  secure  the 
standing  of  the  angels  against  the  sedition  of  their  fellows :  but  it 
was  his  will  to  permit  it  to  be  otherwise. 

(2.)  Nor  is  it  from  any  prerogative  in  the  creature.  He  converts 
not  any  for  their  natural  perfection,  because  he  seizeth  upon  the 
most  ignorant ;  nor  for  their  moral  perfection,  because  he  converts 
the  most  sinful ;  nor  for  their  civil  perfection,  because  he  turns  the 
most  despicable. 

[1.]  Not  for  their  natural  perfection  of  knowledge.  He  opened 
the  minds  and  hearts  of  the  more  ignorant.  Were  the  nature  of 
the  Gentiles  better  manured  than  that  of  the  Jews,  or  did  the  ta- 
pers of  their  understandings  burn  clearer  ?  No ;  the  one  were  skilled 
in  the  prophecies  of  the  Messiah,  and  might  have  compared  the  pre- 
dictions they  owned  with  the  actions  and  sufferings  of  Christ,  which 
they  were  spectators  of.  He  let  alone  those  that  had  expectations 
of  the  Messiah,  and  expectations  about  the  time  of  Christ's  appear- 
ance, both  grounded  upon  the  oracles  wherewith  he  had  entrusted 
them.  The  Gentiles  were  unacquainted  with  the  prophets,  and 
therefore  destitute  of  the  expectations  of  the  Messiah  (Eph.  ii.  12) : 
they  were  "without  Christ;"  without  any  revelation  of  Christ,  be- 
cause "aliens  from  the  commonwealth  of  Israel,  and  strangers  to  the 
covenant  of  promise,  having  no  hope,  and  without  God  in  the 
world,"  without  any  knowledge  of  God,  or  promises  of  Christ.  The 
Jews  might  sooner,  in  a  way  of  reason,  have  been  wrought  upon 
than  the  Gentiles,  who  were  ignorant  of  the  prophets,  by  whose 
writings  they  might  have  examined  the  truth  of  the  apostles'  decla- 
rations. Thus  are  they  refused  that  were  the  kindred  of  Christ,  ac- 
cording to  the  flesh,  and  the  Gentiles,  that  were  at  a  greater  distance 
from  him,  brought  in  by  God ;  thus  he  catcheth  not  at  the  subtle  and 
mighty  devils,  who  had  an  original  in  spiritual  nature  more  like  to 
him,  but  at  weak  and  simple  man. 

[2.]  Not  for  any  moral  perfection,  because  he  converts  the  most 
sinful :  the  Gentiles,  steeped  in  idolatry  and  superstition.  He  sow- 
ed more  faith  among  the  Romans  than  in  Jerusalem  ;  more  faith  in 
a  city  that  was  the  common  sewer  of  all  the  idolatry  of  the  nations 
conquered  by  them,  than  in  that  city  which  had  so  signally  been 
owned  by  him,  and  had  not  practised  any  idolatry  since  the  Baby- 
lonish captivity.  He  planted  saintship  at  Corinth,  a  place  notorious 
for  the  infamous  worship  of  Venus,  a  superstition  attended  with  the 
grossest  uncleanness ;  at  Ephesus,  that  presented  the  whole  world 
with  a  cup  of  fornication  in  their  temple  of  Diana ;  among  the  Colos- 


ON  GOD'S  DOMINION.  401 

sians,  votaries  to  Cybele  in  a  manner  of  worship  attended  with 
beastly  and  lascivious  ceremonies.  And  what  character  had  the 
Cretians  from  one  of  their  own  poets,  mentioned  by  the  apostle  to 
Titus,  whom  he  had  placed  among  them  to  further  the  progress  of 
the  gospel,  but  the  vilest  and  most  abominable  ?  (Titus  i.  12) : 
"  liars,"  not  to  be  credited ;  "  evil  beasts,"  not  to  be  associated  with ; 
"  slow  bellies,"  fit  for  no  service.  What  prerogative  was  there  in 
the  nature  of  such  putrefaction  ?  as  much  as  in  that  of  a  toad  to  be 
elevated  to  the  dignity  of  an  angel.  What  steam  from  such  dung- 
hills could  be  welcome  to  him,  and  move  him  to  cast  his  eye  on 
them,  and  sweeten  them  from  heaven  ?  What  treasures  of  worth  were 
here  to  open  the  treasures  of  his  grace  !  Were  such  filthy  snuffs  fit 
of  themselves  to  be  kindled  by,  and  become  a  lodging  for,  a  gospel 
beam  ?  What  invitements  could  he  have  from  lying,  beastliness, 
gluttony,  but  only  from  his  own  sovereignty  ?  By  this  he  plucked 
firebrands  out  of  the  fire,  while  he  left  straighter  and  more  comely 
sticks  to  consume  to  ashes. 

[3.]  Not  for  any  civil  perfection,  because  he  turns  the  most  des- 
picable. He  elevates  not  nature  to  grace  upon  the  account  of  wealth, 
honor,  or  any  civil  station  in  the  world :  he  dispenseth  not  ordi- 
narily those  treasures  to  those  that  the  mistaken  world  foolishly  ad- 
mire and  dote  upon  (1  Cor.  i.  26) ;  "Not  many  mighty,  not  many 
noble :"  a  purple  robe  is  not  usually  decked  with  this  jewel ;  he  takes 
more  of  mouldy  clay  than  refined  dust  to  cast  into  his  image,  and 
lodges  his  treasures  more  in  the  earthly  vessels  than  in  the  world's 
golden  ones ;  he  gives  out  his  richest  doles  to  those  that  are  the 
scorn  and  reproach  of  the  world.  Should  he  impart  his  grace  most 
to  those  that  abound  in  wealth  or  honor,  it  had  been  some  founda- 
tion for  a  conception  that  he  had  been  moved  by  those  vulgarly  es- 
teemed excellencies  to  indulge  them  more  than  others.  But  such  a 
conceit  languisheth  when  we  behold  the  subjects  of  his  grace  as  void 
originally  of  any  allurements,  as  they  are  full  of  provocations. 
Hereby  he  declares  himself  free  from  all  created  engagements,  and 
that  he  is  not  led  by  any  external  motives  in  the  object. 

[4.]  It  is  not  from  any  obligation  which  lies  upon  him.  He  is  in- 
debted to  none :  disobliged  by  all.  No  man  deserves  from  him  any 
act  of  grace,  but  every  man  deserves  what  the  most  deplorable  are 
left  to  suffer.  He  is  obliged  by  the  children  of  wrath  to  nothing  else 
but  showers  of  wrath ;  owes  no  more  a  debt  to  fallen  man,  than  to 
fallen  devils,  to  restore  them  to  their  first  station  by  a  superlative 
grace.  How  was  he  more  bound  to  restore  them,  than  he  was  to 
preserve  them ;  to  catch  them  after  they  fell,  than  to  put  a  bar  in 
the  way  of  their  falling?  God,  as  a  sovereign,  gave  laws  to  men, 
and  a  strength  sufficient  to  keep  those  laws.  What  obligation  is 
there  upon  God  to  repair  that  strength  man  wilfully  lost,  and  extract 
him  out  of  that  condition  into  which  he  voluntarily  plunged  him- 
self? What  if  man  sinned  by  temptation,  which  is  a  reason  alleged 
by  some,  might  not  many  of  the  devils  do  so  too  ?  Though  there 
was  a  first  of  them  that  sinned  without  a  temptation,  yet  many  of 
them  might  be  seduced  into  rebellion  by  the  ringleader.  Upon  that 
account  he  is  no  more  bound  to  give  grace  to  all  men,  than  to  devils. 

VOL,  II. — 26 


402  CHARNOCK  ON  THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

If  lie  promised  life  upon  obedience,  lie  threatened  deatli  upon  trans- 
gression. By  man's  disobedience  God  is  quit  of  his  promise,  and 
owes  nothing  but  punishment  upon  the  violation  of  his  law.  Indeed 
man  may  pretend  to  a  claim  of  sufficient  strength  from  him  by  crea- 
tion, as  God  is  the  author  of  nature,  and  he  had  it ;  but  since  he  hath 
extinguished  it  by  his  sin,  he  cannot  in  the  least  pretend  any  obliga- 
tion on  God  for  a  new  strength.  If  it  be  a  "  perad venture"  whether 
he  will  "  give  repentance,"  as  it  is  2  Tim.  ii.  25,  there  is  no  tie  in 
the  case ;  a  tie  would  put  it  beyond  a  perad venture  with  a  God  that 
never  forfeited  his  obligation.  No  husbandman  thinks  himself 
obliged  to  bestow  cost  and  pains,  manure  and  tillage,  upon  one  field 
more  than  another ;  though  the  nature  of  the  ground  may  require 
more,  yet  he  is  at  his  liberty  whether  he  will  expend  more  upon  one 
than  another."^  He  may  let  it  lie  fallow  as  long  as  he  please. 
God  is  less  obliged  to  till  and  prune  his  creatures,  than  man  is  obliged 
to  his  field  or  trees.  If  a  king  proclaim  a  pardon  to  a  company  of 
rebels,  upon  the  condition  of  each  of  them  paying  such  a  sum  of 
money  ;  their  estates  before  were  capable  of  satisfying  the  condition, 
but  their  rebellion  hath  reduced  them  to  an  indigent  condition  ;  the 
proclamation  itself  is  an  act  of  grace,  the  condition  required  is  not 
impossible  in  itself :  the  prince,  out  of  a  tenderness  to  some,  sends 
them  that  sum  of  moue}^,  he  hath  by  his  proclamation  obliged  them 
to  pay,  and  thereby  enabled  them  to  answer  the  condition  he  re- 
quires ;  the  first  he  doth  by  a  sovereign  authority,  the  second  he 
doth  by  a  sovereign  bounty.  He  was  obliged  to  neither  of  them ; 
punishment  was  a  debt  due  to  all  of  them  ;  if  he  would  remit  it  upon 
condition,  he  did  relax  his  sovereign  right ;  and  if  he  would  by  his 
largess  make  any  of  them  capable  to  fulfil  the  condition,  by  sending 
them  presently  a  sufficient  sum  to  pay  the  fine,  he  acted  as  proprie- 
tor of  his  own  goods,  to  dispose  of  them  in  such  a  quantity  to  those 
to  whom  he  was  not  obliged  to  bestow  a  mite. 

[5.]  It  must  therefore  be  an  act  of  his  mere  sovereignty.  This 
can  only  sit  arbitrator  in  every  gracious  act.  Why  did  he  give 
grace  to  Abel  and  not  to  Cain,  since  they  both  lay  in  the  same 
womb,  and  equally  derived  from  their  parents  a  taint  in  their  na- 
ture ;  but  that  he  would  show  a  standing  example  of  his  sovereignty 
to  the  future  ages  of  the  world  in  the  first  posterity  of  man  ?  Why 
did  he  give  grace  to  Abraham,  and  separate  him  from  his  idolatrous 
kindred,  to  dignify  him  to  be  the  root  of  the  Messiah?  Why  did 
he  confine  his  promise  to  Isaac,  and  not  extend  it  to  Ishmael,  the 
seed  of  the  same  Abraham  by  Hagar,  or  to  the  children  he  had  by 
Keturah  after  Sarah's  death  ?  What  reason  can  be  alleged  for  this  but 
his  sovereign  will  ?  Why  did  he  not  give  the  fallen  angels  a  moment 
of  repentance  after  their  sin,  but  condemned  them  to  irrevocable 
pains  ?  Is  it  not  as  free  for  him  to  give  grace  to  whom  he  please,  as 
create  what  worlds  he  please ;  to  form  this  corrupted  clay  into  his 
own  image,  as  to  take  such  a  parcel  of  dust  from  all  the  rest  of  the 
creation  whereof  to  compact  Adam's  body  ?  Hath  he  not  as  much 
jurisdiction  over  the  sinful  mass  of  his  creatures  in  a  new  creation, 
as  he  had  oyer  the  chaos  in  the  old  ?     And  what  reason  can  be  ren- 

^  Claude,  sur  la  Parabole  des  Noces,  p.  29. 


ON   GOD'S  DOMINION.  408 

dered,  of  his  advancing  tliis  part  of  matter  to  tlie  nobler  dignity  of  a 
star,  and  leaving  that  other  part  to  make  up  the  dark  body  of  the 
eft,rth ;  to  compact  one  part  into  a  glorious  sun,  and  another  part 
into  a  hard  rock,  but  his  royal  prerogative  ?  What  is  the  reason  a 
prince  subjects  one  malefactor  to  punishment,  and  lifts  up  another  to 
a  place  of  trust  and  profit  ?  that  Pharaoh  honored  the  butler  with 
an  attendance  on  his  person,  and  remitted  the  baker  to  the  hands  of  the 
executioner  ?  It  was  his  pleasure.  And  is  not  as  great  right  due  to  God, 
as  is  allowed  to  the  worms  of  the  earth  ?  What  is  the  reason  he 
hardens  a  Pharaoh,  by  a  denjdng  him  that  grace  which  should  mol- 
lify him,  and  allows  it  to  another  ?  It  is  because  he  will.  "  Whom 
he  will  he  hardens"  (Rom.  ix.  18).  Hath  not  man  the  liberty  to  pull 
up  the  sluice,  and  let  the  water  run  into  what  part  of  the  ground  he 
pleases  ?  What  is  the  reason  some  have  not  a  heart  to  understand 
the  beauty  of  his  ways  ?  Because  the  Lord  doth  not  give  it  them 
(Deut.  xxix.  4).  Why  doth  he  not  give  all  his  converts  an  equal 
measure  of  his  sanctifying  grace  ?  some  have  mites  and  some  have 
treasures.  Why  doth  he  give  his  grace  to  some  sooner,  to  some 
later  ?  some  are  inspired  in  their  infancy,  others  not  till  a  full  age, 
and  after  ;  some  not  till  they  have  fallen  into  some  gross  sin,  as  Paul ; 
some  betimes,  that  they  may  do  him  service :  others  later,  as  the 
thief  upon  the  cross,  and  presently  snatcheth  them  out  of  the  world  ? 
Some  are  weaker,  some  stronger  in  nature,  some  more  beautiful  and 
lovely,  others  more  uncomely  and  sluggish.  It  is  so  in  supernatu- 
rals.  What  reason  is  there  for  this,  but  his  own  will  ?  This  is  in- 
stead of  all  that  can  be  assigned  on  the  part  of  God.  He  is  the  free 
disposer  of  his  own  goods,  and  as  a  Father  may  give  a  greater  portion 
to  one  child  than  to  another.  And  what  reason  of  complaint  is  there 
against  God?  may  not  a  toad  complain  that  God  did  not  make  it 
a  man,  and  give  it  a  portion  of  reason  ?  or  a  fly  complain  that  God 
did  not  make  it  an  angel,  and  give  it  a  garment  of  light ;  had  they 
but  any  spark  of  understanding ;  as  well  as  man  complain  that  God 
did  not  give  him  grace  as  well  as  another  ?  Unless  he  sincerely  de- 
sired it,  and  then  was  denied  it,  he  might  complain  of  God,  though 
not  as  a  sovereign,  yet  as  a  promiser  of  grace  to  them  that  ask  it. 
God  doth  not  render  his  sovereignty  formidable ;  he  shuts  not  up 
his  throne  of  grace  from  any  that  seek  him ;  he  invites  man ;  his 
arms  are  open,  and  the  sceptre  stretched  out ;  and  no  man  continues 
under  the  arrest  of  his  lusts,  but  he  that  is  unwilling  to  be  other- 
wise, and  such  a  one  hath  no  reason  to  complain  of  God. 

8.  His  sovereignty  is  manifest  in  disposing  the  means  of  grace  to 
some,  not  to  all.  He  hath  caused  the  sun  to  shine  bright  in  one 
place,  while  he  hath  left  others  benighted  and  deluded  by  the  devil's 
oracles.  Why  do  the  evangelical  dews  fall  in  this  or  that  place,  and 
not  in  another  ?  Why  was  the  gospel  published  in  Rome  so  soon, 
and  not  in  Tartary  ?  Why  hath  it  been  extinguished  in  some  places, 
as  soon  almost  as  it  had  been  kindled  in  them  ?  Why  hath  one 
place  been  honored  with  the  beams  of  it  in  one  age,  and  been 
covered  with  darkness  the  next  ?  One  country  hath  been  made  a 
sphere  for  this  star,  that  directs  to  Christ,  to  move  in ;  and  after- 
wards it  hath  been  taken  away,  and  placed  in  another ;  sometimes 


404  CHAENOCK   ON   THE   ATTEIBDTES. 

more  clearly  it  hatli  shone,  sometimes  more  darkly,  in  tbe  same 
place  ;  what  is  the  reason  of  this  ?  It  is  true  something  of  it  may  be 
referred  to  the  justice  of  God,  but  much  more  to  the  sovereignty  df 
God.  That  the  gospel  is  published  later,  and  not  sooner,  the  apostle 
tell  us  is  "according  to  the  commandment  of  the  everlasting  God" 
(Rom.  xvi.  26). 

(1.)  The  means  of  grace,  after  the  families  from  Adam  became  dis- 
tinct, were  never  granted  to  all  the  world.  After  that  fatal  breach  in 
Adam's  family  by  the  death  of  Abel,  and  Cain's  separation,  we  read 
not  of  the  means  of  grace  continued  among  Cain's  posterity ;  it  seems 
to  be  continued  in  Adam's  sole  family,  and  not  published  in  societies 
till  the  time  of  Seth.  "  Then  began  men  to  call  upon  the  name  of 
the  Lord"  (Gen.  iv.  26).  It  was  continued  in  that  family  till  the 
deluge,  which  was  1523  years  after  the  creation,  according  to  some, 
or  1656  years,  according  to  others.  After  that,  when  the  world  de- 
generated, it  was  communicated  to  Abraham,  and  settled  in  the  pos- 
terity that  descended  from  Jacob  ;  though  he  left  not  the  world  with- 
out a  witness  of  himself,  and  some  sprinklings  of  revelations  in  other 
parts,  as  appears  by  the  Book  of  Job,  and  the  discourses  of  his 
friends. 

(2.)  The  Jews  had  this  privilege  granted  them  above  other  nations, 
to  have  a  clearer  revelation  of  God.  God  separated  them  from  all 
the  world  to  honor  them  with  the  depositum  of  his  oracles  (Eom.  iii. 
2) :  "  To  them  were  committed  the  oracles  of  God."  In  which  re- 
gard all  other  nations  are  said  to  be  "  without  God"  (Eph.  ii.  12),  as 
being  destitute  of  so  great  a  privilege.  The  Spirit  blew  in  Canaan 
when  the  lands  about  it  felt  not  the  saving  breath  of  it.  "  He  hath 
not  dealt  so  with  any  nation  ;  and  as  for  his  judgments,  they  have 
not  known  them"  (Ps,  cxlvii.  20).  The  rest  had  no  warnings  from 
the  prophets,  no  dictates  from  heaven,  but  what  they  had  by  the  light 
of  nature,  the  view  of  the  works  of  creation,  and  the  administration 
of  Providence,  and  what  remained  among  them  of  some  ancient  tradi- 
tions derived  from  Noah,  which,  in  tract  of  time,  were  much  defaced. 
We  read  but  of  one  Jonah  sent  to  Nineveh,  but  frequent  alarms  to 
the  Israelites  by  a  multitude  of  prophets  commissioned  by  God.  It 
is  true,  the  door  of  the  Jewish  church  was  open  to  what  proselytes 
would  enter  themselves,  and  embrace  their  religion  and  worship ; 
but  there  was  no  public  proclamation  made  in  the  world  ;  only  God, 
by  his  miracles  in  their  deliverance  from  Egypt  (which  could  not  but 
be  famous  among  all  the  neighbor  nations),  declared  them  to  be 
a  people  favored  by  heaven :  but  the  tradition  from  Adam  and  Noah 
was  not  publicly  revived  by  God  in  other  parts,  and  raised  from  that 
grave  of  forgetfulness  wherein  it  had  lain  so  long  buried.  Was  there 
any  reason  in  them  for  this  indulgence  ?  God  might  have  been  as 
liberal  to  any  other  nation,  yea,  to  all  the  nations  in  the  world,  if  it 
had  been  his  sovereign  pleasure  :  any  other  people  were  as  fit  to  be 
entrusted  with  his  oracles,  and  be  subjects  for  his  worship,  as  that 
people ;  yet  all  other  nations,  till  the  rejection  of  the  Jews,  because 
of  their  rejection  of  Christ,  were  strangers  from  the  covenant  of 
promise.  These  people  were  part  of  the  common  mass  of  the  world : 
they  had  no  prerogative  in  nature  above  Adam's  posterity.     Were 


ON  GOD'S  DOMINION.  405 

tliey  the  extract  of  an  innocent  part  of  his  loins,  and  all  the  other 
nations  drained  out  of  his  putrefaction  ?  Had  the  blood  of  Abraham, 
from  whom  they  were  more  immediately  descended,  any  more  pre- 
cious tincture  than  the  rest  of  mankind  ?  They,  as  well  as  other 
nations,  were  made  of  "one  blood"  (Acts  xvii,  26);  and  that  cor- 
rupted both  in  the  spring  and  in  the  rivulets.  Were  they  better  than 
other  nations,  when  God  first  drew  them  out  of  their  slavery  ?  We 
have  Joshua's  authority  for  it,  that  they  had  complied  with  the  Egypt- 
ian idolatry,  "and  served  other  gods,"  in  that  place  of  their  servi- 
tude (Josh.  xxiv.  14).  Had  they  had  an  abhorrency  of  the  supersti- 
tion of  Egypt,  while  they  remained  there,  they  could  not  so  soon 
have  erected  a  golden  calf  for  worship,  in  imitation  of  the  Egyptian 
idols.  All  the  rest  of  mankind  had  as  inviting  reasons  to  present 
God  with,  as  those  people  had.  God  might  have  granted  the  same 
privilege  to  all  the  world,  as  well  as  to  them,  or  denied  it  them,  and 
endowed  all  the  rest  of  the  world  with  his  statutes  :  but  the  enrich- 
ing such  a  small  company  of  people  with  his  Divine  showers,  and 
leaving  the  rest  of  the  world  as  a  barren  wilderness  in  spirituals,  can 
be  placed  upon  no  other  account  originally  than  that  of  his  unaccount- 
able sovereignty,  of  his  love  to  them  :  there  was  nothing  in  them  to 
merit  such  high  titles  from  God  as  his  first-born,  his  peculiar  treas- 
ure, the  apple  of  his  eye.  He  disclaims  any  righteousness  in  them, 
and  speaks  a  word  sufficient  to  damp  such  thoughts  in  them,  by 
charging  them  with  their  wickedness,  while  he  "  loaded  them  with 
his  benefits"  (Deut.  ix.  4,  6).  The  Lord  "  gives  thee  not"  this  land 
for  "  thy  righteousness  ;"  for  thou  art  a  stiff-necked  people.  It  was 
an  act  of  God's  free  pleasure  to  "  choose  them  to  be  a  people  to  him- 
self" (Deut.  vii.  6). 

(3.)  God  afterwards  rejected  the  Jews,  gave  them  up  to  the  hard- 
ness of  their  hearts,  and  spread  the  gospel  among  the  Gentiles.  He 
hath  cast  off  the  children  of  the  kingdom,  those  that  had  been  en- 
rolled for  his  subjects  for  many  ages,  who  seemed,  by  their  descent 
from  Abraham,  to  have  a  right  to  the  privileges  of  Abraham  ;  and 
called  men  from  the  east  and  from  the  west,  from  the  darkest  cor- 
ners in  the  world,  to  "  sit  down  with  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  in 
the  kingdom  of  heaven,"  i.  e.  to  partake  with  them  of  the  promises 
of  the  gospel  (Matt.  viii.  11).  The  people  that  were  accounted  ac- 
cursed by  the  Jews  enjoy  the  means  of  grace,  which  have  been  hid 
from  those  that  were  once  dignified  this  1600  years  ;  that  they  have 
neither  ephod,  nor  teraphim,  nor  sacrifice,  nor  any  true  worship  of 
God  among  them  (Hos.  iii.  4).  Why  he  should  not  give  them  grace 
to  acknowledge  and  own  the  person  of  the  Messiah,  to  whom  he  had 
made  the  promises  of  him  for  so  many  successive  ages,  but  let  their 
"  heart  be  fat,"  and  "  their  ears  heavy"  (Isa.  vi.  10)  ? — why  the  gos- 
pel at  length,  after  the  resurrection  of  Christ,  should  be  presented  to 
the  Gentiles,  not  by  chance,  but  pursuant  to  the  resolution  and  pre- 
diction of  God,  declared  by  the  prophets  that  it  should  be  so  in  time  ? 
— why  he  should  let  so  many  hundreds  of  years  pass  over,  after  the 
world  was  peopled,  and  let  the  nations  all  that  while  soak  in  their 
idolatrous  customs  ? — why  he  should  not  call  the  Gentiles  without 
rejecting  the  Jews,  and  bind  them  both  up  together  in  the  bundle  of 


406  CHARNOCK  ON  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

life  ? — wliy  lie  should  acquaint  some  people  witli  it  a  little  after  the 
publishing  it  in  Jerusalem,  by  the  descent  of  the  Spirit,  and  others 
not  a  long  time  after  ? — some  in  the  first  ages  of  Christianity  enjoyed 
it ;  others  have  it  not,  as  those  in  America,  till  the  last  age  of  the 
world ; — can  be  referred  to  nothing  but  his  sovereign  pleasure.  What 
merit  can  be  discovered  in  the  Gentiles  ?  There  is  something  of  jus- 
tice in  the  case  of  the  Jews'  rejection,  nothing  but  sovereignty  in  the 
Gentiles'  reception  into  the  church.  If  the  Jews  were  bad,  the  Gen- 
tiles were  in  some  sort  worse :  the  Jews  owned  the  one  true  God, 
without  mixture  of  idols,  though  they  owned  not  the  Messiah  in  his 
appearance,  which  they  did  in  a  promise ;  but  the  Gentiles  owned 
neither  the  one  nor  the  other.  Some  tell  us,  it  was  for  the  merit  of 
some  of  their  ancestors.  How  comes  the  means  of  grace,  then,  to 
be  taken  from  the  Jew,  who  had  (if  any  people  ever  had)  meritori- 
ous ancestors  for  a  plea  ?  If  the  merit  of  some  of  their  former  pro- 
genitors were  the  cause,  what  was  the  reason  the  debt  due  to  their 
merit  was  not  paid  to  their  immediate  progeny,  or  to  themselves,  but 
to  a  posterity  so  distant  from  them,  and  so  abominably  depraved  as 
the  Gentile  world  was  at  the  day  of  the  gospel-sun  striking  into  their 
horizon  ?  What  merit  might  be  in  their  ancestors  (if  any  could  be 
supposed  in  the  most  refined  rubbish),  it  was  so  little  for  themselves, 
that  no  oil  could  be  spared  out  of  their  lamps  for  others.  What 
merit  their  ancestors  might  have,  might  be  forfeited  by  the  succeed- 
ing generations.  It  is  ordinarily  seen,  that  what  honor  a  father  de- 
serves in  a  state  for  public  service,  may  be  lost  by  the  son,  forfeited 
by  treason,  and  himself  attainted.  Or  was  it  out  of  a  foresight  that 
the  Gentiles  would  embrace  it,  and  the  Jews  reject  it ;  that  the  Gen- 
tiles would  embrace  it  in  one  place,  and  not  in  another  ?  How  did 
God  foresee  it,  but  in  his  own  grace,  which  he  was  resolved  to  dis- 
play in  one,  not  in  another  ?  It  must  be  then  still  resolved  into  his 
sovereign  pleasure.  Or  did  he  foresee  it  in  their  wills  and  nature  ? 
What,  were  they  not  all  one  common  dross  ?  Was  any  part  of  Adam, 
by  nature,  better  than  another  ?  How  did  God  foresee  that  which 
was  not,  nor  could  be,  without  his  pleasure  to  give  ability,  and  grace 
to  receive  ?  Well,  then,  what  reason  but  the  sovereign  pleasure  of 
God  can  be  alleged,  why  Christ  forbade  the  apostles,  at  their  first 
commission,  to  preach  to  the  Gentiles  (Matt.  x.  15),  but,  at  the  sec- 
ond and  standing  commission,  orders  them  to  preach  to  "every  crea- 
ture ?"  Why  did  he  put  a  demur  to  the  resolutions  of  Paul  and 
Timothy,  to  impart  light  to  Bithynia,  or  order  them  to  go  into  Mace- 
donia ?  Was  that  country  more  worthy  upon  whom  lay  a  great 
part  of  the  blood  of  the  world  shed  in  Alexander's  time  (Acts  xvi. 
6,  7,  9,  10)  ?  Why  should  Corazin  and  Bethsaida  enjoy  those  means 
that  were  not  granted  to  the  Tyrians  and  Sidonians,  who  might  prob- 
ably have  sooner  reached  out  their  arms  to  welcome  it  (Matt.  xi.  21)  ? 
Why  should  God  send  the  gospel  into  our  island,  and  cause  it  to 
flourish  so  long  here,  and  not  send  it,  or  continue  it,  in  the  farthest 
eastern  parts  of  the  world  ?  Why  should  the  very  profession  of 
Christianity  possess  so  small  a  compass  of  ground  in  the  world,  but 
five  parts  in  thirty,  the  Mahometans  holding  six  parts,  and  the  other 
nineteen  overgrown  with  Paganism,  where  either  the  gospel  was 


ON   GOD'S   DOMINION".  407 

never  planted,  or  else  since  rooted  up  ?  To  whom  will  you  refer 
this,  but  to  the  same  cause  our  Saviour  doth  the  revelation  of  the 
gospel  to  babes,  and  not  to  the  wise — even  to  his  Father  ?  "  For  so 
it  seemed  good  in  thy  sight"  (Matt.  xi.  25,  26) ;  "  For  so  was  thy 
good  pleasure  before  thee"  (as  in  the  original) ;  it  is  at  his  pleasure 
whether  he  will  give  any  a  clear  revelation  of  his  gospel,  or  leave 
them  only  to  the  light  of  nature.  He  could  have  kept  up  the  first 
beam  of  the  gospel  in  the  promise  in  all  nations  among  the  aposta- 
sies of  Adam's  posterity,  or  renewed  it  in  all  nations  when  it  began 
to  be  darkened,  as  well  as  he  first  published  it  to  Adam  after  his  fall ; 
but  it  was  his  sovereign  pleasure  to  permit  it  to  be  obscured  in  one 
place,  and  to  keep  it  lighted  in  another. 

4.  His  sovereignty  is  manifest  in  the  various  influences  of  the 
means  of  grace.  He  saith  to  these  waters  of  the  sanctuary,  as  to  the 
floods  of  the  sea,  "  Hitherto  you  shall  go,  and  no  further."  Some- 
times they  wash  away  the  filth  of  the  flesh  and  outward  man,  but 
not  that  of  the  spirit ;  the  gospel  spiritualizeth  some,  and  only 
moralizeth  others  ;  some  are  by  the  power  of  it  struck  down  to  con- 
viction, but  not  raised  up  to  conversion  ;  some  have  only  the  gleams 
of  it  in  their  consciences,  and  others  more  powerful  flashes ;  some 
remain  in  their  thick  darkness  under  the  beaming  of  the  gospel  every 
day  in  their  face,  and  after  a  long  insensibleness  are  roused  by  its 
light  and  warmth  ;  sometimes  there  is  such  a  powerful  breath  in  it, 
that  it  levels  the  haughty  imaginations  of  men,  and  lays  them  at  its 
feet  that  before  strutted  against  it  in  the  pride  of  their  heart.  The 
foundation  of  this  is  not  in  the  gospel  itself,  which  is  always  the 
same,  nor  in  the  ordinances,  which  are  channels  as  sound  at  one 
time  as  at  another,  but  Divine  sovereignty  that  spirits  them  as  he 
pleaseth,  and  "  blows  when  and  where  it  lists."  It  has  sometimes 
conquered  its  thousands  (Acts,  ii.  41) ;  at  another  time  scarce  its  tens ; 
sometimes  the  harvest  hath  been  great,  when  the  laborers  have  been 
but  fcAV  ;  at  another  time  it  hath  been  small,  when  the  laborers  have 
been  many  ;  sometimes  whole  sheaves ;  at  another  time  scarce  glean- 
ings. The  evangelical  net  hath  been  sometimes  full  at  a  cast,  and  at 
every  cast ;  at  another  time  many  have  labored  all  night,  and  day 
too,  and  catched  nothing  (Acts,  ii.  47) :  "  The  Lord  added  to  the 
church  daily."  The  gospel  chariot  doth  not  always  return  with  cap- 
tives chained  to  the  sides  of  it,  but  sometimes  blurred  and  reproach- 
ed, wearing  the  marks  of  hell's  spite,  instead  of  imprinting  the 
marks  of  its  own  beauty.  In  Corinth  it  triumphed  over  many 
people  (Acts,  xviii.  10) ;  in  Athens  it  is  mocked,  and  gathers  but  a 
few  clusters  (Acts,  xvii.  32,  34).  God  keeps  the  key  of  the  heart, 
as  well  as  of  the  womb.  The  apostles  had  a  power  of  publishing 
the  gospel,  and  working  miracles,  but  under  the  Divine  conduct ;  it 
was  an  instrumentality  durante  bene  pJacito^  and  as  God  saw  it  con- 
venient. Miracles  were  not  vipon  every  occasion  allowed  to  them 
to  be  wrought,  nor  success  upon  every  administration  granted  to 
them  ;  God  sometimes  lent  them  the  key,  but  to  take  out  no  more 
treasure  than  was  allotted  to  them.  There  is  a  variety  in  the  time  of 
gospel  operation  ;  some  rise  out  of  their  graves  of  sin,  and  beds  of 
sluggishness,  at  the  first  appearance  of  this  sun  ;  others  lie  snorting 


408  CHARNOCK  ON  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

longer.  Why  dotli  not  God  spirit  it  at  one  season  as  well  as  at 
another,  but  set  his  distinct  periods  of  time,  but  because  he  will  show 
his  absolute  freedom  ?  And  do  we  not  sometimes  experiment  that 
after  tlie  most  solemn  preparations  of  the  heart,  we  are  frustrated  of 
those  incomes  we  expected  ?  Perhaps  it  was  because  we  tliought 
Divine  returns  were  due  to  our  preparations,  and  God  stops  up  the 
channel,  and  we  return  drier  than  we  came,  that  God  may  confute 
our  false  opinion,  and  preserve  the  honor  of  his  own  sovereignty. 
Sometimes  we  leap  with  John  Baptist  in  the  womb  at  the  appear- 
ance of  Ciirist ;  sometimes  we  lie  upon  a  lazy  bed  when  he  knocks 
from  heaven ;  sometimes  the  fleece  is  dry,  and  sometimes  wet,  and 
God  withholds  to  drop  down  his  dew  of  the  morning  upon  it.  The 
dews  of  his  word,  as  well  as  the  droppings  of  the  clouds,  belong  to 
his  royalty;  light  will  not  shine  into  the  heart,  though  it  shine  round 
about  us,  without  the  sovereign  order  of  that  God  "  who  command- 
ed light  to  shine  out  of  the  darkness"  of  the  chaos  (2  Cor.  iv.  6). 
And  is  it  not  seen  also  in  regard  of  the  refreshing  influences  of  the 
word  ?  sometimes  the  strongest  arguments,  and  clearest  promises, 
prevail  nothing  towards  the  quelling  black  and  despairing  imagi- 
nations ;  when,  afterwards,  we  have  found  them  frighted  away 
by  an  unexpected  word,  that  seemed  to  have  less  virtue  in  it  itself 
than  any  that  passed  in  vain  before  it.  The  reasonings  of  wisdom 
have  dropped  down  like  arrows  against  a  brazen  wall,  when  the 
speech  of  a  weaker  person  hath  found  an  efiicacy.  It  is  God  by  his 
sovereignty  spirits  one  word  and  not  another ;  sometimes  a  secret 
word  comes  in,  which  was  not  thought  of  before,  as  dropped  from 
heaven,  and  gives  a  refreshing,  when  emptiness  was  found  in  all  the 
rest.  One  word  from  the  lips  of  a  sovereign  prince  is  a  greater  cordial 
than  all  the  harangues  of  subjects  without  it ;  what  is  the  reason  of 
this  variety,  but  that  God  would  increase  the  proofs  of  his  own  sover- 
eignty ?  that  as  it  was  a  part  of  his  dominion  to  create  the  beauty 
of  a  world,  so  it  is  no  less  to  create  the  peace  as  well  as  the  grace  of 
the  heart  (Isa.  Ivii.  19):  "  I  create  the  fruit  of  the  lips,  peace."  Let 
us  learn  from  hence  to  have  adoring  thoughts  of,  not  murmuring 
fancies  against,  the  sovereignty  of  God;  to  acknowledge  it  with 
thankfulness  in  what  we  have ;  to  implore  it  with  a  holy  submission 
in  what  we  want.  To  own  God  as  a  sovereign  in  a  way  of  depend- 
ence, is  the  way  to  be  owned  by  him  as  subjects  in  a  way  of  favor. 

5.  His  sovereignty  is  manifested  in  giving  a  greater  measure  of 
knowledge  to  some  than  to  others.  What  parts,  gifts,  excellency  of 
nature,  any  have  above  others,  are  God's  donative  ;  "  He  gives  wis- 
dom to  the  wise,  and  knowledge  to  them  that  know  understanding" 
(Dan.  ii.  21) ;  wisdom,  the  habit,  and  knowledge,  the  right  use  of  it, 
in  discerning  the  right  nature  of  objects,  and  the  fitness  of  means 
conducing  to  the  end ;  all  is  but  a  beam  of  Divine  light ;  and  the 
different  degrees  of  knowledge  in  one  man  above  another,  are  the 
effects  of  his  sovereign  pleasure.  He  enlightens  not  the  minds  of 
all  men  to  know  every  part  of  his  will ;  one  "  eats  with  a  doubtful 
conscience,"  another  in  "  faith,"  without  any  staggering  (Rom.  xiv. 
2).  Peter  had  a  desire  to  keep  up  circumcision,  not  fully  understand- 
ing the  mind  of  God  in  the  abolition  of  the  Jewish  ceremonies ; 


ON  GOD'S  DOMINION".  409 

wliile  Paul  was  clear  in  the  truth  of  that  doctrine.  A  thought  comes 
into  our  mind  that,  like  a  sunbeam,  makes  a  Scripture  truth  visible 
in  a  moment,  which  before  we  were  poring  upon  without  any  suc- 
cess ;  this  is  from  his  pleasure.  One  in  the  primitive  times  had  the 
gift  of  knowledge,  another  of  wisdom,  one  the  gift  of  prophecy, 
another  of  tongues,  one  the  gift  of  healing,  another  that  of  discern- 
ing spirits ;  why  this  gift  to  one  man,  and  not  to  another  ?  Why 
such  a  distribution  in  several  subjects  ?  Because  it  is  his  sovereign 
pleasure.  "  The  Spirit  divides  to  every  man  severally  as  he  will" 
(1  Cor.  xii.  11).  Why  doth  he  give  Bezaleel  and  Aholiab  the  gift 
of  engraving,  and  making  curious  works  for  the  tabernacle  (Exod. 
xxxi.  3),  and  not  others?  Why  doth  he  bestow  the  treasures  of 
evangelical  knowledge  upon  the  meanest  of  earthen  vessels,  the  poor 
Galileans,  and  neglect  the  Pharisees,  stored  with  the  knowledge  both 
of  naturals  and  morals?  Why  did  he  give  to  some,  and  not  to 
others,  "  to  know  the  mysteries  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven  ?"  (Matt. 
xiii.  11.)  The  reason  is  implied  in  the  words,  "  Because  it  was  the 
mystery  of  his  kingdom,"  and  tlierefore  was  the  act  of  his  sover- 
eignty. How  would  it  be  a  kingdom  and  monarchy  if  the  govern- 
or of  it  were  bound  to  do  what  he  did  ?  It  is  to  be  resolved  only 
into  the  sovereign  right  of  propriety  of  his  own  goods,  that  he  fur- 
nisheth  babes  with  a  stock  of  knowledge,  and  leaves  the  wise  and 
prudent  empty  of  it  (Matt.  xi.  26) :  "  Even  so.  Father :  for  so  it 
seemed  good  in  thy  sight."  Why  did  he  not  reveal  his  mind  to  Eli, 
a  grown  man,  and  in  the  highest  office  in  the  Jewish  church,  but 
open  it  to  Samuel,  a  stripling  ?  why  did  the  Lord  go  from  the  one  to 
the  other  ?  Because  his  motion  depends  upon  his  own  will.  Some 
are  of  so  dull  a  constitution,  that  they  are  incapable  of  any  impres- 
sion, like  rocks  too  hard  for  a  stamp  ;  others  like  water ;  you  may 
stamp  what  you  please,  but  it  vanisheth  as  soon  as  the  seal  is  re- 
moved. It  is  God  forms  men  as  he  pleaseth :  some  have  parts  to 
govern  a  kingdom,  others  scarce  brains  to  conduct  their  own  afi'airs  ; 
one  is  fit  to  rule  men,  and  another  scarce  fit  to  keep  swine ;  some 
have  capacious  souls  in  crazy  and  deformed  bodies,  others  contracted 
spirits  and  heavier  minds  in  a  richer  and  more  beautiful  case.  Why 
are  not  all  stones  alike  ?  some  have  a  more  sparkling  light,  as  gems, 
more  orient  than  pebbles ; — some  are  stars  of  first,  and  others  of  a 
less  magnitude  ;  others  as  mean  as  glow-worms,  a  slimy  lustre  : — it 
is  because  he  is  the  sovereign  Disposer  of  what  belongs  to  him  ;  and 
gives  here,  as  well  as  at  the  resurrection,  to  one  "a  glory  of  the  sun;" 
to  another  that  of  the  "  moon ;"  and  to  a  third  a  less,  resembling 
that  of  a  "  star"  (1  Cor.  xv.  40).  And  this  God  may  do  by  the 
same  right  of  dominion,  as  he  exercised  when  he  endowed  some 
kinds  of  creatures  with  a  greater  perfection  than  others  in  their  na- 
ture. Why  may  he  not  as  well  garnish  one  man  with  a  greater 
proportion  of  gifts,  as  make  a  man  differ  in  excellency  from  the  na- 
ture of  a  beast  ?  or  frame  angels  to  a  more  purely  spiritual  nature 
than  a  man  ?  or  make  one  angel  a  cherubim  or  seraphim,  with  a 
greater  measure  of  light  than  another  ?  Though  the  foundation  of 
this  is  his  dominion,  yet  his  wisdom  is  not  uninterested  in  his  sover- 
eign disposal ;  he  garnisheth  those  with  a  greater  ability  whom  he 


410  CHARNOCK  ON  THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

intends  for  greater  service,  than  those  that  he  intends  for  less,  or 
none  at  all ;  as  an  artificer  bestows  more  labor,  and  carves  a  more 
excellent  figure  upon  those  stones  that  he  designs  for  a  more  honor- 
able jjlace  in  the  building.  But  though  the  intending  this  or  that 
man  for  service  be  the  motive  of  laying  in  a  greater  provision  in 
him  than  in  others,  yet  still  it  is  to  be  referred  to  his  sovereignty, 
since  that  first  act  of  culling  him  out  for  such  an  end  was  the  fruit 
solely  of  his  sovereign  pleasure  :  as  when  he  resolved  to  make  a  crea- 
ture actively  to  glorify  him,  in  wisdom  he  must  give  him  reason ;  yet 
the  making  such  a  creature  was  an  act  of  his  absolute  dominion. 

6.  Plis  sovereignty  is  manifest  in  the  calling  some  to  a  more  spe- 
cial service  in  their  generation.  God  settles  some  in  immediate 
offices  of  his  service,  and  perpetuates  them  in  those  offices,  with  a 
neglect  of  others,  who  seem  to  have  a  greater  pretence  to  them. 
Moses  was  a  great  sufferer  for  Israel,  the  solicitor  for  them  in  Egypt, 
and  the  conductor  of  them  from  Egypt  to  Canaan  ;  yet  he  was  not 
chosen  to  the  high  j)riesthood,  but  that  was  an  office  settled  upon 
Aaron,  and  his  posterity  after  him,  in  a  lineal  descent ;  Moses  was 
only  pitched  upon  for  the  present  rescue  of  the  captived  Israelites, 
and  to  be  the  instrument  of  Divine  miracles ;  but  notwithstanding 
all  the  success  he  had  in  his  conduct,  his  faithfulness  in  his  employ- 
ment, and  the  transcendent  familiarity  he  had  with  the  great  Ruler 
of  the  world,  his  posterity  were  left  in  the  common  level  of  the  tribe 
of  Levi,  without  any  sj^ecial  mark  of  dignity  upon  them  above  the 
rest  for  all  the  services  of  that  great  man.  Why  Moses  for  a  tem- 
porary magistrate,  Aaron  for  a  perpetual  priesthood,  above  all  the 
rest  of  the  Israelites  ?  hath  little  reason  but  the  absolute  pleasure  of 
God,  who  distributes  his  employments  as  he  pleaseth ;  and  as  a 
master  orders  his  servant  to  do  the  noblest  work,  and  another  to 
labor  in  baser  offices,  according  to  his  pleasure.  Why  doth  he  call 
out  David,  a  shepherd,  to  sway  the  Jewish  sceptre,  above  the  rest 
of  the  brothers,  that  had  a  fairer  appearance,  and  had  been  bred  in 
arms,  and  inured  to  the  toils  and  watchings  of  a  camj)  ?  Why 
should  Mary  be  the  mother  of  Christ,  and  not  some  other  of  the 
same  family  of  David,  of  a  more  splendid  birth,  and  a  nobler  educa- 
tion ?  Though  some  other  reasons  may  be  rendered,  yet  that  which 
affords  the  greatest  acquiescence,  is  the  sovereign  will  of  God.  Why 
did  Christ  choose  out  of  the  meanest  of  the  people  the  twelve 
a]3ostles,  to  be  heralds  of  his  grace  in  Judea,  and  other  parts  of  the 
world ;  and  afterwards  select  Paul  before  Gamaliel,  his  instructor, 
and  others  of  the  Jews,  as  learned  as  himself,  and  advance  him  to  be 
the  most  eminent  apostle,  above  the  heads  of  those  who  had  min- 
istered to  Christ  in  the  days  of  his  flesh  ?  Why  should  he  preserve 
eleven  of  those  he  first  called  to  propagate  and  enlarge  his  kingdom, 
and  leave  the  other  to  the  employment  of  shedding  his  blood? 
Why,  in  the  times  of  our  reformation,  he  should  choose  a  Luther 
out  of  a  monastery,  and  leave  others  in  their  superstitious  nastiness, 
to  perish  in  the  traditions  of  their  fathers?  Why  set  up  Calvin,  as 
a  bulwark  of  the  gospel,  and  let  others  as  learned  as  himself 
wallow  in  the  sink  of  popery  ?  It  is  his  pleasure  to  do  so.  The 
potter  hath  power  to  separate  this  part  of  the  clay  to  form  a  vessel 


ON  god's  dominion.  411 

for  a  more  public  use,  and  another  part  of  tlie  clay  to  form  a 
vessel  for  a  more  private  one.  God  takes  tlie  meanest  clay  to 
form  the  most  excellent  and  honorable  vessels  in  his  house.  As 
he  formed  man,  that  was  to  govern  the  creatures  of  the  same  clay 
and  earth  whereof  the  beasts  were  formed,  and  not  of  that  nobler 
element  of  water,  which  gave  birth  to  the  fish  and  birds:  so  he 
forms  some,  that  are  to  do  him  the  greatest  service,  of  the  meanest 
materials,  to  manifest  the  absolute  right  of  his  dominion, 

7.  His  sovereignty  is  manifest  in  the  bestowing  much  wealth  and 
honor  upon  some,  and  not  vouchsafing  it  to  the  more  industrious 
labors  and  attempts  of  others.  Some  are  abased,  and  others  are 
elevated  ;  some  are  enriched,  and  others  impoverished  ;  some  scarce 
feel  any  cross,  and  others  scarce  feel  any  comfort  in  their  whole 
lives;  some  sweat  and  toil,  and  what  they  labor  for  runs  out  of 
their  reach  ;  others  sit  still,  and  what  they  wish  for  falls  into  their 
lap.  One  of  the  same  clay  hath  a  diadem  to  beautify  his  head,  and 
another  wants  a  covering  to  protect  him  from  the  weather.  One 
hath  a  stately  palace  to  lodge  in,  and  another  is  scarce  master  of  a 
cottage  where  to  lay  his  head.  A  sceptre  is  put  into  one  man's 
hand,  and  a  spade  into  another's;  a  rich  purple  garnisheth  one 
man's  body,  while  another  wraps  himself  in  dunghill  rags.  The 
poverty  of  some,  and  the  wealth  of  others,  is  an  effect  of  the  Divine 
sovereignty,  whence  God  is  said  to  be  the  Maker  of  the  "  poor  as 
well  as  the  rich"  (Prov.  xxii.  2),  not  only  of  their  persons,  but  of 
their  conditions.  The  earth,  and  the  fulness  thereof,  is  his  propriety ; 
and  he  hath  as  much  a  right  as  Joseph  had  to  bestow  changes  of 
raiment  upon  what  Benjamins  he  please.  There  is  an  election  to  a 
greater  degree  of  worldly  felicity,  as  there  is  an  election  of  some  to 
a  greater  degree  of  supernatural  grace  and  glory :  as  he  makes  it 
"  rain  upon  one  city,  and  not  upon  another"  (Amos  iv.  7),  so  he 
causeth  prosperity  to  distil  upon  the  head  of  one  and  not  upon 
another;  crowning  some  with  earthly  blessings,  while  he  crosseth 
others  with  continual  afflictions  :  for  he  speaks  of  himself  as  a  great 
proprietor  of  the  corn  that  nourisheth  us,  and  the  wine  that  cheers 
us,  and  the  wood  that  warm  us  (Hos.  ii.  8,  9) :  "I  will  take  away," 
not  your  corn  and  wine,  but  "  my  corn,  my  wine,  my  wool."  His 
right  to  dispose  of  the  goods  of  every  particular  person  is  unques- 
tionable. He  can  take  away  from  one,  and  pass  over  the  propriety 
to  another.  Thus  he  devolved  the  right  of  the  Egyptian  jewels  to 
the  Israelites,  and  bestowed  upon  the  captives  what  before  he  had 
vouchsafed  to  the  oppressors ;  as  every  sovereign  state  demands  the 
goods  of  their  subjects  for  the  public  advantage  in  a  case  of  exi- 
gency, though  none  of  that  wealth  was  gained  by  any  public  office, 
but  by  their  private  industry,  and  gained  in  a  country  not  subject 
to  the  dominion  of  those  that  require  a  portion  of  them.  By  this 
right  he  changes  strangely  the  scene  of  the  world ;  sometimes  those 
that  are  liigh  are  reduced  to  a  mean  and  ignominious  condition, 
those  that  are  mean  are  advanced  to  a  state  of  plenty  and  glory. 
The  counter,  which  in  accounting  signifies  now  but  a  penny,  is 
presently  raised  up  to  signify  a  pound.  The  proud  ladies  of  Israel, 
instead  of  a  girdle  of  curious  needlework,  arc  brought  to  make  use 


4:12  CHARNOCK  ON  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

of  a  cord  ;  as  tlie  vulgar  translates  rent^  a  rag,  or  list  of  cloth  (Isa. 
iii.  24),  and  sackcloth  for  a  stomacher  instead  of  silk.  This  is  the 
sovereign  act  of  God,  as  he  is  Lord  of  the  world  (Pa.  Ixxv.  6,  7) : 
"  Promotion  cometh  neither  from  the  east,  nor  from  the  west,  nor  from 
the  south,  but  God  is  the  Judge :  he  putteth  down  one,  and  setteth 
up  another."  He  doth  no  wrong  to  any  man,  if  he  lets  him  languish 
out  his  days  in  poverty  and  disgrace :  if  he  gives  or  takes  away, 
he  meddles  with  nothing  but  what  is  his  own  more  than  ours :  if  he 
did  dispense  his  benefits  equally  to  all,  men  would  soon  think  it 
their  due.  The  inequality  and  changes  preserve  the  notion  of  God's 
sovereignty,  and  correct  our  natural  unmindfulness  of  it.  If  there 
were  no  changes,  God  would  not  be  feared  as  the  "  King  of  all  the 
earth"  (Ps.  Iv.  19) :  to  this  might  also  be  referred  his  investing  some 
countries  with  greater  riches  in  their  bowels,  and  on  the  surface ; 
the  disposing  some  of  the  fruitful  and  pleasant  regions  of  Canaan 
or  Italy,  while  he  settles  others  in  the  icy  and  barren  parts  of  the 
northern  climates. 

8.  His  sovereignty  is  manifest  in  the  times  and  seasons  of  dispens- 
ing his  goods.  He  is  Lord  of  the  times  when,  as  well  as  of 
the  goods  which,  he  doth  dispose  of  to  any  person ;  these  "  the 
Father  hath  put  in  his  own  power"  (Acts  i.  7).  As  it  was  his  sov- 
ereign pleasure  to  restore  the  kingdom  to  Israel,  so  he  would  pitch 
upon  the  time  when  to  do  it,  and  would  not  have  his  right  invaded, 
so  much  as  by  a  question  out  of  curiosity.  This  disposing  of  op- 
portunities, in  many  things,  can  be  referred  to  nothing  else  but  his 
sovereign  pleasure.  Why  should  Christ  come  at  the  twilight  and 
evening  of  the  world  ?  at  the  fulness,  and  not  at  the  beginning,  of 
time  ?  Why  should  he  be  from  the  infancy  of  the  world  so  long 
wrapt  up  in  a  promise,  and  not  appear  in  the  flesh  till  the  last 
times  and  gray  hairs  of  the  world,  when  so  many  persons,  in  all 
nations,  had  been  hurried  out  of  the  world  without  any  notice  of 
such  a  Eedeemer  ?  What  was  this  but  his  sovereign  will  ?  Why 
the  Gentiles  should  be  left  so  long  in  the  devil's  chains,  wallowing 
in  the  sink  of  their  abominable  superstitions,  since  God  had  declared 
his  intention  by  the  j^rophets  to  call  multitudes  of  them,  and  reject 
the  Jews ; — why  he  should  defer  it  so  long,  can  be  referred  to 
nothing  but  the  same  cause.  What  is  the  reason  the  veil  continues 
so  long  upon  the  heart  of  the  Jews,  that  is  promised,  one  time  or 
other,  to  be  taken  off?  Why  doth  God  delay  the  accomplishment 
of  those  glorious  predictions  of  the  happiness  and  interest  of  that 
people  ?  Is  it  because  of  the  sin  of  their  ancestors, — a  reason  that 
cannot  bear  much  weight?  If  we  cast  it  upon  that  account,  their 
conversion  can  never  be  expected,  can  never  be  effected  ;  if  for  the 
sins  of  their  ancestors,  is  it  not  also  for  their  own  sins  ?  Do  their 
sins  grow  less  in  number,  or  less  venomous,  or  provoking  in  quality, 
by  this  delay  ?  Is  not  their  blasphemy  of  Christ  as  malicious,  their 
hatred  of  him  as  strong  and  rooted,  as  ever  ?  Do  they  not  as  much 
approve  of  the  bloody  act  of  their  ancestors,  since  so  many  ages  are 
past,  as  their  ancestors  did  applaud  it  at  the  time  of  the  execution  ? 
Have  they  not  the  same  disposition  and  will,  discovered  sufficiently 
by  the  scorn  of  Christ,  and  of  those  that  profess  his  name,  to  act  the 


ON   GOD'S   DOMINION.  413 

same  thing  over  again,  were  Christ  now  in  the  saftie  state  in  the 
world,  and  they  invested  with  the  same  power  of  government?  If 
their  conversion  were  deferred  one  age  after  the  death  of  Christ  for 
the  sins  of  their  preceding  ancestors,  is  it  to  be  expected  now ;  since 
the  present  generation  of  the  Jews  in  all  countries  have  the  sins  of 
those  remote,  the  succeeding,  and  their  more  immediate  ancestors, 
lying  upon  them  ?  This,  therefore,  cannot  be  the  reason ;  but  as  it 
was  the  sovereign  pleasure  of  God  to  foretell  his  intention  to  over- 
come the  stoutness  of  their  hearts,  so  it  is  his  sovereign  pleasure 
that  it  shall  not  be  performed  till  the  "  fulness  of  the  Gentiles  be 
come  in"  (Rom,  xi.  25).  As  he  is  the  Lord  of  his  own  grace,  so  he 
is  the  Lord  of  the  time  when  to  dispense  it.  Why  did  God  create 
the  world  in  six  days,  which  he  could  have  erected  and  beautified 
in  a  moment  ?  Because  it  was  his  pleasure  so  to  do.  Why  did  he 
frame  the  world  when  he  did,  and  not  many  ages  before  ?  Because 
he  is  Master  of  his  own  work.  Wliy  did  he  not  resolve  to  bring 
Israel  to  the  fruition  of  Canaan  till  after  four  hundred  years  ?  Why 
did  he  draw  out  their  deliverance  to  so  long  time  after  he  began  to 
attempt  it?  Why  such  a  multitude  of  plagues  upon  Pharaoh  to 
work  it,  when  he  could  have  cut  short  the  work  by  one  mortal  blow 
upon  the  tyrant  and  his  accomplices  ?  It  was  his  sovereign  plea- 
sure to  act  so,  though  not  without  other  reasons  intelligible  enough 
by  looking  into  the  story.  Why  doth  he  not  bring  man  to  a  perfec- 
tion of  stature  in  a  moment  after  his  birth,  but  let  him  continue  in 
a  tedious  infancy,  in  a  semblance  to  beasts,  for  the  want  of  an  exer- 
cise of  reason  ?  Why  doth  he  not  bring  this  or  that  man,  whom 
he  intends  for  service,  to  a  fitness  in  an  instant,  but  by  long  tracts  of 
study,  and  through  many  meanders  and  labyrinths  ?  Why  doth  he 
transplant  a  hopeful  person  in  his  youth  to  the  pleasures  of  another 
world,  and  let  another,  of  an  eminent  holiness,  continue  in  the 
misery  of  this,  and  wade  through  many  floods  of  afflictions  ?  What 
can  we  chiefly  refer  all  these  things  to  but  his  sovereign  pleasure  ? 
The  "times  are  determined  by  God"  (Acts,  xvii.  26). 

Thirdly.  The  dominion  of  God  is  manifested  as  a  governor,  as  well 
as  a  lawgiver  and  proprietor. 

1.  In  disposing  of  states  and  kingdoms.  (Ps.  Ixxv.  7) :  "  God  is 
Judge;  he  puts  clown  one,  and  sets  up  another,"  "Judge"  is  to  be 
taken  not  in  the  same  sense  that  we  commonly  use  the  word,  for  a 
judicial  minister  in  a  way  of  trial,  but  for  a  governor ;  as  you  know 
the  extraordinary  governors  raised  up  among  the  Jews  were  called 
judges,  whence  one  entire  book  in  the  Old  Testament  is  so  denomi- 
nated, the  Book  of  Judges.  God  hath  a  prerogative  to  "change 
times  and  seasons"  (Dan.  ii,  21),  i.  e.  the  revolutions  of  government, 
whereby  times  are  altered.  How  many  empires,  that  have  spread 
their  wings  over  a  great  part  of  the  world,  have  had  their  carcasses 
torn  in  pieces ;  and  unheard-of  nations  plucked  off  the  wings  of  the 
Roman  eagle,  after  it  had  preyed  upon  many  nations  of  the  world  ; 
and  the  Macedonian  empire  was  as  the  dew  that  is  dried  up  a  short 
time  after  it  falls,i  He  erected  the  Chaldean  monarchy,  used  Nebu- 
chadnezzar to  overthrow  and  punish  the  ungrateful  Jews,  and,  by  a 

'  Mr.  Mcde,  ia  one  of  his  letters. 


4:14  CHARNOCK  ON  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

sovereign  act,  gave  a  great  parcel  of  land  into  bis  hands ;  and  what 
he  thought  was  his  right  by  conquest,  was  God's  donative  to  him. 
You  may  read  the  charter  to  Nebuchadnezzar,  whom  he  terms  his 
servant  (Jer.  xxvii.  6) :  "  And  now  I  have  given  all  those  lands"  (the 
lands  are  mentioned  ver.  3),  "  into  the  hands  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  the 
king  of  Babylon,  my  servant :"  which  decree  he  pronounceth  after 
his  asserting  his  right  of  sovereignty  over  the  whole  earth  (ver.  6). 
After  that,  he  puts  a  period  to  the  Chaldean  empire,  and  by  the  same 
sovereign  authority  decrees  Babylon  to  be  a  spoil  to  the  nations  of 
the  north  country,  and  delivers  her  up  as  a  spoil  to  the  Persian  (Jer. 
1.  9,  10) :  and  this  for  the  manifestation  of  his  sovereign  dominion, 
that  he  was  the  Lord,  that  made  peace,  and  created  evil  (Isa.  xlv.  6, 
7).  God  afterwards  overthrows  that  by  the  Grecian  Alexander,  pro- 
phesied of  under  the  figure  of  a  goat,  with  "  one  horn  between  his 
eyes"  (Dan.  viii.) :  the  swift  current  of  his  victories,  as  swift  as  his 
motion,  showed  it  to  be  from  an  extraordinary  hand  of  heaven,  and 
not  either  from  the  policy  or  strength  of  the  Macedonian.  His 
strength,  in  the  prophet,  is  described  to  be  less,  being  but  one  horn 
running  against  the  Persian,  described  under  the  figure  of  a  ram  with 
two  horns :"»  and  himself  acknowledged  a  Divine  motion  exciting 
him  to  that  great  attempt,  when  he  saw  Joddus,  the  high-priest,  com- 
ing out  in  his  priestly  robes,  to  meet  him  at  his  approach  to  Jeru- 
salem, whom  he  was  about  to  worship,  acknowledging  that  the  vision 
which  put  him  upon  the  Persian  war  appeared  to  him  in  such  a  garb. 
What  was  the  reason  Israel  was  rent  fi-om  Judah,  and  both  split  into 
two  distinct  kingdoms  ?  Because  Kehoboam  would  not  hearken  to 
sober  and  sound  counsels,  but  follow  the  advice  of  upstarts.  What 
was  the  reason  he  did  not  hearken  to  sound  advice,  since  he  had  so 
advantageous  an  education  under  his  father  Solomon,  the  wisest 
prince  of  the  world?  "  The  cause  was  from  the  Lord"  (1  Kings,  xii. 
15),  that  he  might  perform  what  he  had  before  spoke.  In  this  he 
acted  according  to  his  royal  word  ;  but,  in  the  first  resolve,  he  acted 
as  a  sovereign  lord,  that  had  the  disposal  of  all  nations  in  the  world. 
And  though  Ahab  had  a  numerous  posterity,  seventy  sons  to  inherit 
the  throne  after  him,  yet  God  by  his  sovereign  authority  gives  them 
up  into  the  hands  of  Jehu,  who  strips  them  of  their  lives  and  hopes 
together :  not  a  man  of  them  succeeded  in  the  throne,  but  the  crown 
is  transferred  to  Jehu  by  God's  disposal.  In  wars,  whereby  flour- 
ishing kingdoms  are  overthrown,  God  hath  the  chief  hand ;  in  ref- 
erence to  which  it  is  observed  that,  in  the  two  prophets,  Isaiah  and 
Jeremiah,  God  is  called  "the  Lord  of  Hosts"  one  hundred  and  thirty 
times.  It  is  not  the  sword  of  the  captain,  but  the  sword  of  the  Lord, 
bears  the  first  rank ;  "  the  sword  of  the  Lord  and  of  Gideon"  (Judges, 
vii.  18).  The  sword  of  a  conquerer  is  the  sword  of  the  Lord,  and 
receives  its  charge  and  commission  from  the  great  Sovereign  (Jer. 
xlvii.  6,  7).  We  are  apt  to  confine  our  thoughts  to  second  causes, 
lay  the  fault  upon  the  miscarriages  of  persons,  the  ambition  of  the 
one,  and  the  covetousness  of  another,  and  regard  them  not  as  the 
effects  of  God's  sovereign  authority,  linking  second  causes  together 
to  serve  his  own  purpose.     The  skill  of  one  man  may  lay  ojaen  the 

""  Josephus, 


ON  GOD'S  DOMINION.  415 

folly  of  a  counsellor  ;  an  earthly  force  may  break  in  pieces  the  power 
of  a  mighty  prince :  but  Job,  in  his  consideration  of  those  things, 
refers  the  matter  higher :  "  He  looseth  the  bond  of  kings,  and  girdeth 
their  loins  with  a  girdle"  (Job,  xii.  18).  "  He  looseth  the  bonds  of 
kings,"  ^.  e.  takes  otf  the  yokes  they  lay  upon  their  subjects,  "  and 
girds  their  loins  with  a  girdle"  (a  cord^  as  the  vulgar) ;  he  lays  upon 
them  those  fetters  they  framed  for  others  ;  such  a  girdle,  or  band,  as 
is  the  mark  of  captivity,  as  the  words,  ver.  19,  confirm  it :  "  He  leads 
princes  away  spoiled,  and  overthrows  the  mighty."  God  lifts  up 
some  to  a  great  height,  and  casts  down  others  to  a  disgraceful  ruin. 
All  those  changes  in  the  face  of  the  world,  the  revolutions  of  empires, 
the  desolating  and  ravaging  wars,  which  are  often  immediately  the 
birth  of  the  vice,  ambition,  and  fury  of  princes,  are  the  royal  acts  of 
God  as  Governor  of  the  world.  All  government  belongs  to  him ; 
he  is  the  Fountain  of  all  the  great  and  the  petty  dominions  in  the 
world ;  and,  therefore,  may  place  in  them  what  substitutes  and  vice- 
gerents he  pleaseth,  as  a  prince  may  remove  his  officers  at  pleasure, 
and  take  their  commissions  from  them.  The  highest  are  settled  by 
God  durante  bene  placito^  and  not  quamdiu  bene  se  gesserint.  Those 
princes  that  have  been  the  glory  of  their  country  have  swayed  the 
sceptre  but  a  short  time,  when  the  more  wolvish  ones  have  remained 
longer  in  commission,  as  God  hath  seen  fit  for  the  ends  of  his  own 
sovereign  government.  Now,  by  the  revolutions  in  the  world,  and 
changes  in  governors  and  government,  God  keeps  up  the  acknowl- 
edgment of  his  sovereignty,  when  he  doth  arrest  grand  and  public 
offenders  that  wear  a  crown  by  his  providence,  and  employ  it,  by 
their  pride,  against  him  that  placed  it  there.  When  he  arraigns  such 
by  a  signal  hand  from  heaven,  he  makes  them  the  public  examples 
of  the  rights  of  his  sovereignty,  declaring  thereby,  that  the  cedars 
of  Lebanon  are  as  much  at  his  foot,  as  the  shrubs  of  the  valley ;  that 
he  hath  as  sovereign  an  authority  over  the  throne  in  the  palace,  as 
over  the  stool  in  the  cottage. 

2.  The  dominion  of  God  is  manifested  in  raising  up  and  ordering 
the  spirits  of  men  according  to  his  pleasure.  He  doth,  as  the  Father 
of  spirits,  communicate  an  influence  to  the  spirits  of  men,  as  well  as 
an  existence ;  he  puts  what  inclinations  he  pleaseth  into  the  will, 
stores  it  with  what  habits  he  please,  whether  natural  or  supernatural, 
whereby  it  may  be  rendered  more  ready  to  act  according  to  the  Di- 
vine purpose.  The  will  of  man  is  a  finite  principle,  and  therefore 
subject  to  Him  who  hath  an  infinite  sovereignty  over  all  things ;  and 
God,  having  a  sovereignty  over  the  will,  in  the  manner  of  its  acting, 
causeth  it  to  will  what  he  wills,  as  to  the  outward  act,  and  the  out- 
ward manner  of  performing  it.  There  are  many  examples  of  this 
part  of  his  sovereignty.  God,  by  his  sovereign  conduct,  ordered 
Moses  a  protectoress  as  soon  as  his  parents  had  formed  an  "  ark  of  bul- 
rushes," wherein  to  set  him  floating  on  the  river  (Exod,  ii.  3-6) :  they 
expose  him  to  the  waves,  and  the  waves  expose  him  to  the  view  of 
Pharoah's  daughter,  Avhom  God,  by  his  secret  ordering  her  motion, 
had  posted  in  that  place ;  and  though  she  was  the  daughter  of  a 
prince  that  inveterately  hated  the  whole  nation,  and  had,  by  various 
arts,  endeavored  to  extirpate  them,  yet  God  inspires  the  royal  lady 


416  CHARNOCK  ON  THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

with  sentiments  of  compassion  to  tlie  forlorn  infant,  tliougli  slie  kncAT 
liini  to  be  one  of  the  Hebrews'  children  (ver.  6),  i.  e.  one  of  that  race 
whom  her  father  had  devoted  to  the  hands  of  the  executioner ;  yet 
God,  that  doth  by  his  sovereignty  rule  over  the  spirits  of  all  men, 
moves  her  to  take  that  infant  into  her  protection,  and  nourish  him  at 
her  own  charge,  give  him  a  liberal  education,  adopt  him  as  her  son, 
who,  in  time,  was  to  be  the  ruin  of  her  race,  and  the  saviour  of  his 
nation.  Thus  he  appointed  Cyrus  to  be  his  shepherd,  and  gave  him 
a  pastoral  spirit  for  the  restoration  of  the  city  and  temple  of  Jeru- 
salem (Isa.  xliv.  28):  and  Isaiah  (chap.  xlv.  5)  tells  them,  in  the 
prophecy,  that  he  had  girded  him,  though  Cyrus  had  not  known 
him,  i.  e.  God  had  given  him  a  military  spirit  and-  strength  for  so 
great  an  attempt,  though  he  did  not  know  that  he  was  acted  by  God 
for  those  divine  purposes.  And  when  the  time  came  for  the  house 
of  the  Lord  to  be  rebuilt,  the  spirits  of  the  people  were  raised  up, 
not  by  themselves,  but  by  God  (Ezra,  i.  5),  "  Whose  spirit  God  had 
raised  to  go  up;"  and  not  only  the  spirit  of  Zerubbabel,  the  magis- 
trate, and  of  Joshua,  the  priest,  but  the  spirit  of  all  the  peoj)le,  from 
the  highest  to  the  meanest  that  attended  him,  were  acted  by  God  to 
strengthen  their  hands,  and  promote  the  work  (Hag.  i.  14).  The 
spirits  of  men,  even  in  those  works  which  are  naturally  desirable  to 
them,  as  the  restoration  of  the  city  and  rebuilding  of  the  Temple  was 
to  those  Jews,  are  acted  by  God,  as  the  Sovereign  over  them,  much 
more  when  the  wheels  of  men's  spirits  are  lifted  up  above  their  or- 
dinary temper  and  motion.  It  was  this  empire  of  God  good  Nehc- 
miah  regarded,  as  that  whence  he  was  to  hope  for  success ;  he  did 
not  assure  himself  so  much  of  it,  from  the  favor  he  had  with  the 
king,  nor  the  reasonableness  of  his  intended  petition,  but  the  abso- 
lute power  God  had  over  the  heart  of  that  great  monarch ;  and,  there- 
fore, he  supplicates  the  heavenly,  before  he  petitioned  the  earthly, 
throne  (Neh.  ii.  4) :  "  So  I  prayed  to  the  God  of  heaven."  The 
heathens  had  some  glance  of  this ;  it  is  an  expression  that  Cicero 
hath  somewhere,  "  That  the  Koman  commonwealth  was  rather  gov- 
erned by  the  assistance  of  the  Supreme  Divinity  over  the  hearts  of 
men,  than  by  their  own  counsels  and  management."  How  often  hath 
the  feeble  courage  of  men  been  heightened  to  such  a  pitch  as  to  stare 
death  in  the  face,  which  before  were  damped  with  the  least  thought 
or  glance  of  it !     This  is  a  fruit  of  God's  sovereign  dominion. 

3.  The  dominion  of  God  is  manifest  in  restraining  the  furious 
passions  of  men,  and  putting  a  block  in  their  way.  Sometimes  God 
doth  it  by  a  remarkable  hand,  as  the  Babel  builders  were  diverted 
from  their  proud  design  by  a  sudden  confusion  of  their  language, 
and  rendering  it  unintelligible  to  one  another ;  sometimes  by  ordi- 
nary, though  unexpected,  means ;  as  when  Saul,  like  a  hawk,  was 
ready  to  prey  upon  David,  whom  he  had  hunted  as  a  partridge  upon 
the  mountains,  he  had  another  object  presented  for  his  arms  and 
fury  by  the  Philistines'  sudden  invasion  of  a  part  of  his  territory  (1 
Sam.  xxiii.  26 — 28).  But  it  is  chiefly  seen  by  an  inward  curbing 
mutinous  affections,  when  there  is  no  visible  cause.  What  reason 
but  this  can  be  rendered,  why  the  nations  bordering  on  Canaan,  who 
bore  no  good  will  to  the  Jews,  but  rather  wished  the  whole  race  of 


ON   GOD'S  DOMINION".  417 

tliem  rooted  out  from  the  face  of  the  earth,  should  not  invade  their 
country,  pilkige  their  houses,  and  plunder  their  cattle,  while  they 
were  left  naked  of  any  human  defence,  the  males  being  annually 
employed  at  one  time  at  Jerusalem  in  worship ;  what  reason  can  be 
rendered,  but  an  invisible  curb  God  put  into  their  spirits  ?     What 
Avas  the  reason  not  a  man,  of  all  the  buyers  and  sellers  in  the  Tem- 
ple, should  rise  against  our  Saviour,  when,  with  a  high  hand,  he  be- 
gan to  whip  them  out,  but  a  Divine  bridle  upon  them  ?  though  it  ap- 
pears, by  the  questioning  his  authority,  that  there  were  Jews  enough 
to  have  chased  out  him  and  his  company  (John,  ii.  15,  18).     What 
was  the  reason  that,  at  the  publishing  the  gospel  by  the  apostles  at 
the  first  descent  of  the  Spirit,  those  that  had  used  the  Master  so  bar- 
barously a  few  days  before,  were  not  all  in  a  foam  against  the  ser- 
vants, that,  by  preaching  that  doctrine,  upbraided  them  with  the  late 
murder  ?     Had  they  better  sentiments  of  the  Lord,  whom  they  had 
put  to  death  ?     Were  their  natures  grown  tamer,  and  their  malignity 
expelled?     No;  but  that  Sovereign  who  had  loosed  the  reins  of 
their  malicious  corruption,  to  execute  the  Master  for  the  purchase  of 
redemption,  curbed  it  from  breaking  out  against  the  servants,  to  fur- 
ther the  propagation  of  the  doctrine  of  redemption.     He  that  re- 
strains the  roaring  lion  of  hell,  restrains  also  his  whelps  on  earth ; 
he  and  they  must  have  a  commission  before  they  can  put  forth  a 
finger  to  hurt,  how  malicious  soever  their  nature  and  will  be.     His 
empire  reaches  over  the  malignity  of  devils,  as  well  as  the  nature  of 
beasts.     The  lions  out  of  the  den,  as  well  as  those  in  the  den,  are 
bridled  by  him  in  favor  of  his  Daniels.     His  dominion  is  above  that 
of  principalities  and  powers  ;  their  decrees  are  at  his  mercy,  whether 
they  shall  stand  or  fall ;  he  hath  a  vote  above  their  stiffest  resolves : 
his  single  word,  I  will,  or,  I  forbid^  outweighs  the  most  resolute  pur- 
poses of  all  the  mighty  Nimrods  of  the  earth  in  their  rendezvouses 
and  cabals,  in  their  associations  and  counsels  (Isa.  viii.  9,  10) :  "  As- 
sociate yourselves,  O  ye  people,  and  ye  shall  be  broken  in  pieces ; 
take  counsel  together,  and  it  shall  come  to  nought."     "  When  the 
enemy  shall  come  in  like  a  flood,"  with  a  violent  and  irresistible 
force,  intending  nothing  but  ravage  and  desolation,  "  the  Spirit  of 
the  Lord  shall  lift  up  a  standard  against  them"  (Isa.  lix.  19),  shall 
give  a  sudden  check,  and  damp  their  spirits,  and  put  them  to  a  stand. 
When  Laban  furiously  pursued  Jacob,  with  an  intent  to  do  him  an 
ill  turn,  God  gave  him  a  command  to  do  otherwise  (Gen.  xxxi.  24). 
Would  Laban  have  respected  that  command  any  more  than  he  did 
the  light  of  nature  when  he  worshipped  idols,  had  not  God  exercised 
his  authority  in  inclining  his  will  to  observe  it,  or  laying  restraints 
upon  his  natural  inclinations,  or  denying  his  concourse  to  the  acting 
those  ill  intentions  he  had  entertained  ?     The  stilling  the  principles 
of  commotion  in*  men,  and  the  noise  of  the  sea,  are  arguments  of  the 
Divine  dominion ;  neither  the  one  nor  the  other  is  in  the  power  of 
the  most  sovereign  prince  without  Divine  assistance :  as  no  prince 
can  command  a  calm  to  a  raging  sea,  so  no  prince  can  order  stillness 
to  a  tumultuous  people  ;  they  are  both  put  together  as  equally  parts 
of  the  Divine  prerogative  (Ps.  Ixv.  7),  which  "  stills  the  noise  of  the 
sea,  and  tumult  of  the  people :"  and  David  owns  God's  sovereignty 
VOL.  II. — 27 


418  CHARNOCK  ON  THE  ATTRTBUTES. 

more  than  his  own,  "  in  subduing  the  people  under  him"  (Ps,  xviii. 
47).  In  this  his  empire  is  illustrious  (Ps.  xxix.  10):  "The  Lord 
sitteth  upon  the  floods,  yea,  the  Lord  sitteth  King  for  ever;"  a  King- 
impossible  to  be  deposed,  not  only  on  the  natural  floods  of  the  seu, 
that  would  naturally  overflow  the  world,  but  the  metaphorical  floods 
or  tumults  of  the  people,  the  sea  in  every  wicked  man's  heart,  more 
apt  to  rage  morally  than  the  sea  to  foam  naturally.  If  you  will  take 
the  interpretation  of  an  angel,  waters  and  floods,  in  the  prophetic 
style,  signify  the  inconstant  and  mutable  people  (Kev.  xvii.  1,  5) : 
"  The  waters  where  the  whore  sits  are  people,  and  multitudes,  and 
nations,  ajid  tongues :"  so  the  angel  expounds  to  John  the  vision 
which  he  saw  (ver.  1).  The  heathens  acknowledged  this  part  of 
God's  sovereignty  in  the  inward  restraints  of  men :  those  apparitions 
of  the  gods  and  goddesses  in  Homer,  to  several  of  the  great  men 
when  they  were  in  a  fury,  were  nothing  else,  in  the  judgment  of  the 
wisest  philosophers,  than  an  exercise  of  God's  sovereignty  in  quelling 
their  passions,  checking  their  uncomely  intentions,  and  controlling 
them  in  that  which  their  rage  prompted  them  to.  And,  indeed,  did 
not  God  set  bounds  to  the  storms  in  men's  hearts,  we  should  soon  see 
the  funeral,  not  only  of  religion,  but  civility ;  the  one  would  be  blown 
out,  and  the  other  torn  up  by  the  roots. 

4.  The  dominion  of  God  is  manifest  in  defeating  the  purposes  and 
devices  of  men.  God  often  makes  a  mock  of  human  projects,  and 
doth  as  well  accomplish  that  which  they  never  dreamt  of,  as  disap- 
point that  which  they  confidently  designed.  He  is  present  at  all 
cabals,  laughs  at  men's  formal  and  studied  counsels,  bears  a  hand 
over  every  egg  they  hatch,  thwarts  their  best  compacted  designs, 
supplants  their  contrivances,  breaks  the  engines  they  have  been 
many  years  rearing,  diverts  the  intentions  of  men,  as  a  mighty  wind 
blows  an  arrow  from  the  mark  which  the  archer  intended.  (Job,  v. 
12) :  "  He  disappointeth  the  devices  of  the  crafty,  so  that  their  hands 
cannot  perform  their  enterprise ;  he  taketh  the  wise  in  their  own 
craftiness,  and  the  counsel  of  the  froward  is  carried  headlong." 
Enemies  often  draw  an  exact  scheme  of  their  intended  proceedings, 
marshal  their  companies,  appoint  their  rendezvous,  think  to  make 
but  one  morsel  of  those  they  hate  ;•  God,  by  his  sovereign  dominion, 
turns  the  scale,  changeth  the  gloominess  of  the  oppressed  into  a  sun- 
shine, and  the  enemies'  sunshine  into  darkness.  When  the  nations 
were  gathered  together  against  Sion,  and  said,  "Let  her  be  defiled, 
and  let  our  eye  look  upon  Sion"  (Micah,  iv.  11),  what  doth  God  do 
in  this  case?  (ver.  12),  "  He  shall  gather  them,"  i.  c.  those  conspiring 
nations,  as  "  sheaves  into  the  floor."  Then  he  sounds  a  trumpet  to 
Sion :  "  Arise,  and  thresh,  0  daughter  of  Sion,  for  I  will  make  thy 
horn  iron,  and  thy  hoofs  brass,  and  thou  shalt-  beat  in  pieces  many 
people ;  and  I  will  consecrate  their  gain  unto  the  Lord,  and  their 
sul^stance  unto  the  Lord  of  the  whole  earth."  I  will  make  them  and 
their  counsels,  them  and  their  strength,  the  monuments  and  signal 
marks  of  my  empire  over  the  whole  earth.  "When  you  see  the  cun- 
ningest  designs  baffled  by  some  small  thing  intervening  ;  when  you 
see  men  of  profound  wisdom  infatuated,  mistake  their  way,  and 
"  grope  in  the  noon-day  as  in  the  night"  (Job,  v.  14),  bewildered  in 


ON  GOD'S   DOMINION.  419 

a  plain  way  ;  wlien  you  see  the  hopes  of  miglity  attempters  dashed 
into  despair,  their  triumphs  turned  into  funerals,  and  their  joyful  ex- 
pectations into  sorrowful  disappointments  ;  when  you  see  the  weak, 
devoted  to  destruction,  victorious,  and  the  most  presumptuous  de- 
feated in  their  purposes,  then  read  the  Divine  dominion  in  the  deso- 
lation of  such  devices.  How  often  doth  God  take  away  the  heart 
and  spirit  of  grand  designs,  and  burst  a  mighty  wheel,  by  snatching 
but  one  man  out  of  the  world  !  How  often  doth  he  "  cut  off  the 
spirits  of  princes"  (Ps.  Ixxvi.  12),  either  from  the  world  by  death,  or 
from  the  execution  of  their  projects  by  some  unforeseen  interruption, 
or  from  favoring  those  contrivances,  which  before  they  cherished  by 
a  change  of  their  minds !  How  often  hath  confidence  m  God,  and 
religious  prayer,  edged  the  weakest  and  smallest  number  of  weapons 
to  make  a  carnage  of  the  carnally  confident !  How  often  hath  pre- 
sumption been  disappointed,  and  the  contemned  enemy  rejoiced  in 
the  spoils  of  the  proud  expectant  of  victory !  Phidias  made  the 
image  of  Nemesis,  or  Eevenge,  at  Marathon,  of  that  marble  which 
the  haughty  Persians,  despising  the  weakness  of  the  Athenian  forces, 
brought  with  them,  to  erect  a  trophy  for  an  expected,  but  an  un- 
gained,  victory."  Haman's  neck,  by  a  sudden  turn,  was  in  the 
halter,  when  the  Jews'  necks  were  designed  to  the  block ;  Julian  de- 
signed the  overthrow  of  all  the  Christians,  just  before  his  breast  was 
pierced  by  an  unexpected  arrow ;  the  Powder-traitors  were  all  ready 
to  give  fire  to  the  mine,  when  the  sovereign  hand  of  Heaven  snatched 
away  the  match.  Thus  the  great  Lord  of  the  world  cuts  off  men  on 
the  pinnacle  of  their  designs,  when  they  seem  to  threaten  heaven  and 
earth ;  puts  out  the  candle  of  the  wicked,  which  they  thought  to  use 
to  light  them  to  the  execution  of  their  purposes ;  turns  their  own 
counsels  into  a  curse  to  themselves,  and  a  blessing  to  their  adversa- 
ries, and  makes  his  greatest  enemies  contribute  to  the  effecting  his 
purposes.  How  may  we  take  notice  of  God's  absolute  disposal  of 
things  in  private  affairs,  when  we  see  one  man,  with  a  small  measure 
of  prudence  and  little  industry,  have  great  success,  and  others,  with 
a  greater  measure  of  wisdom,  and  a  greater  toil  and  labor,  find  their 
enterprises  melt  between  their  fingers!  It  was  Solomon's  observa- 
tion, "  That  the  race  was  not  to  the  swift,  nor  the  battle  to  the  strong, 
neither  bread  to  the  wise,  nor  riches  to  men  of  understanding,  nor 
yet  favor  to  men  of  skill"  (Eccles.  ix.  11).  Many  things  might  in- 
terpose to  stop  the  swift  in  his  race,  and  damp  the  courage  of  the 
most  valiant :  things  do  not  happen  according  to  men's  abilities,  but 
according  to  the  overruling  authority  of  God :  God  never  yet  granted 
man  the  dominion  of  his  own  way,  no  more  than  to  be  lord  of  his 
own  time :  "  The  way  of  man  is  not  in  himself,  it  is  not  in  him  that 
walketh  to  direct  his  steps"  (Jer.  x.  23).  He  hath  given  man  a  power 
of  acting,  but  not  the  sovereignty  to  command  success.  He  makes 
even  those  things  which  men  intended  for  their  security  to  turn  to 
their  ruin ;  Pilate  delivered  up  Christ  to  be  accounted  a  friend  to 
Ci"esar,  and  Cajsar  soon  after  proves  an  enemy  to  him,  removes  him 
from  his  government,  and  sends  him  into  banishment.  The  Jews 
imagined  by  the  crucifying  Christ  to  keep  the  Roman  ensigns  at  a 

"  Causin.  Symb.  lib.  ii.  cap.  65. 


420  CHARNOCK  ON"  THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

distance  from  them,  and  this  hasted  their  march,  by  God's  sovereign 
disposal,  which  ended  in  a  total  desolation.  "  He  makes  the  judges 
fools"  (Job,  xxii.  17),  by  taking  away  his  light  from  their  under- 
standing, and  suffering  them  to  go  on  in  the  vanity  of  their  own 
spirits,  that  his  sovereignty  in  the  management  of  things  may  be 
more  apparent ;  for  then  he  is  known  to  be  Lord,  when  he  "  snares 
the  wicked  in  the  work  of  his  own  hands"  (Ps.  ix.  16).  You  have 
seen  much  of  this  doctrine  in  your  experience,  and,  if  my  judgment 
fail  me  not,  you  will  yet  see  much  more. 

5.  The  dominion  of  God  is  manifest  in  sending  his  judgments  upon 
whom  he  please.  "  He  kills  and  makes  alive ;  he  wounds  and  heals" 
whom  he  pleaseth :  his  thunders  are  his  own,  and  he  may  cast  them 
upon  what  subjects  he  thinks  good :  he  hath  a  right,  in  a  way  of  jus- 
tice, to  punish  all  men ;  he  hath  his  choice,  in  a  way  of  sovereignty, 
to  pick  out  whom  he  please,  to  make  the  examples  of  it.  Might  not 
some  nations  be  as  wicked  as  those  of  Sodom  and  Gomorrah,  yet 
have  not  been  scorched  with  the  like  dreadful  flames?  Zoar  was 
untouched,  while  the  other  cities,  her  neighbors,  were  burnt  to 
ashes.  Were  there  never  any  places  and  persons  successors  in  So- 
dom's guilt  ?  Yet  those  only  by  his  sovereign  authority  are  sepa- 
rated by  him  to  be  the  examples  of  his  "  eternal  vengeance"  (Jude,  7). 
Why  are  not  sinners  as  Sodom,  like  as  those  ancient  ones,  scalded 
to  death  by  the  like  fiery  drops  ?  It  is  because  it  is  his  pleasure ; 
and  the  same  reason  is  to  be  rendered,  why  he  would  in  a  way  of 
justice  cut  off  the  Jews  for  their  sins,  and  leave  the  Gentiles  un- 
touched in  the  midst  of  their  idolatries.  When  the  church  was  con- 
sumed because  of  her  iniquities,  they  acknowledged  God's  sovereign- 
ty in  this.  "  We  are  the  clay,  and  thou  art  our  Potter,  and  we  all 
the  work  of  thy  hands"  (Isa.  Ixiv.  7,  8) ;  thou  hast  a  liberty  to  break 
or  preserve  us.  Judgments  move  according  to  God's  order.  When 
the  sword  hath  a  charge  against  Ashkelon  and  the  sea-shore,  thither 
it  must  march,  and  touch  not  any  other  place  or  person  as  it  goes, 
though  there  may  be  demerit  enough  for  it  to  punish.  When  the 
prophet  had  spake  to  the  sword,  "  O  thou  sword  of  the  Lord,  how 
long  will  it  be  ere  thou  be  quiet  ?  put  up  thyself  into  thy  scabbard, 
rest  and  be  still ;"  the  prophet  answers  for  the  sword,  "  How  can  it  be 
quiet,  seeing  the  Lord  hath  given  it  a  charge  against  Ashkelon? 
there  hath  he  appointed  it"  (Jer.  xlvii.  6,  7).  If  he  hath  appointed 
a  judgment  against  London  or  Westminster,  or  any  other  place, 
there  it  shall  drop,  there  it  shall  pierce,  and  in  no  other  place  with- 
out a  like  charge.  God,  as  a  sovereign,  gives  instructions  to  every 
judgment,  when,  and  against  whom,  it  shall  march,  and  what  cities, 
what  persons,  it  shall  arrest ;  and  he  is  punctually  obeyed  by  them, 
as  a  sovereign  Lord.  All  creatures  stand  ready  for  his  call,  and  are 
prepared  to  be  executioners  of  his  vengeance,  when  he  speaks  the 
word ;  they  are  his  hosts  by  creation,  and  in  array  for  his  service  : 
at  the  sound  of  his  trumpet,  or  beat  of  his  drum,  they  trooj)  together 
with  arms  in  their  hands,  to  put  his  orders  exactly  in  execution. 

6.  The  dominion  of  God  is  manifest  in  appointing  to  every  man 
his  calling  and  station  in  the  world.  If  the  hairs  of  every  man's 
liead  fall  under  his  sovereign  care,  the  calling  of  every  man,  wherein 


ON  GOD'S  DOMINION.  421 

he  is  to  glorify  God  and  serve  his  generation,  which  is  of  a  greater 
concern  than  the  hairs  of  the  head,  falls  under  his  dominion.  He  is 
the  master  of  the  great  family,  and  divides  to  every  one  his  work  as 
he  pleaseth.  The  whole  work  of  the  Messiah,  the  time  of  every 
action,  as  well  as  the  hour  of  his  passion,  was  ordered  and  appointed 
by  God.  The  separation  of  Paul  to  the  preaching  of  the  gospel,  was 
by  the  sovereign  disposal  of  God  (Rom.  i.  1).  By  the  same  exercise 
of  his  authority,  that  he  "sets  every  man  the  bounds  of  his  habita- 
tion" (Acts,  xvii.  26),  he  prescribes  also  to  him  the  nature  of  his 
work.  He  that  ordered  Adam,  the  father  of  mankind,  his  work, 
and  the  place  of  it,  the  "dressing  the  garden"  (Gen.  ii.  15),  doth  not 
let  any  of  his  posterity  be  their  own  choosers,  without  an  influence 
of  his  sovereign  direction  on  them.  Though  our  callings  are  our 
work,  yet  they  are  by  God's  order,  wherein  we  are  to  be  faithful  to 
our  great  Master  and  Ruler. 

7.  The  dominion  of  God  is  manifest  in  the  means  and  occasions 
of  men's  conversion.  Sometimes  one  occasion,  sometimes  another ; 
one  word  lets  a  man  go,  another  arrests  him,  and  brings  him  before 
God  and  his  own  conscience ;  it  is  as  God  gives  out  the  order.  He 
lets  Paul  be  a  prisoner  at  Jerusalem,  that  his  cause  should  not  be 
determined  there ;  moves  him  to  appeal  to  Ctesar,  not  only  to  make 
him  a  prisoner,  but  a  preacher,  in  Caesar's  court,  and  render  his 
chains  an  occasion  to  bring  in  a  harvest  of  converts  in  Nero's  palace. 
His  bonds  in  or  for  Christ  are  "  manifest  in  all  the  palace"  (Phil.  i. 
12,  13);  not  the  bare  knowledge  of  his  bonds,  but  the  sovereign  de- 
sign of  God  in  those  bonds,  and  the  success  of  them ;  the  bare  knowl- 
edge of  them  would  not  make  others  more  confident  for  the  gospel, 
as  it  follows,  ver.  14,  without  a  providential  design  of  them.  Ones- 
imus,  running  from  his  master,  is  guided  by  God's  sovereign  order 
into  Paul's  company,  and  thereby  into  Christ's  arms ;  and  he  who 
came  a  fugitive,  returns  a  Christian  (Philem.  10,  15).  Some,  by  a 
strong  affliction,  have  had  by  the  Divine  sovereignty  their  under- 
standings awakened  to  consider,  and  their  wills  spirited  to  conver- 
sion. Monica  being  called  Meribibula,  or  toss-pot,  was  brought  to 
consider  her  way,  and  reform  her  life.  A  word  hath  done  that  at 
one  time,  which  hath  often  before  fallen  without  any  fruit.  Many 
have  come  to  suck  in  the  eloquence  of  the  minister,  and  have  found 
in  the  honey  for  their  ears  a  sting  for  their  consciences.  Austin  had 
no  other  intent  in  going  to  hear  Ambrose  but  to  have  a  taste  of  his 
famous  oratory.  But  while  Ambrose  spake  a  language  to  his  ear, 
God  spake  a  heavenly  dialect  to  his  heart.  No  reason  can  be  ren- 
dered of  the  order,  and  timing,  and  influence  of  those  things,  but  the 
sovereign  pleasure  of  God,  who  will  attend  one  occasion  and  season 
with  his  blessing,  and  not  another. 

8.  The  dominion  of  God  is  manifest  in  disposing  of  the  lives  of 
men.  He  keeps  the  key  of  death,  as  well  as  that  of  the  womb,  in 
his  own  hand ;  he  hath  given  man  a  life,  but  not  power  to  dispose 
of  it,  or  lay  it  down  at  his  pleasure  ;  and  therefore  he  hath  ordered 
man  not  to  murder,  not  another,  not  himself;  man  must  expect  his 
call  and  grant,  to  dispose  of  the  life  of  his  body.  Why  doth  he  cut 
the  thread  of  tliis  man's  life,  and  spin  another's  out  to  a  longer  term  ? 


422  CHAENOCK  ON  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

Why  doth  one  die  an  inglorious  death,  and  another  more  honorable  ? 
One  silently  drops  away  in  the  multitude,  while  another  is  made  a 
sacrifice  for  the  honor  of  God,  or  the  safety  of  his  country.  This  is 
a  mark  of  honor  he  gives  to  one  and  not  to  another.  "To  you  it  is 
given"  (Phil.  i.  29).  The  manner  of  Peter's  death  was  appointed 
(John,  xxi.  19).  Why  doth  a  small  and  slight  disease  against 
the  rules  of  physic,  and  the  judgment  of  the  best  practitioners,  dis- 
lodge one  man's  soul  out  of  his  body,  while  a  greater  disease  is 
mastered  in  another,  and  discharges  the  patient,  to  enjoy  himself  a 
longer  time  in  the  land  of  the  living  ?  Is  it  the  effect  of  means  so 
much  as  of  the  Sovereign  Disposer  of  all  things  ?  If  means  only 
did  it,  the  same  means  would  always  work  the  same  effect,  and 
sooner  master  a  dwarfish  than  a  giant-like  distemper.  "  Our  times 
are  only  in  God's  hands"  (Ps.  xxxi.  15) ;  either  to  cut  short  or  con- 
tinue long.  As  his  sovereignty  made  the  first  marriage  knot,  so  he 
reserves  the  sole  authority  to  himself  to  make  the  divorce. 

Fourthly.  The  dominion  of  God  is  manifest  in  his  being  a  Re- 
deemer, as  well  as  Lawgiver,  Proprietor,  and  Governor.  His 
sovereignty  was  manifest  in  the  creation,  in  bestowing  upon  this  or 
that  part  of  matter  a  form  more  excellent  than  upon  another.  He 
was  a  Lawgiver  to  men  and  angels,  and  prescribed  them  rules  ac- 
cording to  the  counsel  of  his  own  will.  These  were  his  creatures, 
and  perfectly  at  his  disposal.  But  in  redemption  a  sovereignty  is 
exercised  over  the  Son,  the  Second  person  in  the  Trinity,  one  equal 
with  the  Father  in  essence  and  works,  by  whom  the  worlds  were 
created,  and  by  whom  they  do  consist.  The  whole  gospel  is  nothing 
else  but  a  declaration  of  his  sovereign  pleasure  concerning  Christ, 
and  concerning  us  in  him  ;  it  is  therefore  called  "  the  mystery  of  his 
will"  (Eph.  i.  9) ;  the  will  of  God  is  distinct  from  the  will  of  Christ, 
a  purpose  in  himself,  not  moved  thereunto  by  any ;  the  whole 
design  was  framed  in  the  Deity,  and  as  much  the  purpose  of  his 
sovereign  will  as  the  contrivance  of  his  immense  wisdom.  He  de- 
creed, in  his  own  pleasure,  to  have  the  Second  Person  assume  our 
nature  for  to  deliver  mankind  from  that  misery  whereinto  it 
was  fallen.  The  whole  of  the  gospel,  and  the  privileges  of  it,  are  in 
that  chapter  resolved  into  the  will  and  pleasure  of  God.  God  is 
therefore  called  "  the  head  of  Christ"  (1  Cor.  xi.  3).  As  Christ  is 
superior  to  all  men,  and  the  man  superior  to  the  woman,  so  is  God 
superior  to  Christ,  and  of  a  more  eminent  dignity ;  in  regard  of  the 
constituting  him  mediator,  Christ  is  subject  to  God,  as  the  body  to 
the  head.  "  Head"  is  a  title  of  government  and  sovereignty, 
and  magistrates  were  called  the  "  heads"  of  the  people.  As  Christ 
is  the  head  of  man,  so  is  God  the  head  of  Christ ;  and  as  man  is  sub- 
ject to  Christ,  so  is  Christ  subject  to  God :  not  in  regard  of  the  Di- 
vine nature,  wherein  there  is  an  equality,  and  consequently  no  do- 
minion of  jurisdiction ;  nor  only  in  his  human  nature,  but  in  the 
economy  of  a  Redeemer,  considered  as  one  designed,  and  consenting 
to  be  incarnate,  and  take  our  flesh ;  so  that  after  this  agreement, 
God  had  a  sovereign  right  to  dispose  of  him  according  to  the  articles 
consented  to.  In  regard  of  his  undertaking,  and  the  advantage  he 
was  to  bring  to  the  elect  of  God  upon  the  earth,  he  calls  God  by  the 


ON   GOD'S   DOMINION.  423 

solemn  title  of  "  his  Lord"  in  that  prophetic  psalm  of  him  (Ps.  xvi. 
2):  "  0  my  soul,  thou  hast  said  unto  the  Lord,  Thou  art  my  Lord  : 
my  goodness  extends  not  unto  thee,  but  unto  the  saints  that  are  in 
the  earth."  It  seems  to  be  the  speech  of  Christ  in  heaven,  mention- 
ing the  saints  on  earth  as  at  a  distance  from  him.  I  can  add  nothing 
to  the  glory  of  thy  majesty,  but  the  whole  fruit  of  my  meditation 
and  sufferings  will  redound  to  the  saints  on  earth.  And  it  may  be 
observed,  that  God  is  called  the  Lord  of  Hosts  in  the  evangelical 
prophets,  Isaiah,  Haggai,  Zachariah,  and  Malachi,  more  in  reference 
to  this  affair  of  redemption,  and  the  deliverance  of  the  church,  than 
for  any  other  works  of  his  providence  in  the  world. 

1.  This  sovereignty  of  God  appears,  in  requiring  satisfaction  for 
the  sin  of  man.  Had  he  indulged  man  after  his  fall,  and  remitted 
his  offence  without  a  just  compensation  for  the  injury  he  had 
received  by  his  rebellion,  his  authority  had  been  vilified,  man  would 
always  have  been  attempting  against  his  jurisdiction,  there  would 
have  been  a  continual  succession  of  rebellions  on  man's  part ;  and  if  a 
continual  succession  of  indulgences  on  God's  part,  he  had  quite  dis- 
owned his  authority  over  man,  and  stripped  himself  of  the  flower  of 
his  crown ;  satisfaction  must  have  been  required  some  time  or  other 
from  the  person  thus  rebelling,  or  some  other  in  his  stead;  and  to 
require  it  after  the  first  act  of  sin,  was  more  preservative  to  the  right 
of  the  Divine  sovereignty,  than  to  do  it  after  a  multitude  of  repeated 
revolts.  God  must  have  laid  aside  his  authority  if  he  had  laid  aside 
wholly  the  exacting  punishment  for  the  offence  of  man. 

2.  This  sovereignty  of  God  appears,  in  appointing  Christ  to  this 
work  of  redemption.  His  sovereignty  was  before  manifest  over 
angels  and  men  by  the  right  of  creation ;  there  was  nothing  wanting 
to  declare  the  highest  charge  of  it,  but  his  ordering  his  own  Son  to 
become  a  mortal  creature ;  the  Lord  of  all  things  to  become  lower 
than  those  angels  that  had,  as  well  as  all  other  things,  received  their 
being  and  beauty  from  him,  and  to  be  reckoned  in  his  death  among 
the  dust  and  refuse  of  the  world :  he  by  whom  God  created  all 
things,  not  only  became  a  man,  but  a  crucified  man,  by  the  will  of 
his  Father  (Gal.  i.  4),  "  who  gave  himself  for  our  sins  according  to 
the  will  of  God ;"  to  which  may  refer  that  expression  (Prov.  viii. 
22),  of  his  being  "  possessed  by  God  in  the  beginning  of  his  way." 
Possession  is  the  dominion  of  a  thing  invested  in  the  possessor  ;  he 
was  possessed,  indeed,  as  a  Son  by  eternal  generation  ;  he  was  pos- 
sessed also  in  the  beginning  of  his  way  or  works  of  creation,  as  a 
Mediator  by  special  constitution  :  to  this  the  expression  seems  to  re- 
fer, if  you  read  on  to  the  end  of  ver.  31,  wherein  Christ  speaks  of 
his  "  rejoicing  in  the  habitable  part  of  his  earth,"  the  earth  of  the 
great  God,  who  hath  designed  him  to  this  special  work  of  redemp- 
tion. He  was  a  Son  by  nature,  but  a  Mediator  by  Divine  will ;  in 
regard  of  which  Christ  is  often  called  God's  servant,  which  is  a  rela- 
tion to  God  as  a  Lord.  God  being  the  Lord  of  all  things,  the  do- 
minion of  all  things  inferior  to  him  is  inseparable  from  him  ;  and  in 
this  regard,  the  whole  of  what  Christ  was  to  do,  and  did  actually  do, 
was  acted  by  him  as  the  will  of  God,  and  is  expressed  so  by  himself 
in  the  prophecy  (Ps.  xl.  7),  "  Lo,  I  come ;"  (ver.  8),  "  I  delight  to  do 


424  CHARNOCK   ON  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

thy  will ;"  wliich  are  put  together  (Heb.  x.  7),  "  Lo,  I  come  to  do 
thy  will,  O  God."  The  designing  Christ  to  this  work  was  an  act  of 
mercy,  but  founded  on  his  sovereignty.  His  compassionate  bowels 
might  have  pitied  us  without  his  being  sovereign,  but  without  it 
could  not  have  relieved  us.  It  was  the  council  of  his  own  will,  as 
well  as  of  his  bowels:  none  was  his  counsellor  or  persuader  to  that 
mercy  he  showed:  (Rom.  xi.  34),  "Who  hath  been  his  counsellor?" 
for  it  refers  to  that  mercy  in  "  sending  the  Deliverer  out  of  Sion" 
(ver.  26),  as  well  as  to  other  things  the  apostle  had  been  discourshig 
of.  As  God  was  at  liberty  to  create,  or  not  to  create,  so  he  was  at 
liberty  to  redeem  or  not  to  redeem,  and  at  his  liberty  whether  to  ap- 
point Christ  to  this  work,  or  not  to  call  him  out  to  it.  In  giving 
this  order  to  his  Son,  his  sovereignty  was  exercised  in  a  higher  man- 
ner than  in  all  the  orders  and  instructions  he  hath  given  out  to  men 
or  angels,  and  all  the  employments  he  ever  sent  them  upon.  Christ 
hath  names  which  signify  an  authority  over  him  :  he  is  called  "  an 
Angel,"  and  a  "  Messenger"  (Mai.  iii.  1) ;  an  "  Apostle"  (Heb,  iii.  1) : 
declaring  thereby,  that  God  hath  as  much  authority  over  him  as 
over  the  angels  sent  upon  his  messages,  or  over  the  apostles  com- 
missioned by  his  authority,  as  he  was  considered  in  ■  the  quality  of 
Mediator. 

3.  This  sovereignty  of  God  appears  in  transferring  our  sins  upon 
Christ.  The  supreme  power  in  a  nation  can  only  appoint  or  allow 
of  a  commutation  of  punishment;  it  is  a  part  of  sovereignty  to 
transfer  the  penalty  due  to  the  crime  of  one  upon  another,  and  sub- 
stitute a  sufferer,  with  the  sufferer's  own  consent,  in  the  place  of  a 
criminal,  whom  he  had  a  mind  to  deliver  from  a  deserved  punish- 
ment. God  transferred  the  sins  of  men  upon  Christ,  and  inflicted  on 
him  a  punishment  for  them.  He  summed  up  the  debts  of  man, 
charged  them  upon  the  score  of  Christ,  imputing  to  him  the  guilt, 
and  inflicting  upon  him  the  penalty.  (Isa.  liii.  6) :  "  The  Lord  hath 
laid  upon  him  the  iniquity  of  us  all ;"  he  made  them  all  to  meet 
upon  his  back :  "  He  hath  made  him  to  be  sin  for  us"  (2  Cor.  v.  21)  ; 
he  was  made  so  by  the  sovereign  pleasure  of  God  :  a  punishment  for 
sin,  as  most  understand  it,  which  could  not  be  righteously  inflicted, 
had  not  sin  been  first  righteously  imputed,  by  the  consent  of  Christ, 
and  the  order  of  the  Judge  of  the  world.  This  imputation  could  be 
the  immediate  act  of  none  but  God,  because  he  was  the  sole  creditor. 
A  creditor  is  not  bound  to  accept  of  another's  suretyship,  but  it  is  at 
his  liberty  whether  he  will  or  no  ;  and  when  he  doth  accept  of  him, 
he  may  challenge  the  debt  of  him,  as  if  he  were  the  j^rincipal  debtor 
himself  Christ  made  himself  sin  for  us  by  a  voluntary  submission ; 
and  God  made  him  sin  for  us  by  a  full  imputation,  and  treated  him 
penally,  as  he  would  have  done  those  sinners  in  whose  stead  he  suf- 
fered. Without  this  act  of  sovereignty  in  God,  we  had  forever 
perished  :  for  if  we  could  suppose  Christ  laying  down  his  life  for  us 
without  the  pleasure  and  order  of  God,  he  could  not  have  been  said 
to  have  borne  our  punishment.  What  could  he  have  undergone  in 
his  humanity  but  a  temporal  death  ?  But  more  than  this  was  due 
to  us,  even  the  wrath  of  God,  which  far  exceeds  the  calamity  of  a 
mere  bodily  death.      The  soul  being  principal  in  the  crime,  was  to 


ON  god's  dominion.  425 

be  principal  in  the  punishment.  The  wrath  of  God  could  not  have 
dropped  upon  his  soul,  and  rendered  it  so  full  of  agonies,  without 
the  hand  of  God :  a  creature  is  not  capable  to  reach  the  soul,  neither 
as  to  comfort  nor  terror  ;  and  the  justice  of  God  could  not  have  made 
him  a  sufferer,  if  it  had  not  first  considered  him  a  sinner  by  imputa- 
tion, or  by  inherency,  and  actual  commission  of  a  crime  in  his  own 
person.  The  latter  was  far  from  Christ,  who  was  holy,  harmless, 
and  undefiled.  He  mtist  be  considered  then  in  the  other  state  of 
imputation,  which  could  not  be  without  a  sovereign  appointment,  or 
at  least  concession  of  God :  for  without  it,  he  could  have  no  more 
authority  to  lay  down  his  life  for  us,  than  Abraham  could  have  had  to 
have  sacrificed  his  son,  or  any  man  to  expose  himself  to  death  without 
a  call ;  nor  could  any  plea  have  been  entered  in  the  court  of  heaven, 
either  by  Christ  for  us,  or  by  us  for  ourselves.  And  though  the 
death  of  so  great  a  person  had  been  meritorious  in  itself,  it  had  not 
been  meritorious  for  us,  or  accepted  for  us ;  Christ  is  "  delivered  up 
by  him"  (Rom.  viii.  32),  in  every  part  of  that  condition  wherein  he 
was,  and  suffered ;  and  to  that  end,  that  "  we  might  become  the 
righteousness  of  God  in  him"  (2  Cor.  v.  21) :  that  we  might  have  the 
righteousness  of  him  that  was  God  imputed  to  us,  or  that  we  might 
have  a  righteousness  as  great  and  proportioned  to  the  righteousness 
of  God,  as  God  required.  It  was  an  act  of  Divine  sovereignty  to 
account  him  that  was  righteous  a  sinner  in  our  stead,  and  to  account 
us,  who  were  sinners,  righteous  upon  the  merit  of  his  death. 

4.  This  was  done  by  the  command  of  God  ;  by  God  as  a  Lawgiver, 
having  the  supreme  legislative  and  preceptive  authority  :  in  which 
respect,  the  whole  work  of  Christ  is  said  to  be  an  answer  to  a  law, 
not  one  given  him,  but  put  into  his  heart,  as  the  law  of  nature  was 
in  the  heart  of  man  at  first.  (Ps.  xl.  7,  8) :  "  Thy  law  is  within  my 
heart."  This  law  was  not  the  law  of  nature  or  moral  law,  though 
that  was  also  in  the  heart  of  Clirist,  but  the  command  of  doing 
those  things  which  were  necessary  for  our  salvation,  and  not  a  com- 
mand so  much  of  doing,  as  of  dying.  The  moral  law  in  the  heart 
of  Christ  would  have  done  us  no  good  without  the  mediatory  law ; 
we  had  been  where  we  were  by  the  sole  observance  of  the  precepts 
of  the  moral  law,  without  his  suffering  the  penalty  of  it :  the  law  in 
the  heart  of  Christ  was  the  law  of  suffering,  or  dying,  the  doing  that 
for  us  by  his  death  which  the  blood  of  sacrifices  was  unable  to  effect.. 
Legal  "sacrifices  thou  wouldest  not ;  thy  law  is  Avithin  my  heart ;" 
i.  e.  thy  law  ordered  me  to  be  a  sacrifice  ;  it  was  that  law,  his  obedi- 
ence to  which  was  principally  accepted  and  esteemed,  and  that  was 
principally  his  passive,  his  obedience  to  death  (Phil.  ii.  8) ;  this  was 
the  special  command  received  from  God,  that  he  should  die  (John 
X.  18).  It  is  not  so  clearly  manifested  when  this  command  was  given, 
whether  after  the  incarnation  of  Christ,  or  at  the  point  of  his  consti- 
tution as  Mediator,  upon  the  transaction  between  the  Father  and  the 
Son  concerning  the  affair  of  redemption  :  the  promise  was  given  "  be- 
fore the  world  began"  (Tit.  i.  2).  Might  not  the  precept  be  given, 
before  the  world  began,  to  Christ,  as  considered  in  the  quality  of 
Mediator  and  Redeemer  ?  Precepts  and  promises  usually  attend  one 
another ;  every  covenant  is  made  up  of  both.      Christ,  considered 


42'o  CHARNOCK  ON  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

here  as  tlie  Son  of  God  in  the  Divine  nature,  was  not  capable  of  a 
command  or  promise ;  but  considered  in  the  relation  of  Mediator  be- 
tween God  and  man,  he  was  capable  of  both.  Promises  of  assist- 
ance were  made  before  his  actual  incarnation,  of  which  the  Prophets 
are  full :  why  not  precepts  for  his  obedience,  since  long  before  his 
incarnation  this  was  his  speech  in  the  Prophet,  "  Thy  law  is  within 
my  heart !"  however,  a  command,  a  law  it  was,  which  is  a  fruit  of 
the  Divine  sovereignty ;  that  as  the  sovereignty  of  God  was  im- 
peached and  violated  by  the  disobedience  of  Adam,  it  might  be 
owned  and  vindicated  by  the  obedience  of  Christ ;  that  as  we  fell  by 
disloj^alty  to  it,  Ave  might  rise  by  the  highest  submission  to  it  in  an- 
other head,  infinitely  superior  in  his  person  to  Adam,  by  whom 
we  fell. 

5.  This  sovereignty  of  God  appears  in  exalting  Christ  to  such  a 
sovereign  dignity  as  our  Eedeemer.  Some,  indeed,  say,  that  this  sov- 
ereignty of  Christ's  human  nature  was  natural,  and  the  right  of  it 
resulted  from  its  union  with  the  Divine  ;  as  a  lady  of  mean  condi- 
tion, when  espoused  and  married  to  a  prince,  hath,  by  virtue  of  that, 
a  natural  right  to  some  kind  of  jurisdiction  over  the  whole  kingdom, 
because  she  is  one  with  the  king."  But  to  waive  this  ;  the  Scripture 
placeth  wholly  the  conferring  such  an  authority  upon  the  pleasure 
and  will  of  God.  As  Christ  was  a  gift  of  God's  sovereign  will  to  us, 
so  this  was  a  gift  of  God's  sovereign  will  to  Christ  (Matt,  xxviii.  28) : 
"  All  power  is  given  me."  And  he  "gave  him  to  be  head  over  all 
things  to  the  church"  (Eph.  i.  22);  "God  gave  him  a  name  above 
every  name"  (Phil.  ii.  9) ;  and,  therefore,  his  throne  he  sits  upon  is 
called  "  The  throne  of  his  Father"  (Rev.  iii.  21).  And  he  "  commit- 
ted all  judgment  to  the  Son,"  i.  e.  all  government  and  dominion  ;  an 
empire  in  heaven  and  earth  (John,  v.  22) ;  and  that  because  he  is  "  the 
Son  of  Man"  (ver.  27) ;  which  may  understood,  that  the  Father  hath 
given  him  authority  to  exercise  that  judgment  and  government  as 
the  Son  of  Man,  which  he  originally  had  as  the  Son  of  God ;  or 
rather,  because  he  became  a  servant,  and  humbled  himself  to  death, 
he  gives  him  this  authority  as  the  reward  of  his  obedience  and  hu- 
mility, conformable  to  Phil.  ii.  9.  This  is  an  act  of  the  high  sover- 
eignty of  God,  to  obscure  his  own  authority  in  a  sense,  and  take 
into  association  with  him,  or  vicarious  subordination  to  him,  the  hu- 
man nature  of  Christ  as  united  to  the  Divine ;  not  only  lifting  it 
above  the  heads  of  all  the  angels,  but  giving  that  person  in  our  na- 
ture an  empire  over  them,  whose  nature  was  more  excellent  than 
ours  :  yea,  the  sovereignty  of  God  appears  in  the  whole  management 
of  this  kingly  office  of  Christ ;  for  it  is  managed  in  every  part  of  it 
according  to  God's  order  (Ezek.  xxxvii.  24,  25) :  "  David,  my  ser- 
vant, shall  be  king  over  them,"  and  "  my  servant  David  shall  be 
their  prince  forever  :"  he  shall  be  a  prince  over  them,  but  my  servant 
in  that  principality,  in  the  exercise  and  duration  of  it.  The  sover- 
eignty of  God  is  paramount  in  all  that  Christ  hath  done  as  a  priest, 
or  shall  do  as  a  king. 

Use  I.  For  instruction. 

1.  How  great  is  the  contempt  of  this  sovereignty  of  God  !     Man 

"  Lessius,  de  Perfect.  Diviu.  lib.  x.  p.  65. 


ON   GOD'S  DOMINION.  427 

naturally  would  be  free  from  God's  empire,  to  be  a  slave  under  tlie 
dominion  of  his  own  lust ;  the  sovereignty  of  God,  as  a  Lawgiver, 
is  most  abhorred  by  man  (Lev.  xxvi.  43).  The  Israelites,  the  best 
people  in  the  world,  were  apt,  by  nature,  not  only  to  despise,  but  ab- 
hor, his  statutes  ;  there  is  not  a  law  of  God  but  the  corrupt  heart  of 
man  hath  an  abhorrency  of :  how  often  do  men  wish  that  God  had 
not  enacted  this  or  that  law  that  goes  against  the  grain !  and,  in  wish- 
ing so,  wish  that  he  were  no  sovereign,  or  not  such  a  sovereign  as  he 
is  in  his  own  nature,  but  one  according  to  their  corrupt  model.  This 
is  the  great  quarrel  between  God  and  man,  whether  he  or  they  shall  be 
the  Sovereign  Ruler.  He  should  not,  by  the  will  of  man,  rule  in  any 
one  village  in  the  world ;  God's  vote  should  not  be  predominant  in 
any  one  thing.  There  is  not  a  law  of  his  but  is  exposed  to  contempt 
by  the  perverseness  of  man  (Prov.  i.  21) :  "  Ye  have  set  at  nought 
ail  my  counsel,  and  would  have  none  of  my  reproof:"  Septuag.  "  Ye 
have  made  all  my  counsels  without  authority."  The  nature  of  man 
cannot  endure  one  precept  of  God,  nor  one  rebuke  from  him ;  and 
for  this  cause  God  is  at  the  expense  of  judgments  in  the  world,  to 
assert  his  own  empire  to  the  teeth  and  consciences  of  men  (Ps.  lix. 
13) :  "Lord,  consume  them  in  wrath,  and  let  them  know  that  God 
rules  in  Jacob,  to  the  ends  of  the  earth."  The  dominion  of  God  is 
not  slighted  by  any  creature  of  this  world  but  man ;  all  others  ob- 
serve it  by  observing  his  order,  whether  in  their  natural  motions  or 
preternatural  irruptions  ;  they  punctually  act  according  to  their  com- 
mission. Man  only  speaks  a  dialect  against  the  strain  of  the  whole 
creation,  and  hath  none  to  imitate  him  among  all  the  creatures  in 
heaven  and  earth,  but  only  among  those  in  hell :  man  is  more  im- 
patient of  the  yoke  of  God  than  of  the  yoke  of  man.  There  are 
not  so  many  rebellions  committed  by  inferiors  against  their  superi- 
ors and  fellow-creatures,  as  are  committed  against  God.  A  willing 
and  easy  sinning  is  an  equalling  the  authority  of  God  to  that  of  m.an 
(Hos.  vi.  7) :  "  They,  like  men,  have  transgressed  my  covenant ;"  they 
have  made  no  more  account  of  breaking  my  covenant  than  if  they 
had  broken  some  league  or  compact  made  with  a  mere  man ;  so 
slightly  do  they  esteem  the  authority  of  God ;  such  a  disesteem  of 
the  Divine  authority  is  a  virtual  undeifying  of  him.P  To  slight  his 
sovereignty  is  to  stab  his  Deity  ;  since  the  one  cannot  be  preserved 
without  the  support  of  the  other,  his  life  would  expire  with  his  au- 
thority. How  base  and  brutish  is  it  for  vile  dust  and  mouldering 
clay  to  lift  up  itself  against  the  majesty  of  God,  whose  throne  is  in 
the  heavens,  who  sways  his  sceptre  over  all  parts  of  the  world — a 
Majesty  before  whom  the  devils  shake,  and  the  highest  cherubims 
tremble  !  It  is  as  if  the  thistle,  that  can  presently  be  trod  down  by 
the  foot  of  a  wild  beast,  should  think  itself  a  match  for  the  cedar  of 
Lebanon,  as  the  phrase  is,  2  Kings,  xiv.  9. 

Let  us  consider  this  in  general ;  and,  also,  in  the  ordinary  practice 
of  men.     First,  In  general. 

(1.)  All  sin  in  its  nature  is  a  contempt  of  the  Divine  dominion. 
j^s  every  act  of  obedience  is  a  confirmation  of  the  law,  and  conse- 
quently a  subscrijition  of  the  authority  of  the  Lawgiver  (Deut.  xxvii. 

P  Munster. 


428  CHARNOCK  ON  THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

26),  so  every  breach,  to  it  is  a  conspiracy  against  tlie  sovereignty  of 
tiie  Lawgiver ;  setting  up  our  will  against  the  will  of  God  is  an  arti- 
cling against  his  authority,  as  setting  up  our  reason  against  the 
methods  of  God  is  an  articling  against  his  wisdom ;  the  intendment 
of  every  act  of  sin  is  to  wrest  the  sceptre  out  of  God's  hand.  The 
authority  of  God  is  the  first  attribute  in  the  Deity  which  it  directs 
its  edge  against ;  it  is  called,  therefore,  a  "  transgression  of  his  law" 
(1  John,  iii.  4),  and,  therefore,  a  slight,  or  neglect,  of  the  majesty  of 
God ;  and  the  not  keeping  his  commands  is  called  a  "  forgetting 
God"  (Deut.  viii.  11),  i.  e.  a  forgetting  him  to  be  our  absolute  Lord. 
As  the  first  notion  we  have  of  God  as  a  Creator  is  that  of  his  sover- 
eignty, so  the  first  perfection  that  sin  struck  at,  in  the  violation  of 
the  law,  was  his  sovereignty  as  a  Lawgiver.  "  Breaking  the  law  is 
a  dishonoring  God"  (Rom.  ii.  23),  a  snatching  off  his  crown  ;  to  obey 
our  own  wills  before  the  will  of  God,  is  to  prefer  ourselves  as  our 
own  sovereigns  before  him.  Sin  is  a  wrong,  and  injury  to  God,  not 
in  his  essence,  that  is  above  the  reach  of  a  creature,  nor  in  anything 
profitable  to  him,  or  pertaining  to  his  own  intrinsic  advantage ;  not 
an  injury  to  God  in  himself,  but  in  his  authority,  in  those  things 
which  pertain  to  his  glory  ;  a  disowning  his  due  right,  and  not  using 
his  goods  according  to  his  will.  Thus  the  whole  world  may  be 
called,  as  God  calls  Chaldea,  "  a  land  of  rebels"  (Jer.  1,  21) :  "  Go 
up  against  the  land  of  Merathaim,"  or  rebels  :  rebels,  not  against  the 
Jews,  but  against  God.  The  mighty  opposition  in  the  heart  of  man 
to  the  supremacy  of  God  is  discovered  emphatically  by  the  apostle 
(Rom.  viii.  7)  in  that  expression,  "  The  carnal  mind  is  enmity  against 
God,  ^.  e.  against  the  authority  of  God,  because  "  it  is  not  subject  to 
the  law  of  God,  neither  indeed  can  be."  It  refuseth  not  subjection 
to  this  or  that  part,  but  to  the  whole ;  to  every  mark  of  Divine  au- 
thority in  it ;  it  will  not  lay  down  its  arms  against  it,  nay,  it  cannot 
but  stand  upon  its  terms  against  it ;  the  law  can  no  more  be  fulfilled 
by  a  carnal  mind,  than  it  can  be  disowned  by  a  sovereign  God. 
God  is  so  holy,  that  he  cannot  alter  a  righteous  law,  and  man  is  so 
averse,  that  he  cares  not  for,  nay,  cannot  fulfil,  one  title ;  so  much 
doth  the  nature  of  man  swell  against  the  majesty  of  God.  Now  an 
enmity  to  the  law,  which  is  in  every  sin,  implies  a  perversity  against 
the  authority  of  God  that  enacted  it. 

(2.)  All  sin,  in  its  nature,  is  the  despoiling  God  of  his  sole  sover- 
eignty, which  was  probably  the  first  thing  the  devil  aimed  at.  That 
pride  was  the  sin  of  the  devil,  the  Scripture  gives  us  some  account 
of,  when  the  apostle  adviseth  not  a  novice,  or  one  that  hath  but 
lately  embraced  the  faith,  to  be  chosen  a  bishop  (1  Tim.  iii.  6),  "  Lest, 
being  lifted  up  with  pride,  he  fall  into  the  condemnation  of  the 
devil ;"  lest  he  fall  into  the  same  sin  for  which  the  devil  w^as  con- 
demned. But  in  what  particular  thing  this  pride  was  manifest,  is 
not  so  easily  discernible  ;  the  ancients  generally  conceived  it  to  be 
an  affecting  the  throne  of  God,  grounding  it  on  Isa.  xiv.  12  :  "  How 
art  thou  fallen,  O  Lucifer,  son  of  the  morning !  for  thou  hast  said  in 
thy  heart,  I  will  ascend  into  heaven,  I  will  exalt  my  throne  above 
the  stars  of  God."  It  is  certain  the  prophet  speaks  there  of  the  king 
of  Babylon,  and  taxeth  him  for  his  pride,  and  gives  to  him  the  title 


ON   GOD'S  DOMINION.  429 

of  "  Lucifer,"  perhaps  likening  liiin  in  his  pride  to  the  devil,  and 
then  it  notes  plainly  the  particular  sin  of  the  devil,  attempting  a 
share  in  the  sovereignty  of  God ;  and  some  strengthen  their  conjec- 
ture from  the  name  of  the  archangel  who  contended  against  Satan 
(Jude,  9),  which  is  Michael,  which  signifies,  "  Who  as  God  ?"  or, 
"  Who  like  God  ?"  the  name  of  the  angel  giving  the  superiority  to 
God,  intimating  the  contrary  disposition  in  the  devil,  against  whom 
he  contended.  It  is  likely  his  sin  was  an  affecting  equality  with 
God  in  empire,  or  a  freedom  from  the  sovereign  authority  of  God ; 
because  he  imprinted  such  a  kind  of  persuasion  on  man  at  his  first 
temptation  :  "  Ye  shall  be  as  gods"  (Gen.  iii.  5) ;  and  though  it  be 
restrained  to  the  matter  of  knowledge,  yet  that  being  a  fitness  for 
government,  it  may  be  extended  to  that  also.  But  it  is  plainly  a 
persuading  them,  that  they  might  be,  in  some  sort,  equal  with  God, 
and  independent  on  him  as  their  superior.  What  he  had  found  so 
fatal  to  himself,  he  imagined  would  have  the  same  success  in  the  ruin 
of  man.  And  since  the  devil  hath,  in  all  ages  of  the  world,  usurped 
a  worship  to  himself  which  is  only  due  to  God,  and  would  be  served 
by  man,  as  if  he  were  the  God  of  the  world ;  since  all  his  endeavor 
was  to  be  worshipped  as  the  Supreme  God  on  earth,  it  is  not  unrea- 
sonable to  think,  that  he  invaded  the  supremacy  of  God  in  heaven, 
and  endeavored  to  be  like  the  Most  High  before  his  banishment,  as 
he  hath  attempted  to  be  like  the  Most  High  since.  And  since  the 
devil  and  antichrist  are  reputed  by  John,  in  the  Eevelation,  to  be  so 
near  of  kin,  and  so  like  in  disposition,  why  might  not  that,  which  is 
the  sin  of  antichrist,  the  image  of  him,  be  also  the  sin  of  Satan,  "  to 
exalt  himself  above  all  that  is  called  God"  (2  Thess.  ii.  4),  and  "  sit 
as  God  in  his  temple,"  affecting  a  partnership  in  his  throne  and 
worship  ?  Whether  it  was  this,  or  attempting  an  unaccountable  do- 
minion over  created  things,  or  because  he  was  the  prime  angel,  and 
the  most  illustrious  of  that  magnificent  corporation,  he  might  think 
himself  fit  to  reign  with  God  over  all  things  else  ?  Or  if  his  sin 
Were  envy,  as  some  think,  at  the  felicity  of  man  in  paradise,  it  was 
still  a  quarrelling  with  God's  dominion,  and  right  of  disposing  his 
own  goods  and  favors ;  he  is,  therefore,  called  "  Belial"  (2  Cor.  vi. 
14,  15) :  "  What  concord  hath  Christ  with  Belial  ?"  ^.  e.  with  the 
devil,  one  "  without  yoke,"  as  the  word  "  Belial"  signifies. 

(3.)  It  is  more  plain,  that  this  was  the  sin  of  Adam.  The  first 
act  of  Adam  was  to  exercise  a  lordship  over  the  lower  creatures,  in 
giving  names  to  them, — a  token  of  dominion  (Gen.  ii.  19).  The  next 
was  to  affect  a  lordship  over  God,  in  rebelling  against  him.  After 
he  had  writ  the  first  mark  of  his  own  delegated  dominion,  in  the 
names  he  gave  the  creatures,  and  owned  their  dependence  on  him  as 
their  governor,  he  would  not  acknowledge  his  own  dependence  on 
God.  As  soon  as  the  Lord  of  the  world  had  put  him  into  possession 
of  the  power  he  had  allotted  him,  he  attempted  to  strip  his  Lord  of 
that  which  he  had  reserved  to  himself;  he  was  not  content  to  lay  a 
yoke  upon  the  other  creatures,  but  desirous  to  shake  off  the  Divine 
yoke  from  himself,  and  be  subject  to  none  but  his  own  will ;  hence 
Adam's  sin  is  more  particularly  called  "  disobedience"  (Rom.  v.  19) : 
for,  in  the  eating  the  apple,  there  was  no  moral  evil  in  itself,  but  a 


430  CHARNOCK   ON   THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

contradiction  to  the  positive  command  and  order  of  God,  "wliereby  he 
did  disown  God's  right  of  commanding  him,  or  reserving  anything 
from  him  to  his  own  use.  The  language  all  his  posterity  speaks, 
"  Let  us  break  his  bands,  and  cast  away  his  cords  from  us"  (Ps.  ii. 
3),  was  learned  from  Adam  in  that  act  of  his.  The  next  act  we  read 
of,  was  that  of  Cain's  murdering  Abel,  which  was  an  invading  God's 
right,  in  assuming  an  authority  to  dispose  of  the  life  of  his  brother, 
■ — a  life  which  God  had  given  him,  and  reserved  the  period  of  it  in 
his  own  hands.  And  he  persists  in  the  same  usurpation  when  God 
came  to  examine  him,  and  ask  him  where  his  brother  was ;  how 
scornful  was  his  answer  !  (Gen.  iv.  9) :  *'  Am  I  my  brother's  keeper  ?" 
as  much  as  if  he  had  said.  What  have  you  to  do  to  examine  me  ?  or, 
What  obligation  is  there  upon  me  to  render  an  account  of  him  ?  or,  as 
one  saith,  it  is  as  much  as  if  he  had  said,  "  Go,  look  for  him  yourself."q 
The  sovereignty  of  God  did  not  remain  undisturbed  as  soon  as  ever 
it  appeared  in  creation  ;  the  devils  rebelled  against  it  in  heaven,  and 
man  would  have  banished  it  from  the  earth. 

(4.)  The  sovereignty  of  God  hath  not  been  less  invaded  by  the 
usurpations  of  men.  One  single  order  of  the  Roman  episcopacy 
hath  endeavored  to  usurp  the  prerogatives  of  God ;  the  Pope  will 
prohibit  what  God  hath  allowed ;  the  marriage  of  priests ;  the  re- 
ceiving of  the  cup,  as  well  as  of  the  bread,  in  the  sacrament ;  the 
eating  of  this  or  that  sort  of  meat  at  special  times,  meats  which  God 
hath  sanctified  ;  and  forbid  them,  too,  upon  pain  of  damnation.  It 
is  an  invasion  of  God's  right  to  forbid  the  use  of  what  God  hath 
granted,  as  though  the  earth,  and  the  fulness  thereof,  were  no  longer 
the  Lord's,  but  the  Pope's ;  much  more  to  forbid  what  God  hath 
commanded,  as  if  Christ  overreached  his  own  authority,  when  he  en- 
joined all  to  drink  of  the  sacramental  wine,  as  well  as  eat  of  the 
sacramental  bread.  No  lord  but  will  think  his  right  usurped  by  that 
steward  who  shall  permit  to  others  what  his  lord  forbids,  and  forbid 
that  which  his  master  allows,  and  act  the  lord  instead  of  the  servant. 
Add  to  this  the  pardons  of  many  sins,  as  if  he  had  the  sole  key  to 
the  treasures  of  Divine  mercy ;  the  disposing  of  crowns  and  domin- 
ions at  his  pleasure,  as  if  God  had  divested  himself  of  the  title  of 
King  of  kings,  and  transferred  it  upon  the  see  of  Rome.  The  allow- 
ing public  stews,  dispensing  with  incestuous  marriages,  as  if  God  had 
acted  more  the  part  of  a  tyrant  than  of  a  righteous  Sovereign  in  for- 
bidding them,  depriving  the  Jews  of  the  propriety  in  their  estates 
upon  their  conversion  to  Christianity,  as  if  the  pilfering  men's  goods 
were  the  way  to  teach  them  self-denial,  the  first  doctrine  of  Christian 
religion ;  and  God  shall  have  no  honor  from  the  Jew  without  a 
breach  of  his  law  by  theft  from  the  Christian.  Granting  many 
years'  indulgences  upon  slight  performances,  the  repeating  so  many 
Ave- Marias  and  Pater- Nosters  in  a  day,  canonizing  saints,  claiming 
the  keys  of  heaven,  and  disposing  of  the  honors  and  glory  of  it,  and 
proposing  creatures  as  objects  of  religious  worship,  wherein  he  an- 
swers the  character  of  the  apostle  (2  Thess.  ii.  4),  "  showing  himself 
that  he  is  God,"  in  challenging  that  power  which  is  only  the  right 
of  Divine  sovereignty ;  exalting  himself  above  God,  in  iudidging 

q  Trap,  in  Inc. 


ON  GOD'S  DOMINION".  431 

tliose  tilings  Avliicli  the  law  of  God  never  allowed,  but  liatli  severely 
prohibited.  This  controlling  the  sovereignty  of  God,  not  allowing 
him  the  rights  of  his  crown,  is  the  soul  and  spirit  of  many  errors. 
Why  are  the  decrees  of  election  and.  pretention  denied  ?  Because 
men  will  not  acknowledge  God  the  Sovereign  Disposer  of  his  crea- 
ture. Why  is  effectual  calling  and.  efficacious  grace  denied  ?  Be- 
cause they  will  not  allow  God  the  proprietor  and  distributer  of  his 
own  goods.  Why  is  the  satisfaction  of  Christ  denied?  Because 
they  will  not  allow  God  a  power  to  vindicate  his  own  law  in  what 
way  he  pleaseth.  Most  of  the  errors  of  men  may  be  resolved  into  a 
denial  of  God's  sovereignty  ;  all  have  a  tincture  of  the  first  evil  sen- 
timent of  Adam. 

Secondly.  The  sovereignty  of  God  is  contemned  in  the  practices  of 
men — (1.)  As  he  is  a  Lawgiver. 

[1.]  When  laws  are  made,  and  urged  in  any  state  contrary  to  the 
law  of  God.  It  is  part  of  God's  sovereignty  to  be  a  Lawgiver ;  not 
to  obey  his  law  is  a  breach  made  upon  his  right  of  government ;  but 
it  is  treason  in  any  against  the  crown  of  God,  to  mint  laws  with  a 
stamp  contrary  to  that  of  heaven,  whereby  they  renounce  their  due 
subjection,  and  vie  with  God  for  dominion,  snatch  the  supremacy 
from  him,  and  account  themselves  more  lords  than  the  Sovereign 
Monarch  of  the  world.  When  men  will  not  let  God  be  the  judge 
of  good  and  evil,  but  put  in  their  own  vote,  controlling  his  to  estab- 
lish their  own ;  such  are  not  content  to  be  as  gods,  subordinate  to 
the  supreme  God,  to  sit  at  his  feet ;  nor  co-ordinate  with  him,  to  sit 
equal  upon  his  throne  ;  but  paramount  to  him,  to  over-top  and  shadow 
his  crown ; — a  boldness  that  leaves  the  serpent,  in  the  first  temp- 
tation, under  the  character  of  a  more  commendable  modesty  ;  who 
advised  our  first  parents  to  attempt  to  be  as  gods,  but  not  above 
him,  and  would  enervate  a  law  of  God,  but  not  enact  a  contrary  one 
to  be  observed  by  them.  Such  was  the  usurpation  of  Nebuchad- 
nezzar, to  set  up  a  golden  image  to  be  adored  (Dan.  iii.),  as  if  he  had 
power  to  mint  gods,  as  well  as  to  conquer  men ;  to  set  the  stamp  of 
a  Deity  upon  a  piece  of  gold,  as  well  as  his  own  effigies  upon  his 
current  coin.  Much  of  the  same  nature  was  that  of  Darius,  by  the 
motion  of  his  flatterers,  to  prohibit  any  petition  to  be  made  to  God 
for  the  space  of  thirty  days,  as  though  God  was  not  to  have  a  wor- 
ship without  a  license  from  a  doting  piece  of  clay  (Dan.  vi.  7).  So 
Henry  the  Third  of  France,  by  his  edict,  silenced  masters  of  families 
from  praying  with  their  households."^  And  it  is  a  farther  contempt 
of  God's  authority,  when  good  men  are  oppressed  by  the  sole  weight 
of  power,  for  not  observing  such  laws,  as  if  they  had  a  real  sover- 
eignty over  the  consciences  of  men,  more  than  God  himself.^  When 
the  apostles  were  commanded  by  an  angel  from  God,  to  preach  in 
the  Temple  the  doctrine  of  Christ  (Acts,  v.  19,  20),  they  were  fetched 
from  thence  with  a  guard  before  the  council  (ver.  6).  And  what  is 
the  language  of  those  statesmen  to  them?  as  absolute  as  God  him- 
self could  speak  to  any  transgressors  of  his  law,  "  Did  not  we  straitly 
command  you,  that  you  should  not  teach  in  this  name  ?"  (ver.  28l 
It  is  sufficient  that  we  gave  yuo  a  command  to  be  silent,  and  publisn 

'  Trap,  inloc.  •  Faucheur,  Vol.  II.  pp.  663,  664. 


482  CHAENOCK  ON  THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

no  more  this  doctrine  of  Jesus ;  it  is  not  for  you  to  examine  our  de- 
crees, but  rest  in  our  order  as  loyal  subjects,  and  comply  with  your 
rulers ;  they  might  have  added, — though  it  be  with  the  damnation 
of  your  souls.  How  would  those  overrule  the  apostles  by  no  other 
reason  but  their  absolute  pleasure !  And  though  God  had  espoused 
their  cause,  by  delivering  them  out  of  the  prison,  wherein  they  had 
locked  them  the  day  before,  yet  not  one  of  all  this  council  had  the 
wit  or  honesty  to  entitle  it  a  fighting  against  God,  but  Gamaliel  (ver. 
29).  So  foolishly  fond  are  men  to  put  themselves  in  the  place  of 
God,  and  usurp  a  jurisdiction  over  men's  consciences :  and  to  pre- 
sume that  laws  made  against  the  interest  and  command  of  God,  must 
be  of  more  force  than  the  laws  of  God's  enacting. 

[2.]  The  sovereignty  of  God  is  contemned  in  making  additions  to 
the  laws  of  God.  The  authority  of  a  sovereign  Lawgiver  is  invaded  and 
vilified  when  an  inferior  presumes  to  make  orders  equivalent  to  his 
edicts.  It  is  a  'praemunire  against  heaven  to  set  up  an  authority  dis- 
tinct from  that  of  God,  or  to  enjoin  anything  as  necessary  in  matter 
of  worship  for  which  a  Divine  commission  cannot  be  shown,  God 
was  always  so  tender  of  this  part  of  his  prerogative,  that  he  would 
not  have  anything  wrought  in  the  tabernacle,  not  a  vessel,  not  an 
instrument,  but  what  himself  had  prescribed.  "  According  to  all  that 
I  show  thee,  after  the  pattern  of  the  tabernacle,  and  the  pattern  of 
all  the  instruments  thereof,  even  so  shall  ye  make  it"  (Exod.  xxv.  9) ; 
which  is  strictly  urged  again,  ver.  40:  "Look  that  thou  make  them 
after  their  pattern  ;"  look  to  it,  beware  of  doing  anything  of  thine 
own  head,  and  justling  with  my  authority.  It  was  so  afterwards  in 
the  matter  of  the  temple,  which  succeeded  the  tabernacle  ;  God  gave 
the  model  of  it  to  David,  and  made  him  "  understand  in  writing  by 
his  hand  upon  him,  even  all  the  works  of  this  pattern"  (1  Chron. 
xxviii.  19).  Neither  the  royal  authority  in  Moses,  who  was  king  in 
Jesurun ;  nor  in  David,  who  was  a  man  after  God's  own  heart,  and 
called  to  the  crown  by  a  special  and  extraordinary  providence  ;  nor 
Aaron,  and  the  high  priests  his  successors,  invested  in  the  sacerdotal 
office,  had  any  authority  from  God,  to  do  anything  in  the  framing 
the  tabernacle  or  temple  of  their  own  heads.  God  barred  them  from 
anything  of  that  nature,  by  giving  them  an  exact  pattern,  so  dear  to 
him  was  always  this  flower  of  his  crown.  And  afterwards,  the  power 
of  appointing  officers  and  ordinances  in  the  church  was  delegated  to 
Christ,  and  was  among  the  rest  of  those  royalties  given  to  him,  which 
he  fully  completed  "for  the  edifying  of  the  body"  (Eph.  iv.  11,  12); 
and  he  hath  the  eulogy  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  to  be  "  faithful  as 
Moses  was  in  all  his  house,  to  Him  that  appointed  him"  (Heb.  iii.  2). 
Faithfulness  in  a  trust  implies  a  punctual  observing  directions ;  God 
was  still  so  tender  of  this,  that  even  Christ,  the  Son,  should  no  more 
do  anything  in  this  concern  without  appointment  and  pattern,  than 
"  Moses,  a  servant"  (ver.  5,  6).  It  seems  to  be  a  vote  of  nature  to 
refer  the  original  of  the  modes  of  all  worship  to  God  ;  and  therefore 
in  all  those  varieties  of  ceremonies  among  the  heathens,  there  was 
scarce  any  but  were  imagined  by  them  to  be  the  dictates  and  orders 
of  some  of  their  pretended  deities,  and  not  the  resolves  of  mere  hu- 
man authority.     What  intrusion  upon  God's  right  hath  the  papacy 


ON  god's  dominion.  433 

made  in  regard  of  officers,  cardinals,  patriarchs,  &c.,  not  known  in 
an  J  Divine  order?  In  regard  of  ceremonies  in  worship,  pressed  as 
necessary  to  obtain  the  favor  of  God,  holy  water,  crucifixes,  altars, 
images,  cringings,  reviving  many  of  the  Jewish  and  Pagan  ceremo- 
nies, and  adopting  them  into  the  family  of  Christian  ordinances ;  as 
if  God  had  been  too  absolute  and  arbitrary  in  repealing  the  one,  and 
dashing  in  pieces  the  other.  When  God  had  by  his  sovereign  order 
framed  a  religion  for  the  heart,  men  are  ready  to  usurp  an  authority 
to  frame  one  for  the  sense,  to  dress  the  ordinances  of  God  in  new 
and  gaudy  habits,  to  take  the  eye  by  a  vain  pomjD ;  thus  affecting  a 
Divine  royalty,  and  acting  a  silly  childishness ;  and  after  this,  to  im- 
pose the  observation  of  those  upon  the  consciences  of  men,  is  a  bold 
ascent  into  the  throne  of  God ;  to  impose  laws  upon  the  conscience, 
which  Christ  hath  not  imposed,  hath  deservedly  been  thought  the 
very  spirit  of  antichrist ;  it  may  be  called  also  the  spirit  of  anti-god. 
God  hath  reserved  to  himself  the  sole  sovereignty  over  the  con- 
science, and  never  indulged  men  any  part  of  it ;  he  hath  not  given 
man  a  power  over  his  own  conscience,  much  less  one  man  a  power 
over  another's  conscience.  Men  have  a  power  over  outward  things 
to  do  this  or  that,  Avhere  it  is  determined  by  the  law  of  God,  but  not 
the  least  authority  to  control  any  dictate  or  determination  of  con- 
science :  the  sole  empire  of  that  is  appropriate  to  God,  as  one  of  the 
great  marks  of  his  royalty.  What  an  usurpation  is  it  of  God's  right 
to  make  conscience  a  slave  to  man,  which  God  hath  solely,  as  the 
Father  of  spirits,  subjected  to  himself! — an  usurpation  which,  though 
the  apostles,  those  extraordinary  officers,  might  better  have  claimed, 
yet  they  utterly  disowned  any  imperious  dominion  over  the  faith  of 
others  (2  Cor.  i.  24).  Though  in  this  they  do  not  seem  to  climb  up 
above  God,  yet  they  set  themselves  in  the  throne  of  God,  envy  him 
an  absolute  monarchy,  would  be  sharers  with  him  in  his  legislative 
power,  and  grasp  one  end  of  his  sceptre  in  their  own  hands.  They 
do  not  pretend  to  take  the  crown  from  God's  head,  but  discover  a 
bold  ambition  to  shuffle  their  hairy  scalps  under  it,  and  wear  part  of 
it  upon  their  own,  that  they  may  rule  with  him,  not  under  him ;  and 
would  be  joint  lords  of  his  manor  with  him,  who  hath,  by  the  apos- 
tle, forbidden  any  to  be  "  lords  of  his  heritage"  (1  Pet.  v.  8) :  and 
therefore  they  cannot  assume  such  an  authority  to  themselves  till 
they  can  show  where  God  hath  resigned  this  part  of  his  authority  to 
them.  If  their  exposition  of  that  place  (Matt.  xvi.  18),  "Upon  this 
rock  I  will  build  my  church,"  be  granted  to  be  true,  and  that  the 
person  and  successors  of  Peter  are  meant  by  that  rock,  it  could  be  no- 
apology  for  their  usurpations  ;  it  is  not  Peter  and  his  successors  shall 
build,  but  "  I  will  build;"  others  are  instruments  in  building,  but 
they  are  to  observe  the  directions  of  the  grand  Architect. 

[8.]  The  sovereignty  of  God  is  contemned  when  men  prefer  obe- 
dience to  men's  laws  before  obedience  to  God.  As  God  hath  an 
undoubted  right,  as  the  Lawgiver  and  Ruler  of  the  world,  to  enact 
laws  without  consulting  the  pleasure  of  men,  or  requiring  their  con- 
sent to  the  verifying  and  establishing  his  edicts,  so  are  men  obliged, 
by  their  allegiance  as  subjects,  to  observe  the  laws  of  their  Creator, 
without  consulting  whether  they  be  agreeable  to  the  laws  of  his  re- 

voL.  11. — 23 


434  CHARNOCK  ON   THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

volted  creatures.  To  consult  with  flesh  and  blood  whether  we  should 
obey,  is  to  authorize  flesh  and  blood  above  the  purest  and  most 
sovereign  Spirit.  When  men  will  obey  their  superiors,  without  tak- 
ing in  the  condition  the  apostle  prescribes  to  servants  (Col.  iii.  22), 
"  In  singleness  of  heart  fearing  God,"  and  postpone  the  fear  of  God 
to  the  fear  of  man,  it  is  to  render  God  of  less  power  with  them  than 
the  drop  of  a  bucket,  or  dust  of  the  balance.  When  we,  out  of  fear 
of  punishment,  will  observe  the  laws  of  men  against  the  laws  of  God, 
it  is  like  the  Egyptians,  to  worship  a  ravenous  crocodile  instead  of  a 
Deity ;  when  we  submit  to  human  laws,  and  stagger  at  Divine,  it  is 
to  set  man  upon  the  throne  of  God,  and  God  at  the  footstool  of  man ; 
to  set  man  above,  and  God  beneath ;  to  make  him  the  tail,  and  not 
the  head,  as  God  speaks  in  another  case  of  Israel  (Deut.  xxviii.  13). 
When  we  pay  an  outward  observation  to  Divine  laws,  because  they 
are  backed  by  the  laws  of  man,  and  human  authority  is  the  motive 
of  our  observance,  we  subject  God's  sovereignty  to  man's  authority; 
what  he  hath  from  us,  is  more  owing  to  the  pleasure  of  men  than 
any  value  we  have  for  the  empire  of  God :  when  men  shall  commit 
murders,  and  imbrue  their  hands  in  blood  by  the  order  of  a  grandee ; 
when  the  worst  sins  shall  be  committed  by  the  order  of  papal  dis- 
pensations ;  when  the  use  of  his  creatures,  which  God  hath  granted 
and  sanctified,  shall  be  abstained  from  for  so  many  days  in  the  week, 
and  so  many  weeks  in  the  year,  because  of  a  Roman  edict,  the  au- 
thority of  man  is  acknowledged,  not  only  equal,  but  superior,  to  that 
of  God ;  the  dominion  of  dust  and  clay  is  preferred  before  the  un- 
doubted right  of  the  Soverign  of  the  world ;  the  commands  of  God 
are  made  less  than  human,  and  the  orders  of  men  more  authoritative 
than  Divine,  and  a  grand  rebel's  usurpation  of  God's  right  is  coun- 
tenanced. When  men  are  more  devout  in  observance  of  uncertain 
traditions,  or  mere  human  inventions,  than  at  the  hearing  of  the  un- 
questionable oracles  of  God ;  when  men  shall  squeeze  their  counte- 
nances into  a  more  serious  figure,  and  demean  themselves  in  a  more 
religious  posture,  at  the  appearance  of  some  mock  ceremony,  clothed 
in  a  Jewish  or  Pagan  garb,  which  hath  unhappily  made  a  rent  in  the 
coat  of  Christ,  and  pay  a  more  exact  reverence  to  that  which  hath  no 
Divine,  but  only  a  human  stamp  upon  it,  than  to  the  clear  and  plain 
word  of  God,  which  is  perhaps  neglected  with  sleepy  nods,  or  which 
is  worse,  entertained  with  profane  scoffs ; — this  is  to  prefer  the  au- 
thority of  man  employed  in  trifles,  before  the  authority  of  the  wise 
Lawgiver  of  the  world :  besides,  the  ridiculousness  of  it  is  as  great 
as  to  adore  a  glow-worm,  and  laugh  at  the  sun ;  or  for  a  courtier  to 
be  more  exact  in  his  cringes  and  starched  postures  before  a  puppet 
than  before  his  sovereign  prince.  In  all  this  we  make  not  the  will 
and  authority  of  God  our  rule,  but  the  will  of  man ;  disclaim  oui 
dependence  on  God,  to  hang  upon  the  uncertain  breath  of  a  creature. 
In  all  this  God  is  made  less  than  man,  and  man  more  than  God ; 
God  is  deposed,  and  man  enthroned ;  God  made  a  slave,  and  man  a 
sovereign  above  him.  To  this  we  may  refer  the  solemn  addresses 
of  some  for  the  maintenance  of  the  Protestant  religion  according  to 
law,  the  law  of  man ;  not  so  much  minding  the  law  of  God,  resolving 
to  make  the  law,  the  church,  the  state,  the  rule  of  their  religion,  and 


ON  GOD'S  DOMINION.  435 

change  tliat  if  the  laws  be  changed,  steering  their  opinions  by  the 
compass  of  the  magistrate's  judgment  and  interest, 

(2.)  The  dominion  of  God,  as  a  Proprietor,  is  practically  con- 
temned. 

[1.]  By  envy.  When  we  are  not  flush  and  gay,  as  well  spread 
and  sparkling  as  others,  this  passion  gnaws  our  souls,  and  we  be- 
come the  executioners  to  rack  ourselves,  because  God  is  the  executor 
of  his  own  pleasure.  The  foundation  of  this  passion  is  a  quarrel 
with  God ;  to  envy  others  the  enjoyment  of  their  propriety  is  to  envy 
God  his  right  of  disposal,  and,  consequently,  the  propriety  of  his  own 
goods ;  it  is  a  mental  theft  committed  against  God ;  we  rob  him  of  his 
right  in  our  will  and  wish ;  it  is  a  robbery  to  make  ourselves  equal 
with  God  when  it  is  not  our  due,  which  is  implied  (Phil.  ii.  6),  when 
Christ  is  said  "  to  think  it  no  robbery  to  be  equal  with  God."  We 
would  wrest  the  sceptre  out  of  his  hand,  wish  he  were  not  the  con- 
ductor of  the  world,  and  that  he  would  resign  his  sovereignty,  and 
the  right  of  the  distribution  of  his  own  goods,  to  the  capricios  of  our 
humor,  and  ask  our  leave  to  what  subjects  he  should  dispense  his 
favors.  All  envy  is  either  a  tacit  accusation  of  God  as  an  usurper, 
and  assuming  a  right  to  dispose  of  that  which  doth  not  belong  to 
him,  and  so  it  is  a  denial  of  his  propriety,  or  else  charges  him  with 
a  blind  or  unjust  distribution,  and  so  it  is  a  bespattering  his  wisdom 
and  righteousness.  When  God  doth  punish  envy,  he  vindicates  his 
own  sovereignty,  as  though  this  passion  chiefly  endeavored  to  blast 
this  perfection  (Ezek.  xxv.  11,  12):  "As  I  live,  saith  the  Lord,  I  will 
do  according  to  thy  anger,  and  according  to  thy  envy,  and  thou  shall 
know  that  I  am  the  Lord."  The  sin  of  envy  in  the  devils  was  im- 
mediately against  the  crown  of  God,  and  so  was  the  sin  of  envy  in 
the  first  man,  envying  God  the  sole  prerogative  in  knowledge  above 
himself  This  base  humor  in  Cain,  at  the  preference  of  Abel's  sacri- 
fice before  his,  was  the  cause  that  he  deprived  him  of  his  life :  deny- 
ing God,  first  his  right  of  choice  and  what  he  should  accept,  and 
then  invading  God's  right  of  propriety,  in  usurping  a  power  over 
the  life  and  being  of  his  brother,  which  solely  belonged  to  God. 

[2.]  The  dominion  of  God,  as  a  proprietor,  is  practically  contemned 
by  a  violent  or  surreptitious  taking  away  from  any  what  God  hath 
given  him  the  possession  of  Since  God  is  the  Lord  of  all,  and  may 
give  the  possession  and  dominion  of  things  to  whom  he  pleaseth,  all 
theft  and  purloining,  all  cheating  and  cozening  another  of  his  right, 
is  not  only  a  crime  against  the  true  possessor,  depriving  him  of  what 
he  is  entrusted  with,  but  against  God,  as  the  absolute  and  universal 
proprietor,  having  a  right  thereby  to  confer  his  own  goods  upon 
whom  he  pleaseth,  as  well  as  against  God  as  a  Lawgiver,  forbidding 
such  a  violence :  the  snatching  away  what  is  another's,  denies  man 
the  right  of  possession,  and  God  the  right  of  donation :  the  Israelites 
taking  the  Egyptians'  jewels  had  been  theft  had  it  not  been  by  a 
Divine  license  and  order,  but  cannot  be  slandered  with  such  a  term, 
after  the  Proprietor  of  the  whole  world  had  altered  the  title,  and 
alienated  them  by  his  positive  grant  from  the  Egyptians,  to  confer 
them  upon  the  Israehtes. 

[3.]  The  dominion  of  God,  as  a  proprietor,  is  practically  contemned 


436  CHARNOCK   ON  THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

by  not  using  wliat  God  liatli  given  ns  for  those  ends  for  wliicli  he 
gave  them  to  us.  God  passeth  things  over  to  us  with  a  condition  to 
use  that  for  his  glory  which  he  hath  bestowed  upon  us  by  his  boun- 
ty :  he  is  Lord  of  the  end  for  which  he  gives,  as  well  as  Lord  of  what 
he  gives ;  the  donor's  right  of  propriety  is  infringed  when  the  lands 
and  legacies  he  leaves  to  a  particular  use  are  not  employed  to  those 
ends  to  which  he  bequeathed  them :  the  right  of  the  lord  of  a  manor 
is  violated  when  the  copyhold  is  not  used  according  to  the  condition 
of  the  conveyance.  So  it  is  an  invasion  of  God's  sovereignty  not  to 
use  the  creatures  for  those  ends  for  which  we  are  entrusted  with 
them :  when  we  deny  ourselves  a  due  and  lawful  support  from  them ; 
hence  covetousness  is  an  invasion  of  his  right :  or  when  we  unneces- 
sarily waste  them ;  hence  prodigality  disowns  his  propriety :  or  when 
we  bestow  not  anything  upon  the  relief  of  others ;  hence  uncharita- 
bleness  comes  under  the  same  title,  appropriating  that  to  ourselves, 
as  if  we  were  the  lords,  when  we  were  but  the  usufructuaries  for  our- 
selves, and  stewards  for  others ;  this  is  to  be  "  rich  to  ourselves,  not 
to  God"  (Luke  xii.  21),  for  so  are  they  who  employ  not  their  wealth 
for  the  service,  and  according  to  the  intent,  of  the  donor.  Thus  the 
Israelites  did  not  own  God  the  true  proprietor  of  their  corn,  wine, 
and  oil,  which  God  had  given  them  for  his  worship,  when  they  pre- 
pared offerings  for  Baal  out  of  his  stock :  "  For  she  did  not  know 
that  I  gave  her  corn,  and  wine,  and  oil,  and  multiplied  her  gold  and 
silver,  which  they  prepared  for  Baal"  (Hos.  ii.  8) ;  as  if  they  had  been 
sole  proprietors,  and  not  factors  by  commission,  to  improve  the 
goods  for  the  true  owner.  It  is  the  same  invasion  of  God's  right  to 
use  the  parts  and  gifts  that  God  hath  given  us,  either  as  fuel  for  our 
pride,  or  advancing  self,  or  a  witty  scofiing  at  God  and  religion ; 
when  we  use  not  religion  for  the  honor  of  our  Sovereign,  but  a  stool 
to  rise  by,  and  observe  his  precepts  outwardly,  not  out  of  regard  to 
his  authority,  but  as  a  stale  to  our  interest,  and  furnishing  self  with 
a  little  concern  and  trifle ;  when  men  will  wrest  his  word  for  the  favor 
of  their  lusts,  which  God  intended  for  the  checking  of  them,  and 
make  interpretations  of  it  according  to  their  humors,  and  not  according 
to  his  will  discovered  in  the  Scripture,  this  is  to  pervert  the  use  of  the 
best  goods  and  depositum  he  hath  put  into  our  hands,  even  Divine 
revelations.    Thus  hypocrisy  makes  the  sovereignty  of  God  a  nullity. 

(3.)  The  dominion  of  God,  as  a  Governor^  is  practically  con- 
temned. 

[1.]  In  idolatry.  Since  worship  is  an  acknowledgment  of  God's 
sovereignty,  to  adore  any  creature  instead  of  God,  or  to  pay  to  any- 
thing that  homage  of  trust  and  confidence  which  is  due  to  God, 
though  it  be  the  highest  creature  in  heaven  or  earth,  is  to  acknowl- 
edge that  sovereignty  to  pertain  to  a  creature,  which  is  challenged 
by  God;  as  to  set  up  the  greatest  lord  in  a  kingdom  in  the  govern- 
ment, instead  of  the  lawful  prince,  is  rebellion  and  usurpation ; 
and  that  woman  incurs  the  crime  of  adultery,  who  commits  it  with 
a  person  of  great  port  and  honor,  as  well  as  with  one  of  a  mean 
condition.  While  men  create  anything  a  god,  they  own  themselves 
supreme  above  the  true  God,  yea,  and  above  that  which  they  ac- 
count a  god ;  for,  by  the  right  of  creation,  they  have  a  superiority, 


ON"  GOD'S  DOMINION.  437 

as  it  is  a  deity  blown  up  bj  the  breath  of  their  own  imagination. 
The  authority  of  God  is  in  this  sin  acknowledged  to  belong  to  an 
idol ;  it  is  called  loathing  of  God  as  a  husband  (Ezek,  xvi.  45),  all 
the  authority  of  God  as  a  husband  and  Lord  over  them :  so  when 
we  make  anything  or  any  person  in  the  world  the  chief  object  and 
prop  of  our  trust  and  confidence,  we  act  the  same  part.  Trust  in  an 
idol  is  the  formal  part  of  idolatry ;  "so  is  every  oiie  that  trusts  in 
them"  (Ps.  cxv.  8),  i.  e.  in  idols :  whatsoever  thing  we  make  the  ob- 
ject of  our  trust,  we  rear  as  an  idol.  It  is  not  unlawful  to  have  the 
image  of  a  creature,  but  to  bestow  divine  adoration  upon  it ;  it  was 
not  unlawful  for  the  Egyptians  to  possess  and  use  oxen,  but  to  dub 
them  gods  to  be  adored,  it  was :  it  is  not  unlawful  to  have  wealth 
and  honor,  nor  to  have  gifts  and  parts,  they  are  the  presents  of 
God ;  but  to  love  them  above  God,  to  fix  our  reliance  upon  them 
more  than  upon  God,  is  to  rob  God  of  his  due,  who,  being  our 
Creator,  ought  to  be  our  confidence.  What  we  want  we  are  to  de- 
sire of  him,  and  expect  from  him.  When  we  confide  in  anything 
else  we  deny  God  the  glory  of  his  creation ;  we  disown  him  to  be 
Lord  of  the  world ;  imply  that  our  welfare  is  in  the  hands  of,  and 
depends  upon,  that  thing  wherein  we  confide ;  it  is  not  only  to 
"  equal  it  to  God"  in  sovereign  power,  which  is  his  own  phrase  (Isa. 
xl,  25),  but  to  prefer  it  before  him  in  a  reproach  of  him.  When  the 
hosts  of  heaven  shall  be  served  instead  of  tlie  Lord  of  those  hosts ; 
Avhen  we  shall  lackey  after  the  stars,  depend  barely  upon  their  in- 
fluences, without  looking  up  to  the  great  Director  of  the  sun,  it 
is  to  pay  an  adoration  unto  a  captain  in  a  regiment  which  is  due  to 
the  general.  When  we  shall  "  make  gold  our  hope,  and  say  to  the 
fine  gold.  Thou  art  my  confidence,"  it  is  to  deny  the  supremacy  of 
that  God  that  is  above ;  as  well  as  if  we  kiss  our  hands,  in  a  way  of 
adoration,  to  the  sun  in  its  splendor,  or  "the  moon  walking  in  its 
brightness,"  for  Job  couples  them  together  (ch.  xxxi.  25 — 28) ;  it  is 
to  prefer  the  authority  of  earth  before  that  of  heaven,  and  honor 
clay  above  the  Sovereign  of  the  world :  as  if  a  soldier  should  con- 
fide more  in  the  rag  of  an  ensign,  or  the  fragment  of  a  drum,  for  his 
safety,  than  in  the  orders  and  conduct  of  his  general ;  it  were  as 
much  as  is  in  his  power  to  uncommission  him,  and  snatch  from  him 
his  commander's  stafiJ".  When  we  advance  the  creature  in  our  love 
above  God,  and  the  altar  of  our  soul  smokes  Avith  more  thoughts 
and  affections  to  a  petty  interest  than  to  God,  we  lift  up  that  which 
was  given  us  as  a  servant  in  the  place  of  the  Sovereign,  and  bestow 
that  throne  upon  it  which  is  to  be  kept  undefiled  for  the  rightful 
Lord,  and  subject  the  interest  of  God  to  the  demands  of  the  crea- 
ture. So  much  respect  is  due  to  God,  that  none  should  be  placed  in 
the  throne  of  our  affections  equal  with  him,  much  less  anything  to 
perk  above  him. 

[2.]  Impatience  is  a  contempt  of  God  as  a  governor.  When  we 
meet  with  rubs  in  the  way  of  any  design,  when  our  expectations  are 
crossed,  we  will  break  through  all  obstacles  to  accomplish  our  pro- 
jects, whether  God  will  or  no.  When  we  are  too  much  dejected  at 
some  unexpected  providence,  and  murmur  at  the  instruments  of  it, 
as  if  God  divested  himself  of  his  prerogative  of  conducting  human 


438  CHARNOCK  ON  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

affairs ;  wlien  a  little  cross  blows  us  into  a  mutiny,  and  swells  us 
into  a  sauciness  to  implead  God,  or  make  us  fret  against  him  (as  the 
expression  is,  Isa.  viii.  21),  wishing  him  out  of  his  throne  ;  no  sin  is 
so  devilish  as  this ;  there  is  not  any  strikes  more  at  all  the  attributes 
of  God  than  this,  against  his  goodness,  righteousness,  holiness,  wis- 
dom, and  doth  as  little  spare  his  sovereignty  as  any  of  the  rest : 
what  can  it  be  else,  but  an  impious  invasion  of  his  dominion,  to 
quarrel  with  him  for  what  he  doth,  and  to  say.  What  reason  hast 
thou  to  deal  thus  with  me  ?  This  language  is  in  the  nature  of  all 
impatience,  whereby  we  question  his  sovereignty,  and  parallel  our 
dominion  with  his.  When  men  have  not  that  confluence  of  wealth 
or  honor  they  greedily  desired,  they  bark  at  God,  and  revile  his 
government :  they  are  angry  God  doth  not  more  respectfully  ob- 
serve them,  as  though  he  had  nothing  to  do  in  their  matters,  and 
were  wanting  in  that  becoming  reverence  which  they  think  him  bound 
to  pay  to  such  great  ones  as  they  are ;  they  would  have  God  obedient 
to  their  minds,  and  act  nothing  but  what  he  receives  a  commission 
for  from  their  wills.  When  we  murmur,  it  is  as  if  we  would  com- 
mand his  will,  and  wear  his  crown ;  a  wresting  the  sceptre  out  of  his 
hands  to  sway  it  ourselves ;  we  deny  him  the  right  of  government, 
disown  his  power  over  us,  and  would  be  our  own  sovereigns :  you 
may  find  the  character  of  it  in  the  language  of  Jehoram  (as  many 
understand  it),  "Behold,  this  evil  is  of  the  Lord;  what  should  I 
wait  for  the  Lord  any  longer  ?"  (2  Kings,  vi.  83).  This  is  an  evil  of 
such  a  nature,  that  it  could  come  from  none  but  the  hand  of  God ; 
why  should  I  attend  upon  him,  as  my  Sovereign,  that  delights  to  do 
me  so  much  mischief,  that  throws  curses  upon  me  when  I  expected 
blessings  ?  I  will  no  more  observe  his  directions,  but  follow  my 
own  sentiments,  and  regard  not  his  authority  in  the  lips  of  his  do- 
ting prophet.  The  same  you  find  in  the  Jews,  when  they  were  un- 
der God's  lash ;  "  And  they  said.  There  is  no  hope :  but  we  will 
walk  after  our  own  devices,  and  we  will  every  one  do  the  imagina- 
tion of  his  evil  heart"  (Jer.  xviii.  12) :  we  can  expect  no  good  from 
him,  and  therefore  we  will  be  our  own  sovereigns,  and  prefer  the 
authority  of  our  own  imaginations  before  that  of  his  precepts.  Men 
would  be  their  own  carvers,  and  not  suffer  God  to  use  his  right ;  as 
if  a  stone  should  order  the  mason  in  what  manner  to  hew  it,  and  in 
what  part  of  the  building  to  place  it.  We  are  not  ordinarily  con- 
cerned so  much  at  the  calamities  of  our  neighbors,  but  swell  against 
heaven  at  a  light  drop  upon  ourselves.  We  are  content  God  should 
be  the  sovereign  of  others,  so  that  he  will  be  a  servant  to  us :  let 
him  deal  as  he  will  himself  with  others,  so  he  will  treat  us,  and 
what  relates  to  us,  as  we  will  ourselves.  We  would  have  God  re- 
sign his  authority  to  our  humors,  and  our  humors  should  be  in  the 
place  of  a  God  to  him,  to  direct  him  what  was  fit  to  do  in  our  cause. 
When  things  go  not  according  to  our  vote,  our  impatience  is  a  wish 
that  God  was  deposed  from  his  throne,  that  he  would  surrender  his 
seat  to  some  that  would  deal  more  favorably,  and  be  more  punctual 
observers  of  our  directions.  Let  us  look  to  ourselves  in  regard  of 
this  sin,  which  is  too  common,  and  the  root  of  much  mischief.  This 
seems  to  be  the  first  bubbling  of  Adam's  will ;  he  was  not  content 


ON  GOD'S  DOMINION".  439 

witli  the  condition  wlierein  God  had  placed  him,  but  affected  an- 
other, which  ended  in  the  ruin  of  himself,  and  of  mankind. 

[3.]  Limiting  God  in  his  way  of  working  to  our  methods,  is  an- 
other part  of  the  contempt  of  his  dominion.  When  we  will  pre- 
scribe him  methods  of  acting,  that  he  should  deliver  us  in  this  or 
that  way,  we  would  not  suffer  him  to  be  the  Lord  of  his  own  favors, 
and  have  the  privilege  to  be  his  own  director.  When  we  will  limit 
him  to  such  a  time,  wherein  to  work  our  deliverance,  we  would  rob 
him  of  the  power  of  times  and  seasons,  which  are  solely  in  his 
hand.  We  would  regulate  his  conduct  according  to  our  imagina- 
tions, and  assume  a  power  to  give  laws  to  our  Sovereign.  Thus  the 
Israelites  "  limited  the  Holy  One  of  Israel"  (Ps.  Ixxviii.  41)  :  they 
would  control  his  absolute  dominion,  and,  of  a  sovereign,  make  him 
their  slave.  Man,  that  is  God's  vassal,  would  set  bounds  to  his 
Lord,  and  cease  to  be  a  servant,  and  commence  master,  when  he 
would  give,  not  take,  directions  from  him.  When  God  had  given 
them  manna,  and  their  fancies  were  weary  of  that  delicious  food, 
they  would  prescribe  heaven  to  rain  down  some  other  sort  of  food 
for  them.  When  they  wanted  no  sufficient  provision  in  the  wild- 
erness, they  quarrelled  with  God  for  bringing  them  out  of  Egypt, 
and  not  presently  giving  them  a  place  of  seed,  of  figs,  vines,  and 
pomegranates  (Numb.  xx.  5),  which  is  called  a  "striving  with  the 
Lord"  (ver.  13),  a  contending  with  him  for  his  Lordship.  When  we 
tempt  God,  and  require  a  sign  of  him  as  a  mark  of  his  favor,  we 
circumscribe  his  dominion ;  when  we  Avill  not  use  the  means  he  hath 
appointed,  but  father  our  laziness  upon  a  trust  in  his  providence,  as 
if  we  expected  he  should  work  a  miracle  for  our  relief;  when  we 
censure  him  for  what  he  hath  done  in  the  course  of  his  providence ; 
when  we  capitulate  with  him,  and  promise  such  a  service,  if  he  will 
do  us  such  a  good  turn  according  to  our  platform,  we  would  bring 
down  his  sovereign  pleasure  to  our  will,  we  invade  his  throne,  and 
expect  a  submissive  obedience  from  liim.  Man  that  hath  not  wit 
enough  to  govern  himself,  would  be  governing  God,  and  those  that 
cannot  be  their  own  sovereigns,  affect  a  sovereignty  over  heaven. 

[4.]  Pride  and  presumption  is  another  invasion  of  his  dominion. 
When  men  will  resolve  to  go  to-morrow  to  such  a  city,  to  such  a 
fair  and  market,  to  traffic,  and  get  gain,  without  thinking  of  the  ne- 
cessity of  a  Divine  license,  as  if  ourselves  were  the  lords  of  our  time 
and  of  our  lives,  and  God  were  to  lackey  after  us  (James  iv.  13,  15): 
"Ye  that  say.  To-day  we  will  go  into  such  a  city,  and  buy  and  sell, 
whereas  ye  ought  to  say.  If  the  Lord  will,  we  shall  live ;"  as  if  they 
had  a  freehold,  and  were  not  tenants  at  will  to  the  Lord  of  the 
manor.  When  we  presume  upon  our  own  strength  or  wit  to  get  the 
better  of  our  adversaries ;  as  the  Germans  (as  Tacitus  relates)  assured 
themselves,  by  the  numerousness  of  their  army,  of  a  victory  against 
the  Romans,  and  prepared  chains  to  fetter  the  captives  before  the 
conquest,  which  were  found  in  their  camp  after  their  defeat ; — ^when 
we  are  peremptory  in  expectations  of  success  according  to  our  will ; 
as  Pharaoh  (Exod.  xv.  9),  "  I  will  pursue,  I  will  overtake,  I  will 
divide  the  spoil,  my  lust  shall  be  satisfied  upon  them,  I  will  draw 
my  sword,  my  hand  shall  destroy  them :"  he  speaks  more  like  a 


440  CHAENOCK  ON  THE  ATTEIBUTES. 

god  than  a  man,  as  if  he  were  the  sovereign  power,  and  God  only 
his  vicar  and  lieutenant ;  how  he  struts,  without  thinking  of  a  supe- 
rior power  to  curb  him  ! — when  men  ascribe  to  themselves  what  is 
the  sole  fruit  of  God's  sovereign  pleasure ;  as  the  king  of  Assyria 
speaks  a  language  fit  only  to  be  spoken  by  God  (Isa.  x.  13,  14,  &;c.), 
"  I  have  removed  the  bounds  of  the  people  ;  my  hand  hath  found 
as  a  nest  the  riches  of  the  people;  I  have  gathered  all  the  earth  ;" 
which  God  declares  to  be  a  wrong  to  his  sovereignty  by  the  title 
wherewith  he  prefaceth  his  threatening  against  him  (ver.  16) : 
"  Therefore  shall  the  Lord,  the  Lord  of  hosts,  send  among  his  fat 
ones  leanness,"  &c.  It  is  indeed  a  rifling,  if  not  of  his  crown,  yet 
of  the  most  glittering  jewel  of  it,  his  glory.  "  He  that  mocks  the 
poor  reproacheth  his  Maker"  (Prov.  xvii.  5).  He  never  thinks  that 
God  made  them  poor,  and  himself  rich  ;  he  owns  not  his  riches  to  be 
dropped  upon  him  by  the  Divine  hand.  Self  is  the  great  invader  of 
God's  sovereignty ;  doth  not  only  spurn  at  it,  but  usurp  it,  and  as- 
sume divine  honors,  payable  only  to  the  universal  Sovereign.  The 
Assyrian  was  not  so  modest  as  the  Chaldean,  who  would  impute  his 
power  and  victories  to  his  idol  (Hab,  i.  11),  whom  he  thought  to  be 
God,  though  yet  robbing  the  true  God  of  his  authority;  and  so 
much  was  signified  by  their  names,  Nebuchadnezzar,  Evil-Merodach, 
Belshazzar,  Nebo,  Merodach,  Bel,  being  the  Chaldean  idols,  and  the 
names  signifying.  Lord  of  wealth.  Giver  of  riches,  and  the  like. — 
When  we  behave  ourselves  proudly  towards  others,  and  imagine 
ourselves  greater  than  our  Maker  ever  meant  us  ; — when  we  would 
give  laws  to  others,  and  expect  the  most  submissive  observances 
from  them,  as  if  God  had  resigned  his  authority  to  us,  and  made  us, 
in  his  stead,  the  rightful  monarchs  of  the  world.  To  disdain  that 
any  creature  should  be  above  us,  is  to  disdain  God's  sovereign  dis- 
position of  men,  and  consequently,  his  own  superiority  over  us.  A 
proud  man  would  govern  all,  and  would  not  have  God  his  Sovereign, 
but  his  subject ;  to  overvalue  ourselves,  is  to  undervalue  God. 

[5.]  Slight  and  careless  worship  of  God  is  another  contempt  of 
his  sovereignty.  A  prince  is  contemned,  not  only  by  a  neglect  of 
those  reverential  postures  which  are  due  to  him,  but  in  a  reproach- 
ful and  scornful  way  of  paying  them.  To  behave  ourselves  un- 
comely or  immodestly  before  a  prince,  is  a  disesteem  of  majesty. 
Sovereignty  requires  awe  in  every  address,  where  this  is  wanting 
there  is  a  disrepect  of  authority.  "We  contemn  God's  dominion 
when  we  give  him  the  service  of  the  lip,  the  hand,  the  knee,  and 
deny  him  that  of  the  heart ;  as  they  in  Ezekiel,  xxxiii.  31,  as  though 
he  were  the  Sovereign  only  of  the  body,  and  not  of  the  soul.  To 
have  devout  figures  of  the  face,  and  uncomely  postures  of  the  soul, 
is  to  exclude  his  dominion  from  our  spirits,  while  we  own  it  only 
over  our  outward  man ;  we  render  him  an  insignificant  Lord,  not 
worthy  of  any  higher  adorations  from  us  than  a  senseless  statue ;  we 
demean  not  ourselves  according  to  his  majestical  authority  over  us, 
when  we  present  him  not  with  the  cream  and  quintessence  of  our 
souls.  The  greatness  of  God  required  a  great  house,  and  a  costly 
palace  (1  Chron.  xxix.  11,  16) ;  David  speaks  it  in  order  to  the 
building  God  a  house  and  a  temple  ;  God  being  a  great  King  ex- 


ON  GOD'S  DOMINION".  441 

pects  a  male,  the  best  of  our  flock  (Mai.  i.  14),  a  masculine  and  vig- 
orous service.  When  we  present  him  with  a  sleepy,  sickly  rheu- 
matic service,  we  betray  our  conceptions  of  him  to  be  as  mean  as  if 
he  were  some  petty  lord,  whose  dominion  were  of  no  larger  extent 
than  a  mole-hill,  or  some  inconsiderable  village. 

[6.]  Omission  of  the  service  he  hath  appointed  is  another  contempt 
of  his  sovereignty.  This  is  a  contempt  of  his  dominion,  whereby 
he  hath  a  right  to  appoint  Avhat  means  and  conditions  he  pleaseth, 
for  the  enjoyment  of  his  proffered  and  promised  benefits.  It  is  an 
enmity  to  his  sceptre  not  to  accept  of  his  terms  after  a  long  series  of 
precepts  and  invitations  made  for  the  restoring  us  to  that  happiness 
we  had  lost,  and  providing  all  means  necessary  thereunto,  nothing 
being  wanting  but  our  own  concurrence  with  it,  and  acceptance  of 
it,  by  rendering  that  easy  homage  he  requires.  By  withholding 
from  him  the  service  he  enjoins,  we  deny  that  we  hold  anything  of 
him  ;  as  he  that  pays  not  the  quit  rent,  though  it  be  never  so  small, 
disowns  the  sovereignty  of  the  lord  of  the  manor ;  it  implies,  that 
he  is  a  miserable  poor  lord,  having  no  right,  or  destitute  of  any 
power,  to  dispose  of  anything  in  the  world  to  our  advantage  (Job, 
xxii.  17)  :  "  They  say  unto  God,  Depart  from  us,  what  can  the  Al- 
mighty do  for  them  ?"  They  will  have  no  commerce  with  him  in  a 
Avay  of  duty,  because  they  imagine  him  to  have  no  sovereign  power 
to  do  anything  for  them  in  way  of  benefit,  as  if  his  dominion  were 
an  empty  title,  and  as  much  destitute  of  any  authority  to  com- 
mand a  favor  for  them  as  any  idol.  They  think  themselves  to  have 
as  absolute  a  disposal  of  things,  as  God  himself.  What  can  he  do 
for  us  ?  what  can  he  confer  upon  us,  that  we  cannot  invest  ourselves 
in  ?  as  though  they  were  sovereigns  in  an  equality  with  God.  Thus 
men  live  "without  God  in  the  world"  (Eph,  ii.  12),  as  if  there  were 
no  Sfapreme  Being  to  pay  a  respect  to,  or  none  fit  to  receive  any 
homage  at  their  hands ;  withholding  from  God  the  right  of  his 
time  and  the  right  of  his  service,  which  is  the  just  claim  of  his 
sovereignty. 

[7.]  Censuring  others  is  a  contempt  of  his  sovereignty.  When 
we  censure  men's  persons  or  actions  by  a  rash  judgment ;  when  we 
will  be  judges  of  the  good  and  evil  of  men's  actions,  where  the  law 
of  God  is  utterly  silent,  we  usurp  God's  place,  and  invade  his  right; 
we  claim  a  superiority  over  the  law,  and  judge  God  defective,  as  the 
Eector  of  the  world,  in  his  prescriptions  of  good  and  evil.  (James, 
iv.  11,  12),  "  He  that  speaks  evil  of  his  brother,  and  judgeth  his 
brother,  speaks  evil  of  the  law,  and  judgeth  the  law ;  there  is  one 
Lawgiver  who  is  able  to  save,  and  to  destroy :  who  art  thou  that 
judgest  another  ?  Do  you  know  what  you  do  in  judging  another  ? 
You  take  upon  you  the  garb  of  a  sovereign,  as  if  he  were  more  your 
servant  than  God's,  and  more  under  your  authority  than  the  authori- 
ty of  God ;  it  is  a  setting  thyself  in  God's  tribunal,  and  assuming 
his  rightful  power  of  judging ;  thy  brother  is  not  to  be  governed  by 
thy  fancy,  but  by  God's  law,  and  his  own  conscience. 

2.  Information.  Hence  it  follows,  that  God  doth  actually  govern 
the  world.  He  hath  not  only  a  right  to  rule,  but  "  he  rules  over 
all,"  so  saith  the  text.     He  is  "  King  of  kings,  and  Lord  of  lords," — 


442  CHARisrocK  on  the  attributes. 

Avliat,  to  let  tTiem  do  what  tliey  please,  and  all  that  their  lusts  prompt 
them  to  ?  hath  God  an  absolute  dominion  ?  Is  it  good,  and  is  it 
wise  ?  Is  it  then  a  useless  prerogative  of  the  Divine  nature  ?  Shall 
so  excellent  a  power  lie  idle,  as  if  God  were  a  lifeless  image  ? 
Shall  we  fancy  God  like  some  lazy  monarch,  that  solaceth  himself  in 
the  gardens  of  his  palace,  or  steeps  himself  in  some  charming  pleas- 
ures, and  leaves  his  lieutenants  to  govern  the  several  provinces, 
v/hich  are  all  members  of  his  empire,  according  to  their  own  humor? 
Not  to  exercise  this  dominion  is  all  one  as  not  to  have  it ;  to  what 
purpose  is  he  invested  with  this  sovereignty,  if  he  were  careless  of 
what  were  done  in  the  world,  and  regarded  not  the  oppressions  of 
men  ?  God  keeps  no  useless  excellency  by  him ;  he  actually  reigns 
over  the  heathen  (Ps.  xlvii.  8),  and  those  as  bad,  or  worse  than 
heathens.  It  had  been  a  vanity  in  David  to  call  upon  the  heavens 
to  be  glad,  and  the  earth  to  rejoice,  under  the  rule  of  a  "  sleepy 
Deity"  (1  Chron.  xvi.  31).  No  ;  his  sceptre  is  full  of  eyes,  as  it  was 
painted  by  the  Egyptians ;  he  is  always  waking,  and  always  more 
than  Ahasuerus,  reading  over  the  records  of  human  actions.  Not  to 
exercise  his  authority,  is  all  one  as  not  to  regard  whether  he  keep 
the  crown  upon  his  head,  or  continue  the  sceptre  in  his  hand.  If  his 
sovereignty  were  exempt  from  care,  it  would  be  destitute  of  justice; 
God  is  more  righteous  than  to  resign  the  ensigns  of  his  authority  to 
blind  and  oppressive  man  ;  to  think  that  God  hath  a  power,  and  doth 
not  use  it  for  just  and  righteous  ends,  is  to  imagine  him  an  un- 
righteous as  well  as  a  careless  Sovereign ;  such  a  thing  in  a  man 
renders  him  a  base  man,  and  a  worse  governor ;  it  is  a  vice  that  dis- 
turbs the  world,  and  overthrows  the  ends  of  authority,  as  to  have  a 
power,  and  use  it  well,  is  the  greatest  virtue  of  an  earthly  sovereign. 
What  an  unworthy  conception  is  it  of  God,  to  acknowledge  him  to 
be  possessed  of  a  greater  authority  than  the  greatest  monarch,  and 
yet  to  think  that  he  useth  it  less  than  a  petty  lord  ;  that  his  crown 
is  of  no  more  value  with  him  than  a  feather  ?  This  represents  God 
impotent,  that  he  cannot,  or  unrighteous  and  base,  that  he  will  not 
administer  the  authority  he  hath  for  the  noblest  and  justest  end. 
But  can  we  say,  that  he  neglects  the  government  of  the  world  ?  How 
come  things  then  to  remain  in  their  due  order  ?  How  comes  the  law 
of  nature  yet  to  be  preserved  in  every  man's  soul  ?  How  comes  con- 
science to  check,  and  cite,  and  judge?  If  God  did  not  exercise  his 
authority,  what  authority  could  conscience  have  to  disturb  man  in 
unlawful  practices,  and  to  make  his  sports  and  sweetness  so  unpleas- 
ant and  sour  to  him  ?  Hath  he  not  given  frequent  notices  and  me- 
morials, that  he  holds  a  curb  over  corrupt  inclinations,  puts  rubs  in 
the  way  of  malicious  attempters,  and  often  oversets  the  disturbers 
of  the  peace  of  the  world  ? 

3.  Information.  God  can  do  no  wrong,  since  he  is  absolute  Sov- 
ereign, Man  may  do  wrong,  princes  may  oppress  and  rifle,  but 
it  is  a  crime  in  them  so  to  do  :  because  their  power  is  a  power  of 
government,  and  not  of  propriety,  in  the  goods  or  lives  of  their 
subjects  ;  but  God  cannot  do  any  wrong,  whatsoever  the  clamors  of 
creatures  are,  because  he  can  do  nothing  but  what  he  hath  a  sov- 
ereign right  to  do.     If  he  takes  away  your  goods,  he  takes   not 


ON  GOD'S  DOMINION".  443 

away  anything  tliat  is  yours  more  than  his  own,  since  though  he 
entrusted  you  with  them,  he  divested  not  himself  of  the  propriety. 
When  he  takes  away  our  hves,  he  takes  what  he  gave  us  by  a 
temporary  donation,  to  be  surrendered  at  his  call :  we  can  claim  no 
right  in  anything  but  by  his  will.  He  is  no  debtor  to  us :  and 
since  he  owes  us  nothing,  he  can  wrong  us  in  nothing  that  he  takes 
away.  His  own  sovereignty  excuseth  him  in  all  those  acts  which 
are  most  distasteful  to  the  creature.  If  we  crop  a  medicinal  plant 
for  our  use,  or  a  flower  for  our  pleasure,  or  kill  a  lamb  for  our 
food,  we  do  neither  of  them  any  wrong :  because  the  original  of 
them  was  for  our  use,  and  they  had  their  life,  and  nourishment,  and 
pleasing  qualities  for  our  delight  and  support.  And  are  not  we 
much  more  made  for  the  pleasure  and  use  of  God,  than  any  of 
those  can  be  for  us?  "Of  him  and  to  him  are  all  things"  (Rom. 
xi.  36) :  hath  not  God  as  much  right  over  any  one  of  us,  as  over 
the  meanest  worm  ?  Though  there  be  a  vast  difference  in  nature 
between  the  angels  in  heaven  and  the  worms  on  earth,  yet  they  are 
all  one  in  regard  of  subjection  to  God ;  he  is  as  much  the  Lord  of 
the  one  as  the  other ;  as  much  the  Proprietor  of  the  one  as  the 
other  ;  as  much  the  Governor  of  one  as  the  other ; — not  a  cranny 
in  the  world  is  exempt  from  his  jurisdiction ; — not  a  mite  or  grain 
of  a  creature  exempt  from  his  propriety.  He  is  not  our  Lord  by 
election  ;  he  was  a  Lord  before  we  were  in  being ;  he  had  no  terms 
put  upon  him  who  capitulated  with  him,  and  set  him  in  his  throne 
by  covenant.  What  oath  did  he  take  to  any  subject  at  his  first  in- 
vestiture in  his  authority  ?  His  right  is  as  natural,  as  eternal  as 
himself :  as  natural  as  his  existence,  and  as  necessary  as  his  Deity. 
Hath  he  any  law  but  his  own  will  ?  What  wrong  can  he  do  that 
breaks  no  law,  that  fulfils  his  law  in  everything  he  doth,  by  ful- 
filling his  own  will,  which  as  it  is  absolutely  sovereign,  so  it  is  in- 
finitely righteous  ?  In  whatsoever  he  takes  from  us,  then,  he  can- 
not injure  us ;  it  is  no  crime  in  any  man  to  seize  upon  his  own 
goods  to  vindicate  his  own  honor ;  and  shall  it  be  thought  a  wrong 
in  God  to  do  such  things,  besides  the  occasion  he  hath  from  every 
man,  and  that  every  day  provoking  him  to  do  it  ?  He  seems  rather 
to  wrong  himself  by  forbearing  such  a  seizure,  than  wrong  us  b}' 
executing  it. 

4.  Information.  If  God  have  a  sovereignty  over  the  whole  world, 
then  merit  is  totally  excluded.  His  right  is  so  absolute  over  all 
creatures,  that  he  neither  is,  nor  can  be,  a  debtor  to  any ;  not  to 
the  undefiled  holiness  of  the  blessed  angels,  much  less  to  poor  earthly 
worms ;  those  blessed  spirits  enjoy  their  glory  by  the  'title  of  his 
sovereign  pleasure,  not  by  virtue  of  any  obligation  devolving  from 
them  upon  God.  Are  not  the  faculties,  whereby  they  and  we  per- 
form any  act  of  obedience,  his  grant  to  us  ?  Is  not  the  strength, 
whereby  they  and  we  are  enabled  to  do  anything  pleasing  to  him, 
a  gift  from  him  ?  Can  a  vassal  merit  of  his  lord,  or  a  slave  of  his 
master,  by  using  his  tools,  and  employing  his  strength  in  his  ser- 
vice, though  it  was  a  strength  he  had  naturally,  not  by  donation 
from  the  man  in  whose  service  it  is  employed  ?  God  is  Lord  of  all 
— all  is  due  to  him ;  how  can  we  oblige  him  by  giving  him  what 


444  CHARNOCK  ON  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

is  liis  own,  more  liis  to  whom  it  is  presented,  than  ours  by  whom  it 
is  offered  ?  He  becomes  not  a  debtor  by  receiving  anything  from 
us,  but  by  promising  something  to  us.* 

5,  Information.  If  God  hath  a  sovereign  dominion  over  the  whole 
world,  then  hence  it  follows,  that  all  magistrates  are  but  sovereigns 
under  God.  He  is  King  of  kings,  and  Lord  of  lords  ;  all  the  poten- 
tates of  the  world  are  no  other  than  his  lieutenants,  movable  at  his 
pleasure,  and  more  at  his  disposal  than  their  subjects  are  at  theirs. 
Though  they  are  dignified  with  the  title  of  "  gods,"  yet  still  they 
are  at  an  infinite  distance  from  the  supreme  Lord ;  gods  under  God, 
not  to  be  above  him,  not  to  be  against  him.  The  want  of  the  due 
sense  of  their  subordination  to  God  hath  made  many  in  the  world 
act  as  sovereigns  above  him  more  than  sovereigns  under  him. 
Had  they  all  bore  a  deep  conviction  of  this  upon  their  spirits,  such 
audacious  language  had  never  dropped  from  the  mouth  of  Pharaoh : 
"  Who  is  the  Lord,  that  I  should  obey  his  voice,  to  let  Israel  go?" 
(Exod.  V.  2),  presuming  that  there  was  no  superior  to  control  him, 
nor  any  in  heaven  able  to  be  a  match  for  him  ;  Darius  had  never 
published  such  a  doting  edict,  as  to  prohibit  any  petition  to  God ; 
Nero  had  never  fired  Kome,  and  sung  at  the  sight  of  the  devouring 
flames ;  nor  ever  had  he  ripped  up  his  mother's  belly,  to  see  the 
womb  where  he  first  lodged,  and  received  a  life  so  hateful  to  his 
country.  Nor  would  Abner  and  Joab,  the  two  generals,  have  ac- 
counted the  death  of  men  but  a  sport  and  interlude.  "  Let  the 
young  men  arise  and  play  before  us"  (2  Sam.  ii.  14) ;  what  jDlay  it 
was,  the  next  verse  acquaints  you  with ;  thrusting  their  swords 
into  one  another's  sides.  They  were  no  more  troubled  at  the  death 
of  thousands,  than  a  man  is  to  kill  a  fly,  or  a  flea.  Had  a  sense  of 
this  but  hovered  over  their  souls,  people  in  many  countries  had  not 
been  made  their  foot-balls,  and  used  worse  than  their  dogs !  Nor 
had  the  lives  of  millions,  worth  more  than  a  world,  been  exposed  to 
fire  and  sword,  to  support  some  sordid  lust,  or  breach  of  faith  upon 
an  idle  quarrel,  and  for  the  depredation  of  their  neighbors'  estates  ; 
the  flames  of  cities  had  not  been  so  bright,  nor  the  streams  of  blood 
so  deep,  nor  the  cries  of  innocents  so  loud.     In  particular, 

(1).  If  God  be  Sovereign,  all  under-sovereigns  are  not  to  rule 
against  him,  but  to  be  obedient  to  his  orders.  If  they  "  rule  by 
his  authority"  (Prov.  viii.  15),  they  are  not  to  rule  against  his  in- 
terest ;  they  are  not  to  imagine  themselves  as  absolute  as  God,  and 
that  their  laws  must  be  of  as  sovereign  authority  against  his  honor, 
as  the  Divine  are  for  it.  If  they  are  his  lieutenants  on  earth,  they 
ought  to  act  according  to  his  orders.  No  man  but  will  account  a 
governor  of  a  province  a  rebel,  if  he  disobeys  the  orders  sent  to 
him  by  the  sovereign  prince  that  commissioned  him.  Rebellion 
against  God  is  a  crime  of  princes,  as  well  as  rebellion  against  princes 
a  crime  of  subjects.  Saul  is  charged  with  it  by  Samuel  in  a  high 
manner  for  an  act  of  simple  disobedience,  though  intended  for  the 
service  of  God,  and  the  enriching  his  country  with  the  spoils  of  the 
Amalekites.  "  Rebellion  is  as  the  sin  of  vntchcraft"  (1  Sam.  xv.  23); 
like  witchcraft  or  covenanting  with  the  devil,  acting  as  if  he  had 

*  Austin. 


ON   GOD'S  DOMINION".  445 

received  his  commission  not  from  God,  but  from  Satan.  Magis- 
trates, as  commissioned  by  God,  ought  to  act  for  liim.  Doth  human 
authority  ever  give  a  commission  to  any  to  rebel  against  itself?  did 
God  ever  depute  any  earthly  sovereignty  against  his  glory,  and  give 
them  leave  to  outlaw  his  laws,  to  introduce  their  own?  No; 
when  he  gave  the  vicarious  dominion  to  Christ,  he  calls  upon  the 
kings  of  the  earth  to  be  instructed,  and  be  wise,  and  "  kiss  the  Son" 
(Ps.  ii.  10,  12),  i.  e.  to  observe  his  orders,  and  pay  him  homage  as 
their  Governor.  What  a  silly  doltish  thing  is  it  to  resist  that  Su- 
preme Authority,  to  which  the  archangels  submit  themselves,  and 
regulate  their  employments  punctually  by  their  instructions !  Those 
excellent  creatures  exactly  obey  him  in  all  the  acts  of  their  subor- 
dinate government  in  the  world ;  those  in  whose  hand  the  greatest 
monarch  is  no  more  than  a  silly  fly  between  the  fingers  of  a  giant. 
A  contradiction  to  the  interest  of  God  hath  been  fatal  to  kings. 
The  four  monarchies  have  had  their  wings  clipped,  and  most  of 
them  have  been  buried  in  their  own  ashes ;  they  have  all,  like  the 
imitators  of  Lucifer's  pride,  fallen  from  the  heaven  of  their  glory  to 
the  depth  of  their  shame  and  misery.  All  governors  are  bound  to 
be  as  much  obedient  to  God,  as  their  subjects  are  bound  to  be  sub- 
missive to  them.  Their  authority  over  men  is  limited ;  God's  au- 
thority over  them  is  absolute  and  unbounded.  Though  every  soul 
ought  to  be  subject  to  the  higher  powers,  yet  there  is  a  higher 
Power  of  all,  to  which  those  higher  powers  are  to  subject  them- 
selves ;  they  are  to  be  keepers  of  both  the  tables  of  the  law  of  God, 
and  are  then  most  sovereigns  when  they  set  in  their  own  practice 
an  example  of  obedience  to  God,  for  their  subjects  to  write  after. 

(2.)  They  ought  to  imitate  God  in  the  exercise  of  their  sovereignty 
in  ways  of  justice  and  righteousness.  Though  God  be  an  absolute 
sovereign,  yet  his  government  is  not  tyrannical,  but  managed  accord 
ing  to  the  rules  of  righteousness,  wisdom,  and  goodness.  If  God, 
that  created  them  as  well  as  their  subjects,  cloth  so  exercise  his  gov- 
ernment, it  is  a  duty  incumbent  upon  them  to  do  the  same ;  since 
they  are  not  the  creators  of  their  people,  but  the  conductors.  As 
God's  government  tends  to  the  good  of  the  world,  so  ought  theirs  to 
the  good  of  their  countries.  God  committed  not  the  government  of 
the  world  to  the  Mediator  in  an  unlimited  way,  but  for  the  good  of 
the  church,  in  order  to  the  eternal  salvation  of  his  people.  "  He  gave 
him  to  be  head  over  all  things  to  the  church"  (Eph.  i,  22).  He  had 
power  over  the  devils  to  restrain  them  in  their  temptation  and  malice ; 
power  over  the  angels  to  order  their  ministry  for  the  heirs  of  salva- 
tion. So  power  is  given  to  magistrates  for  the  civil  preservation  of 
the  world  and  of  human  society ;  they  ought  therefore  to  consider 
for  what  ends  they  were  placed  over  the  rest  of  mankind,  and  not 
exercise  their  authority  in  a  licentious  way,  but  conformable  to  that 
justice  and  righteousness  wherein  God  doth  administer  his  govern- 
ment, and  for  the  preservation  of  those  who  are  committed  to  them. 

(3.)  Magistrates  must  then  be  obeyed  when  they  act  according  to 
God's  order,  and  within  the  bounds  of  the  Divine  commission.  They 
are  no  friends  to  the  sovereignty  of  God,  that  are  enemies  to  magis  ■ 
tracy,  his  ordinance.     Saul  was  a  good  governor,  though  none  of  the 


446  CHARNOCK  ON  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

best  men,  and  tlie  despisers  of  his  government  after  God's  choice, 
were  the  sons  of  Belial  (1  Sam.  x.  27).  Christ  was  no  enemy  to 
CiBsar.  To  pull  down  a  faithful  magistrate,  such  an  one  as  Zerub- 
babel,  is  to  pluck  a  signet  from  the  hand  of  God ;  for  in  that  capacity- 
he  accounts  him  (Hag.  ii.  23).  God's  servants  stand  or  fall  to  their 
own  Master ;  how  doth  he  check  Aaron  and  Miriam  for  speaking 
against  Moses,  his  servant?  "  Were  you  not  afraid  to  speak  against 
my  servant  Moses  ?"  (Numb.  xii.  8) ;  against  Moses  as  related  to  you 
in  the  capacity  of  a  governor ;  against  Moses  as  related  to  you  in  the 
capacity  of  my  servant  ?  To  speak  anything  against  them,  as  they 
act  by  God's  order,  is  an  invasion  of  God's  sovereign  right,  who  gave 
them  their  commission.  To  act  against  just  power,  or  the  justice  of 
an  earthly  power,  is  to  act  against  God's  ordinance,  who  ordaiaed 
them  in  the  world,  but  not  any  abuse,  or  ill  use  of  their  power. 

Use  II.  How  dreadful  is  the  consideration  of  this  doctrine  to  all 
rebels  against  God !  Can  any  man  that  hath  brains  in  his  head,  im- 
ao-ine  it  an  inconsiderable  thing  to  despise  the  Sovereign  of  the  world? 
It  was  the  sole  crime  of  disobedience  to  that  positive  law,  whereby 
God  would  have  a  visible  memorial  of  his  sovereignty  preserved  in 
the  eye  of  man,  that  showered  down  that  deluge  of  misery,  under 
which  the  world  groans  to  this  day.  God  had  given  Adam  a  soul, 
whereby  he  might  live  as  a  rational  creature ;  and  then  gives  him  a 
law,  whereby  he  might  live  as  a  dutiful  subject:  for  God  forbidding 
him  to  eat  of  the  fruit  of  the  tree  of  knowledge  of  good  and  evil, 
declared  his  own  supremacy  over  Adam,  and  his  propriety  in  the 
pleasant  world  he  had  given  him  by  his  bounty ;  he  let  him  know 
hereby,  that  man  was  not  his  own  lord,  nor  was  to  live  after  his  own 
sentiments,  but  the  directions  of  a  superior.  As  when  a  great  lord 
builds  a  magnificent  palace,  and  brings  in  another  to  inhabit  it,  he 
reserves  a  small  duty  to  himself,  not  of  an  equal  value  with  the 
house,  but  for  an  acknowledgment  of  his  own  right,  that  the  tenant 
may  know  he  is  not  the  lord  of  it,  but  hath  this  grant  by  the  liber- 
ality of  another."  God  hereby  gave  Adam  matter  for  a  pure  obedi- 
ence, that  had  no  foundation  in  his  own  nature  by  any  implanted 
law ;  he  was  only  in  it  to  respect  the  will  of  his  Sovereign,  and  to 
understand  that  he  was  to  live  under  the  power  of  a  higher  than  him- 
self. There  was  no  more  moral  evil  in  the  eating  of  this  fruit,  as 
considered  distinct  from  the  command,  than  in  eating  of  any  other 
fruit  in  the  garden :  had  there  been  no  prohibition,  he  might  with  as 
much  safety  have  fed  upon  it  as  upon  any  other.  No  law  of  nature 
was  transgressed  in  the  act  of  eating  of  it,  but  the  sovereignty  of  God 
over  him  was  denied  by  him  ;  and  for  this  the  death  threatened  was 
inflicted  on  his  posterity :  for  though  divines  take  notice  of  other 
sins  in  the  fall  of  Adam,  yet  God,  in  his  trial,  chargeth  him  with 
none  but  this,  and  doth  put  upon  his  question  an  emphasis  of  his 
own  authority  :  "  Hast  thou  eaten  of  the  tree  whereof  I  commanded 
ye  that  thou  shouldst  not  eat  ?"  (Gen.  iii.  11).  This  I  am  pleased 
with,  that  thou  shouldest  disown  my  dominion  over  thyself,  and  this 
garden.  This  was  the  inlet  to  all  the  other  sins :  as  the  acknowledg- 
ment of  God's  sovereignty  is  the  first  step  to  the  practice  of  all  the 

"  Chiysost.  in  Gen.  Horn.  16. 


ON"  GOD'S  DOMINION.  447 

duties  of  a  creature,  so  tlie  disowning  liis  sovereignty  is  the  first 
spring  of  all  the  extravagances  of  a  creature.  Every  sin  against  the 
sovereign  Lawgiver  is  worthy  of  death :  tlie  transgression  of  this 
command  deserved  death,  and  procured  it  to  spread  itself  over  the 
face  of  the  world.  God's  dominion  cannot  be  despised  without  merit- 
ing the  greatest  punishment. 

1.  Punishment  necessarily  follows  upon  the  doctrine  of  sovereign- 
ty. It  is  a  faint  and  a  feeble  sovereignty  that  cannot  preserve  itself, 
and  vindicate  its  own  wrongs  against  rebellious  subjects  ;  the  height 
of  God's  dominion  infers  a  vengeance  on  the  contemners  of  it :  if 
God  be  an  eternal  King,  he  is  an  eternal  Judge.  Since  sin  unlinks 
the  dependence  between  God  the  Sovereign,  and  man  the  subject,  if 
God  did  not  vindicate  the  rights  of  his  sovereignty,  and  the  authority 
of  his  law,  he  would  seem  to  despise  his  own  dominion,  be  weary  of 
it,  and  not  act  the  part  of  a  good  governor.  But  God  is  tender  of 
his  prerogative,  and  doth  most  bestir  himself  when  men  exalt  them- 
selves proudly  against  him :  "In  the  thing  wherein  they  dealt 
proudly,  he  will  be  above  them"  (Exod.  xviii.  11).  When  Pharaoh 
thought  himself  a  mate  for  God,  and  proudly  rejected  his  commands, 
as  if  they  had  been  the  messages  of  some  petty  Arabian  lord,  God 
rights  his  own  authority  upon  the  life  of  his  enemy  by  the  ministry 
of  the  Eed  Sea.  He  turned  a  great  king  into  a  beast,  to  make  him 
know  that  the  Most  High  ruled  in  the  kingdoms  of  men :  "  The 
demand  is  by  the  word  of  the  holy  ones,  to  the  intent  that  the  living 
may  know  that  the  Most  High  ruleth  in  the  kingdoms  of  men" 
(Dan.  iv,  16,  17);  and  that  by  the  petitions  of  the  angels,  who  can- 
not endure  that  the  empire  of  God  should  be  obscured  and  diminish- 
ed by  the  pride  of  man.  Besides  the  tender  respect  he  hath  to  his 
own  glory,  he  is  constantly  presented  with  the  solicitations  of  the 
angels  to  punish  the  proud  ones  of  the  earth,  that  darken  the  glory 
of  his  majesty  :  it  is  necessary  for  the  rescue  of  his  honor,  and  neces- 
sary for  the  satisfaction  of  his  illustrious  attendants,  who  would  think 
it  a  shame  to  them  to  serve  a  Lord  that  were  always  unconcerned  in 
the  rebellions  of  his  creatures,  and  tamely  suffer  their  spurns  at  his 
throne  ;  and  therefore  there  is  a  day  wherein  the  haughtiness  of  man 
shall  be  bowed  down,  the  cedars  of  Lebanon  overthrown,  and  high 
mountains  levelled,  that  "  God  may  be  exalted  in  that  day"  (Isa.  ii. 
11,  12),  &c.  Pride  is  a  sin  that  immediately  swells  against  God's 
authority ;  this  shall  be  brought  down  that  God  may  be  exalted ; 
not  that  he  should  have  a  real  exaltation,  as  if  he  were  actually  de- 
posed from  his  government,  but  that  he  shall  be  manifested  to  be  the 
Sovereign  of  the  whole  world.  It  is  necessary  there  should  be  a  day 
to  chase  away  those  clouds  that  are  upon  his  throne,  that  the  lustre 
of  his  majesty  may  break  forth  to  the  confusion  of  all  the  children 
of  pride  that  vaunt  against  him.  God  hath  a  dominion  over  us  as  a 
Lawgiver,  as  we  are  his  creatures ;  and  a  dominion  over  us  in  a  way 
of  justice,  as  we  are  his  criminals. 

2.  This  punishment  is  unavoidable. 

(1.)  None  can  escape  him.  He  hath  the  sole  authority  over  hell 
and  death,  the  keys  of  both  are  in  his  hand :  the  greatest  Caesar  can 
no  more  escape  him  than  the  meanest  peasant :  "  Who  art  thou,  O 


448  CHABNOCK  ON  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

great  mountain,  before  Zerubbabel  ?"  (Zecb.  iv.  7).  The  heiglit*of 
angels  is  no  match  for  him,  much  less  that  of  the  mortal  grandees  of 
the  world  ;  they  can  no  more  resist  him  than  the  meanest  person  ; 
but  are  rather,  as  the  highest  steeples,  the  fittest  marks  for  his  crush- 
ing thunder.  If  he  speaks  the  word,  the  principalities  of  men  come 
down,  and  "  the  crown  of  their  glory"  (Jer.  xiii.  18).  He  can  "take 
the  mighty  away  in  a  moment,"  and  that  "without  hands,"  i.  e. 
without  instruments  (Job,  xxxi.v  20).  The  strongest  are  like  the 
feet  of  Nebuchadnezzar's  image,  iron  and  clay ;  iron  to  man,  but  clay 
to  God,  to  be  crumbled  to  nothing. 

(2.)  What  comfort  can  be  reaped  from  a  creature,  when  the  Sover- 
eign of  the  world  arms  himself  with  terrors,  and  begins  his  visitation  ? 
"  "What  will  you  do  in  the  day  of  visitation,  to  whom  will  you  flee 
for  help,  and  where  will  you  leave  your  glory  ?"  (Isa.  x.  3).  The 
torments  from  a  subject  may  be  relieved  by  the  prince,  but  where 
can  there  be  an  appeal  from  the  Sovereign  of  the  world  ?  Where  is 
there  any  above  him  to  control  him,  if  he  will  overthrow  us  ?  Who 
is  there  to  call  him  to  account,  and  say  to  him.  What  dost  thou  ? 
He  works  by  an  uncontrollable  authority ;  he  needs  not  ask  leave 
of  any  ;  "  he  works,  and  none  can  let  it"  (Isa.  xliii.  13) :  as  when  he 
will  relieve,  none  can  afflict  ;  so  when  he  will  wound,  none  can  re- 
lieve. If  a  king  appoint  the  punishment  of  a  rebel,  the  greatest 
favorite  in  the  court  cannot  speak  a  comfortable  word  to  him :  the 
most  beloved  angel  in  heaven  cannot  sweeten  and  ease  the  spirit  of 
a  man  that  the  Sovereign  Power  is  set  against  to  make  the  butt  of 
his  wrath.  The  devils  lie  under  his  sentence,  and  wear  their  chains 
as  marks  of  their  condemnation,  without  hope  of  ever  having  them 
filed  off,  since  they  are  laid  upon  them  by  the  authority  of  an  unac- 
countable Sovereign. 

(3.)  By  his  sovereign  authority  God  can  make  any  creature  the 
instrument  of  his  vengeance.  He  hath  all  the  creatures  at  his  beck, 
and  can  commission  any  of  them  to  be  a  dreadful  scourge.  Strong 
winds  and  tempests  fulfil  his  word  (Ps.  cxlviii.  8) ;  the  lightnings 
answer  him  at  his  call,  and  cry  aloud,  "  Here  are  we"  (Job,  xxxviii. 
35).  By  his  sovereign  authority  he  can  render  locusts  as  mischievous 
as  lions,  forge  the  meanest  creatures  into  swords  and  arrows,  and 
commission  the  most  despicable  to  be  his  executioners.  He  can  cut 
off  joy  from  our  spirits,  and  make  our  own  hearts  be  our  tormentors, 
our  most  confident  friends  our  jiersecutors,  our  nearest  relations  to 
be  his  avengers ;  they  are  more  his,  who  is  their  Sovereign,  than 
ours,  who  place  a  vain  confidence  in  them.  Eather  than  Abraham 
shall  want  children,  he  can  raise  up  stones,  and  adopt  them  into  his 
family  ;  and  rather  than  not  execute  his  vengeance,  he  can  array  the 
stones  in  the  streets,  and  make  them  his  armed  subjects  against  us. 
If  he  speak  the  word,  a  hair  shall  drop  from  our  heads  to  choke  us, 
or  a  vapor,  congealed  into  rheum  in  our  heads,  shall  drop  down  and 
putrefy  our  vitals.  He  can  never  want  weapons,  who  is  Sovereign 
over  the  thunders  of  heaven  and  stones  of  the  earth,  over  every 
creature  ;  and  can,  by  a  sovereign  word,  turn  our  greatest  comforts 
into  curses. 

8.  This  punishment  must  be  terrible.     How  doth  David,  a  great 


ON   GOD'S   DOMINION.  449 

king,  sound  in  his  body,  prosperous  in  his  crown,  and  successful  in 
his  conquests,  settled  in  all  his  royal  conveniences,  groan  under  the 
wrathful  touch  of  a  greater  King  than  himself  (Ps.  vi.  xxxviii.,  and 
his  other  penitential  Psalms),  not  being  able  to  give  himself  a  writ 
of  ease  by  all  the  delights  of  his  palace  and  kingdom !  "If  the  wrath 
of  a  king  be  as  the  roaring  of  a  lion"  (Prov.  xix,  10)  to  a  poor  sub- 
ject, how  great  is  the  wrath  of  the  King  of  kings,  that  cannot  be  set 
forth  by  the  terror  of  all  the  amazing  volleys  of  thunder  that  have 
been  since  the  creation,  if  the  noise  of  all  were  gathered  into  one 
single  crack !  As  there  is  an  inconceivable  ground  of  joy  in  the 
special  favor  of  so  mighty  a  King,  so  is  there  of  terror  in  his  severe 
displeasure:  he  is  "terrible  to  the  kings  of  the  earth;  with  God  is 
terrible  majesty"  (Ps.  Ixxvi.  12).  What  a  folly  is  it,  then,  to  rebel 
against  so  mighty  a  Sovereign  ! 

Use  III.  Of  comfort.  The  throne  of  God  drops  honey  and  sweet- 
ness, as  well  as  dread  and  terror ;  all  his  other  attributes  afford  little 
relief  without  this  of  his  dominion  and  universal  command.  When, 
therefore,  he  speaks  of  his  being  the  God  of  his  people,  he  doth  often 
preface  it  with  "the  Lord  thy  God;"  his  sovereignty,  as  a  Lord,  be- 
ing the  ground  of  all  the  comfort  we  can  take  in  his  federal  relation 
as  our  God ;  thy  God,  but  superior  to  thee  ;  thy  God,  not  as  thy  cat- 
tle and  goods  are  thine,  in  a  way  of  sole  propriety,  but  a  Lord  too, 
in  a  way  of  sovereignty,  not  only  over  thee,  but  over  all  things  else 
for  thee.  As  the  end  of  God's  settling  earthly  governments  was  for 
the  good  of  the  communities  over  which  the  governors  preside,  so 
God  exerciseth  his  government  for  the  good  of  the  world,  and  more 
particularly  for  the  good  of  the  church,  over  which  he  is  a  peculiar 
Governor. 

1.  His  love  to  his  people  is  as  great  as  his  sovereignty  over  them. 
He  stands  not  upon  his  dominion  with  his  people  so  much  as  upon 
his  affection  to  them  ;  he  would  not  be  caUed  "  Baali,  my  Lord,"  i.  e. 
he  Avould  not  be  known  only  by  the  name  of  sovereignty,  but  "  Ishi, 
my  husband,"  a  name  of  authority  and  sweetness  together  (Hos.  ii. 
16,  19,  &c.) :  he  signifies  that  he  is  not  only  the  Lord  of  our  spirits 
and  bodies,  but  a  husband  by  a  marriage  knot,  admitting  us  to  a 
nearness  to  him,  and  communion  of  goods  with  him.  Though  he 
majestically  sits  upon  a  high  throne,  yet  it  is  a  throne  "  encircled 
with  a  rainbow"  (Ezek.  i.  28),  to  show  that  his  government  of  his 
people  is  not  only  in  a  way  of  absolute  dominion,  but  also  in  a  way 
of  federal  relation ;  he  seems  to  own  himself  their  subject  rather  than 
their  Sovereign,  when  he  gives  them  a  charter  to  command  him  in 
the  affairs  of  his  church  (Isa.  xlv.  11) ;  "  Ask  of  me  things  to  come 
concerning  my  sons,  and  concerning  the  work  of  my  hands  command 
you  me."  Some  read  it  by  way  of  question,  as  a  corrective  of  a 
sauciness :  Do  you  ask  me  of  things  to  come,  and  seem  to  command 
me  concerning  the  works  of  my  hands,  as  if  you  were  more  careful 
of  my  interest  among  my  people  than  I  am,  who  have  formed  them  ? 
But  if  this  were  the  sense,  it  would  seem  to  discourage  an  importu- 
nity of  prayer  for  public  deliverance ;  and  therefore,  to  take  it  ac- 
cording to  our  translation,  it  is  an  exhortation  to  prayer,  and  a 
mighty  encouragement  in  the  management  and  exercise  of  it.     Urge 

VOL.  II. — 29 


450  CHARNOCE   ON  THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

me  with  mj  promise,  in  a  way  of  liiimble  importunity,  and  you  shall 
find  me  as  willing  to  perform  my  word,  and  gratify  your  desires,  as 
if  I  were  rather  under  your  authority,  than  you  under  mine :  as  much 
as  to  say.  If  I  be  not  as  good  as  my  word,  to  satisfy  those  desires 
that  are  according  to  my  promise,  implead  me  at  my  own  throne, 
and,  if  I  be  failing  in  it,  I  will  give  judgment  against  myself:  almost 
like  princes'  charters,  and  gracious  grants,  "We  grant  such  a  thing 
against  us  and  our  heirs,"  giving  the  subject  power  to  implead  them 
if  they  be  not  punctually  observed  by  them.  How  is  the  love  of 
God  seen  in  his  condescension  below  the  majesty  of  earthy  governors ! 
He  that  might  command,  by  the  absoluteness  of  his  authority,  doth 
not  only  do  that,  but  entreats,  in  the  quality  of  a  subject,  as  if  he  had 
not  a  fulness  to  supply  us,  but  needed  something  from  us  for  a  sup- 
ply of  himself  (2  Cor.  v.  20) ;  "  As  though  God  did  beseech  you  by 
us."  And  when  he  may  challenge,  as  a  due  by  the  right  of  his  pro- 
priety, what  we  bestow  upon  his  poor,  which  are  his  subjects  as  well 
as  ours,  he  reckons  it  as  a  loan  to  him,  as  if  what  we  had  were  more 
our  own  than  his  (Prov.  xix.  17).  He  stands  not  upon  his  dominion 
so  much  with  us,  when  he  finds  us  conscientious  in  paying  the  duty 
we  owe  to  him  ;  lie  rules  as  a  Father,  by  love  as  well  as  by  authority ; 
he  enters  into  a  peculiar  communion  with  poor  earthly  worms,  plants 
his  gracious  tabernacle  among  the  troops  of  sinners,  instructs  us  by 
his  word,  invites  us  by  his  benefits,  admits  us  into  his  presence,  is 
more  desirous  to  bestow  his  smiles  than  we  to  receive  them,  and  acts 
in  such  a  manner  as  if  he  were  willing  to  resign  his  sceptre  into  the 
hands  of  any  that  were  possessed  with  more  love  and  kindness  to  us 
than  himself:  this  is  the  comfort  of  believers. 

2.  In  his  being  Sovereign,  his  pardons  carry  in  them  a  full  secu- 
rity. He  that  hath  the  keys  of  hell  and  death,  pardons  the  crime, 
and  wipes  off  the  guilt.  Who  can  repeal  the  act  of  the  chief  Gover- 
nor ?  what  tribunal  can  null  the  decrees  of  an  absolute  throne  ?  (Isa. 
xliii.  25),  "  I,  even  I,  am  he  that  blots  out  thy  transgressions,  for  my 
name's  sake."  His  sovereign  dominion  renders  his  mercy  comforta- 
ble. The  clemency  of  a  subject,  though  never  so  great,  cannot  par- 
don ;  people  may  pity  a  criminal,  while  the  executioner  tortures  him, 
and  strips  him  of  his  life  ;  but  the  clemency  of  the  Supreme  Prince 
establisheth  a  pardon.  Since  we  are  under  the  dominion  of  God,  if 
he  pardons,  who  can  reverse  it  ?  if  he  doth  not,  what  will  the  par- 
dons of  men  profit  us  in  regard  of  an  eternal  state  ?  If  God  be  a 
King  forever,  then  he  whom  God  forgives,  he  in  whom  God  reigns, 
shall  live  forever ;  else  he  would  want  subjects  on  earth,  and  have 
none  of  his  lower  creatures,  which  he  formed  upon  the  earth,  to 
reign  over  after  the  dissolution  of  the  world ;  if  his  pardons  did  not 
stand  secure,  he  would,  after  this  life,  have  no  voluntary  subjects 
that  had  formerly  a  being  upon  the  earth ;  he  would  be  a  King  only 
over  the  damned  creatures. 

3.  Corruptions  will  certainly  be  subdued  in  his  voluntary  subjects. 
The  covenant,  "  I  will  be  your  God,"  implies  protection,  govern- 
ment, and  relief,  which  are  all  grounded  upon  sovereignty;  that, 
therefore,  which  is  our  greatest  burden,  will  be  removed  by  his  sov- 
ereign power  (Mic.  vii.  19) :  "  He  will  subdue  our  iniquities."     If  the 


©N  GOD'S  DOMINION.  461 

» 

outward  enemies  of  tlie  cliurch  shall  not  bear  np  against  his  domin- 
ion, and  perpetuate  their  rebellions  unpunished,  those  within,  his 
people,  shall  as  little  bear  up  against  his  throne,  without  being  de- 
stroyed by  him ;  the  billows  of  our  own  hearts,  and  the  raging  waves 
within  us,  are  as  much  at  his  beck  as  those  without  us ;  and  his  sov- 
ereignty is  more  eminent  in  quelling  the  corruptions  of  the  heart, 
than  the  commotions  of  the  world  in  reigning  over  men's  spirits,  by 
changing  them,  or  curbing  them,  more  than  over  men's  bodies,  by 
pinching  and  punishing  them.  The  remainders  of  Satan's  empire 
will  moulder  away  before  him,  since  He  that  is  in  us  is  a  greater 
Sovereign  "than  he  that  is  in  the  world"  (1  John,  iv.  4).  His  ene- 
mies will  be  laid  at  his  feet,  and  so  never  shall  prevail  against  him, 
when  his  kingdom  shall  come.  He  could  not  be  Lord  of  any  man, 
as  a  happy  creature,  if  he  did  not,  by  his  power,  make  them  happy ; 
and  he  could  not  make  them  happy,  unless,  by  his  grace,  he  made 
them  holy :  he  could  not  be  praised,  as  a  Lord  of  glory,  if  he  did 
not  make  some  creatures  glorious  to  praise  him;  and  an  earthly 
creature  could  not  praise  him  perfectly,  unless  he  had  every  grain 
of  enmity  to  his  glory  taken  out  of  his  heart.  Since  God  is  the  only 
Sovereign,  he  only  can  still  the  commotions  in  our  spirits,  and  pull 
down  all  the  ensigns  of  the  devil's  royalty ;  he  can  waste  him  by  the 
powerful  word  of  his  lips. 

4.  Hence  is  a  strong  encouragement  for  prayer.  "  My  King,"  was 
the  strong  compellation  David  used  in  prayer,  as  an  argument  of 
comfort  and  confidence,  as  well  as  that  of  "  my  God"  (Ps.  v.  2) : 
"  Hearken  to  the  voice  of  my  cry,  my  King  and  my  God."  To  be 
a  king  is  to  have  an  office  of  government  and  protection  :  he  gives 
us  liberty  to  approach  to  him  as  the  "  Judge  of  all"  (Heb.  xii.  23), 
i.  e.  as  the  Governor  of  the  world  ;  we  pray  to  one  that  hath  the  whole 
globe  of  heaven  and  earth  in  his  hand,  and  can  do  whatsoever  he 
will :  though  he  be  higher  than  the  cherubims,  and  transcendently 
above  all  in  majesty,  yoi  we  may  soar  up  to  him  with  the  wings  of 
our  soul,  faith  and  love,  and  lay  open  our  cause,  and  find  him  as 
gracious  as  if  he  were  the  meanest  subject  on  earth,  rather  than  the 
most  sovereign  God  in  heaven.  He  hath  as  much  of  tenderness  as 
he  hath  of  authority,  and  is  pleased  with  prayer,  which  is  an  ac- 
knowledgment of  his  dominion,  an  honoring  of  that  which  he  de- 
lights to  honor  ;  for  prayer,  in  the  notion  of  it,  imports  thus  much — 
that  God  is  the  Eector  of  the  world,  that  he  takes  notice  of  human 
affairs,  that  he  is  a  careful,  just,  wise  Governor,  a  storehouse  of  bless- 
ing, a  fountain  of  goodness  to  the  indigent,  and  a  relief  to  the  op- 
pressed. What  have  we  reason  to  fear  when  the  Sovereign  of  the 
world  gives  us  liberty  to  approach  to  him  and  lay  open  our  case  i 
that  God,  who  is  King  of  the  whole  earth,  not  only  of  a  few  villages 
or  cities  in  the  earth,  but  the  whole  earth  ;  and  not  only  King  of  this 
dreggy  place  of  our  dross,  but  of  heaven,  having  prepared,  or  estab- 
lished, his  throne  in  the  most  glorious  place  of  the  creation. 

5.  Here  is  comfort  in  affliction.  As  a  sovereign,  he  is  the  author 
of  afflictions ;  as  a  sovereign,  he  can  be  the  remover  of  them ;  he 
can  command  the  waters  of  affliction  to  go  so  far  and  no  farther.  If 
he  speaks  the  word,  a  disease  shall  depart  as  soon  as  a  servant  shall 


452  CHARNOCK  ON  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

from  your  presence  with  a  nod ;  if  we  are  banislied  from  one  place, 
he  can  command  a  shelter  for  us  in  another ;  if  he  orders  Moab,  a 
nation  that  had  no  great  kindness  for  his  people,  to  let  "his  outcasts 
dwell  with  them,"  they  shall  entertain  them,  and  afford  them  sanctu- 
ary (Isa.  xvi.  4).  Again,  God  chasteneth  as  a  "  Sovereign,"  but  teach- 
eth  as  a  "  Father"  (Ps.  xcix.  12) ;  the  exercise  of  his  authority  is  not 
without  an  exercise  of  his  goodness ;  he  doth  not  correct  for  his  own 
pleasure,  or  the  creature's  torment,  but  for  the  creature's  instruction ; 
though  the  rod  be  in  the  hand  of  a  sovereign,  yet  it  is  tinctured  with 
the  kindness  of  Divine  bowels  :  he  can  order  them  as  a  sovereign  to 
mortify  our  flesh,  and  tr}^  our  faith.  In  the  severest  tempest,  the 
Lord  that  raised  the  wind  against  us,  which  shattered  the  ship,  and 
tore  its  rigging,  can  change  that  contrary  wind  for  a  more  happy  one, 
to  drive  us  into  the  port. 

6.  It  is  a  comfort  against  the  projects  of  the  church's  adversaries 
in  times  of  public  commotions.  The  consideration  of  the  Divine 
sovereignty  may  arm  us  against  the  threatenings  of  mighty  ones,  and 
the  menaces  of  persecutors.  God  hath  authority  above  the  crowns 
of  men,  and  a  wisdom  superior  to  the  cabals  of  men ;  none  can  have 
a  step  without  him  ;  he  hath  a  negative  voice  upon  their  counsels,  a 
negative  hand  upon  their  motions ;  their  politic  resolves  must  stop  at 
the  point  he  hath  prescribed  them  ;  their  formidable  strength  cannot 
exceed  the  limits  he  hath  set  them  ;  their  overreaching  wisdom  ex- 
pires at  the  breath  of  God  :  "  There  is  no  wisdom  nor  understanding 
nor  counsel  against  the  Lord"  (Prov.  xxi.  30) ;  not  a  bullet  can  be 
discharged,  nor  a  sword  drawn,  a  wall  battered,  nor  a  person  de- 
spatched out  of  the  world,  without  the  leave  of  God,  by  the  mighti- 
est in  the  world.  The  instruments  of  Satan  are  no  more  free  from 
his  sovereign  restraint  than  their  inspirer ;  they  cannot  pull  the  hook 
out  of  their  nostrils,  nor  cast  the  bridle  out  of  their  mouths ;  this 
Sovereign  can  shake  the  earth,  rend  the  heavens,  overthrow  moun- 
tains, the  most  mountainous  opposers  of  his  interest.  Though  the 
nations  rush  in  against  his  people  like  the  rushing  of  many  waters, 
"  God  shall  rebuke  them,  they  shall  be  chased  as  the  chaff  of  the 
mountains  before  the  wind,  and  like  a  rolling  thing  before  the  whirl- 
wind" (Isa.  xvii.  13) ;  so  doth  he  often  burst  in  pieces  the  most  mis- 
chievous designs,  and  conducts  the  oppressed  to  a  happy  port :  he 
often  turns  the  severest  tempests  into  a  calm,  as  well  as  the  most 
peaceful  calm  into  a  horrible  storm.  How  often  hath  a  well-rigged 
ship,  that  seemed  to  spurn  the  sea  under  her  feet,  and  beat  the  waves 
before  her  to  a  foam,  been  SAvallowed  up  into  the  bowels  of  that  ele- 
ment, over  whose  back  she  rode  a  little  before  !  God  never  comes 
to  deliver  his  church  as  a  governor,  but  in  a  wrathful  posture  (Ezek. 
XX.  33)  :  "  Surely,  saith  the  Lord,  with  a  mighty  hand,  and  with  an 
outstretched  arm,  and  with  fury  poured  out,  will  I  rule  over  you  ;" 
not  with  fury  poured  out  upon  the  church,  but  fury  poured  out  upon 
her  enemies,  as  the  words  following  evidence  :  the  church  he  would 
bring  out  from  the  countries  where  she  was  scattered,  and  bring  the 
people  into  the  bond  of  the  covenant.  He  sometimes  "  cuts  off  the 
spirits  of  princes"  (Ps.  Ixxvi.  12),  i.  e.  cuts  off  their  designs  as  men 
do  the  pipes  of  a  water-course.     The  hearts  of  all  are  as  open  to  him 


ON  god's  dominion.  453 

as  the  riches  of  heaven,  where  he  resides ;  he  can  shp  an  inchnation 
into  the  heart  of  the  mighty,  which  they  dreamed  not  of  before  ;  and 
if  he  doth  not  change  their  projects,  he  can  make  them  abortive,  and 
waylay  them  in  their  attempts.  Laban  marched  with  fury,  but  God 
put  a  jDadlock  on  his  passion  against  Jacob  (Gen.  xxxi.  24,  29) ;  the 
devils,  Avhich  ravage  men's  minds,  must  be  still  when  he  gives  out  his 
sovereign  orders.  This  Sovereign  can  make  his  people  find  favor  in 
the  eyes  of  the  cruel  Egyptians,  which  had  so  long  oppressed  them 
(Exod.  xi.  3) ;  and  speak  a  good  word  in  the  heart  of  Nebuchadnez- 
zar for  the  prophet  Jeremiah,  that  he  should  order  his  captain  to 
take  him  into  his  special  protection,  when  he  took  Zedekiah  away 
prisoner  in  chains,  and  "put  out  his  eyes"  (Jer.  xxxix.  11).  His 
people  cannot  want  deliverance  from  Him  who  hath  all  the  world  at 
his  command,  when  he  is  pleased  to  bestow  it ;  he  hath  as  many  in- 
struments of  deliverance  as  he  hath  creatures  at  his  beck  in  heaven 
or  earth,  from  the  meanest  to  the  highest.  As  he  is  the  Lord  of  hosts, 
the  church  hath  not  only  an  interest  in  the  strength  he  himself  is 
possessed  with,  but  in  the  strength  of  all  the  creatures  that  are  under 
his  command,  in  the  elements  below,  and  angels  above.  In  those 
armies  of  heaven,  and  in  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth,  he  doth  "  what 
he  will"  (Dan.  iv.  35) ;  they  are  all  in  order  and  array  at  his  com- 
mand. There  are  angels  to  employ  in  a  fatal  stroke,  lice  and  frogs 
to  quell  the  stubborn  hearts  of  his  enemies ;  he  can  range  his  thun- 
ders and  lightnings,  the  cannon  and  granadoes  of  heaven,  and  the 
worms  of  the  earth  in  his  service ;  he  can  muzzle  lions,  calm  the 
fury  of  the  fire,  turn  his  enemies'  swords  into  their  own  bowels,  and 
their  artillery  on  their  own  breasts  ;  set  the  wind  in  their  teeth,  and 
make  their  chariot- wheels  languish ;  make  the  sea  enter  a  quarrel 
with  them,  and  wrap  them  in  its  waves  till  it  hath  stifled  them  in  its 
lap.  The  angels  have  storms,  and  tempests,  and  wars  in  their  hands, 
but  at  the  disposal  of  God  ;  when  they  shall  cast  them  out  against 
the  empire  of  antichrist  (Rev.  vii.  1,  2),  then  shall  Satan  be  discharged 
from  his  throne,  and  no  more  seduce  the  nations ;  the  everlasting 
gospel  shall  be  preached,  and  God  shall  reign  gloriously  in  Sion. 
Let  us,  therefore,  shelter  ourselves  in  the  Divine  sovereignty,  regard 
God  as  the  most  high  in  our  dangers  and  in  our  petitions.  This  was 
David's  resolution  (Ps.  Ivii.  1,  2) :  "I  will  cry  unto  God  most  high ;" 
this  dominion  of  God  is  the  true  "tower  of  David,  wherein  there  are 
a  thousand  shields"  for  defence  and  encouragement  (Cant.  iv.  4). 

Use  IV.  If  God  hath  an  extensive  dominion  over  the  whole  world, 
this  ought  to  be  often  meditated  on,  and  acknowledged  by  us.  This 
is  the  universal  duty  of  mankind.  If  he  be  the  Sovereign  of  all,  we 
should  frequently  think  of  our  great  Prince,  and  acknowledge  our- 
selves his  subjects,  and  him  our  Lord.  God  will  be  acknowledged 
the  Lord  of  the  whole  earth ;  the  neglect  of  this  is  the  cause  of  the 
judgments  which  are  sent  upon  the  world.  All  the  prodigies  were 
to  this  end,  that  they  might  know,  or  acknowledge,  that  "  God  was 
the  Lord"  (Exod.  x.  2) ;  as  God  was  proprietor,  he  demanded  the 
first-born  of  every  Jew,  and  the  first-born  of  every  beast ;  the  one 
was  to  be  redeemed,  and  the  other  sacrificed  ;  this  was  the  quit  rent 
they  were  to  pay  to  him  for  their  fruitful  land.     The  first-fruits  of 


454  CHARNOCK  ON  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

the  eartli  were  ordered  to  be  paid  to  liim,  as  a  homage  due  to  the 
landlord,  and  an  acknowledgment  they  held  all  in  chief  of  him.  The 
practice  of  offering  first-fruits  for  an  acknowledgment  of  God's  sov- 
ereignty, was  among  many  of  the  heathens,  and  very  ancient ;  hence 
they  dedicated  some  of  the  chief  of  their  spoils,  owning  thereby  the 
dominion  and  goodness  of  God,  whereby  they  had  gained  the  vic- 
tory ;  Cain  owned  this  in  offering  the  fruits  of  the  earth,  and  it  was 
his  sin  he  owned  no  more,  viz.,  his  being  a  sinner,  and  meriting  the 
justice  of  God,  as  his  brother  Abel  did  in  his  bloody  sacrifice.  God 
was  a  sovereign  Proprietor  and  Governor  while  man  was  in  a  state 
of  innocence ;  but  when  man  proved  a  rebel,  the  sovereignty  of  God 
bore  another  relation  towards  him,  that  of  a  Judge,  added  to  the 
other.  The  first-fruits  might  have  been  offered  to  God  in  a  state  of 
innocence,  as  a  homage  to  him  as  Lord  of  the  manor  of  the  world ; 
the  design  of  them  was  to  own  God's  propriety  in  all  things,  and 
men's  dependence  on  him  for  the  influences  of  heaven  in  producing 
the  fruits  of  the  earth,  Avhich  he  had  ordered  for  their  use.  The  de- 
sign of  sacrifices,  and  placing  beasts  instead  of  the  criminal,  was  to 
acknowledge  their  own  guilt,  and  God  as  a  sovereign  Judge  ;  Cain 
owned  the  first,  but  not  the  second ;  he  acknowledged  his  depend- 
ence on  God  as  a  Proprietor,  but  not  his  obnoxiousness  to  God  as  a 
Judge ;  which  may  be  probably  gathered  from  his  own  speech,  when 
God  came  to  examine  him,  and  ask  him  for  his  brother  (Gen.  iv.  9) : 
"  Am  I  my  brother's  keeper  ?"  Why  do  you  ask  me  ?  though  I  own 
thee  as  the  Lord  of  my  land  and  goods,  jet  I  do  not  think  myself 
accountable  to  thee  for  all  my  actions.  This  sovereignty  of  God 
ought  to  be  acknowledged  in  all  the  parts  of  it,  in  all  the  manifesta- 
ttons  of  it  to  the  creature ;  we  should  bear  a  sense  of  this  always 
upon  our  spirits,  and  be  often  in  the  thoughts  of  it  in  our  retirements ; 
we  should  fancy  that  we  saw  God  upon  his  throne  in  his  royal  garb, 
and  great  attendants  about  him,  and  take  a  view  of  it,  to  imprint  an 
awe  upon  our  spirits.     The  meditation  of  this  would, 

1.  Fix  us  on  him  as  an  object  of  trust.  It  is  U23on  his  sovereign 
dominion  as  much  as  upon  anything,  that  safe  and  secure  confidence 
is  built ;  for  if  he  had  any  superior  above  him  to  control  him  in  his 
designs  and  promises,  his  veracity  and  power  would  be  of  little  efii- 
cacy  to  form  our  souls  to  a  close  adherency  to  him.  It  were  not  fit 
to  make  him  the  object  of  our  trust  that  can  be  gainsay ed  by  a 
higher  than  himself,  and  had  not  a  full  authority  to  answer  our  ex- 
pectations ;  if  we  were  possessed  with  this  notion  fully  and  believ- 
ingly,  that  God  were  high  above  all,  that  "  his  kingdom  rules  over 
all,"  we  should  not  catch  at  every  broken  reed,  and  stand  gaping  for 
comforts  from  a  pebble  stone.  He  that  understands  the  authority  of 
a  king,  would  not  waive  a  reliance  on  his  promise  to  depend  upon 
the  breath  of  a  changeling  favorite.  None  but  an  ignorant  man 
would  change  the  security  he  may  have  upon  the  height  of  a  rock, 
to  expect  it  from  the  dwarfishness  of  a  molehill.  To  put  confidence 
in  any  inferior  lord  more  than  in  the  prince,  is  a  folly  in  civil  con- 
verse, but  a  rebelUon  in  divine  ;  God  only  being  above  all,  can  only 
rule  all ;  can  command  things  to  help  us,  and  check  other  things 
which  we  depend  on,  and  make  them  fall  short  of  our  expectations. 


ON  god's  dominion.  455 

The  due  consideration  of  this  doctrine  would  make  us  pierce  through 
second  causes  to  the  first,  and  look  further  than  to  the  smaller  sort 
of  sailors,  that  climb  the  ropes,  and  dress  the  sails,  to  the  pilot  that 
sits  at  the  helm,  the  master,  that,  by  an  indisputable  authority,  orders 
all  their  notions.  We  should  not  depend  upon  second  causes  for 
our  support,  but  look  beyond  them  to  the  authority  of  the  Deity, 
and  the  dominion  he  hath  over  all  the  works  of  his  hands  (Zech.  x. 
1) :  "  Ask  ye  of  the  Lord  rain  in  the  time  of  the  latter  rain ;"  when 
the  seasons  of  the  year  conspire  for  the  producing  such  an  effect, 
when  the  usual  time  of  rain  is  wheeled  about  in  the  year,  stop  not 
your  thoughts  at  the  point  of  the  heavens  whence  yon  expect  it,  but 
pierce  the  heavens,  and  solicit  God,  who  must  give  order  for  it  before 
it  comes.  The  due  meditation  of  all  things  depending  on  the  Divine 
dominion  would  strike  off  our  hands  from  all  other  holds,  so  that  no 
creature  would  engross  the  dependence  and  trust  which  is  due  to  the 
First  Cause  ;  as  we  do  not  thank  the  heavens  when  they  pour  out 
rain,  so  we  are  not  to  depend  upon  them  when  we  want  it ;  God  is 
to  be  sought  to  when  the  womb  of  second  causes  is  opened  to  relieve 
us,  as  well  as  when  the  womb  of  second  causes  is  barren,  and  brings 
not  forth  its  wonted  progeny. 

2.  It  would  make  us  diligent  in  worship.  The  consideration  of 
God,  as  the  Supreme  Lord,  is  the  foundation  of  all  religion  :  "  Our 
Father,  which  art  in  heaven,"  prefaceththe  Lord's  prayer ;  "  Father" 
is  a  name  of  authority  ;  "  in  heaven,"  the  place  where  he  hath  fixed  his 
throne,  notes  his  government;  not  "my  Father,"  but  "  our  Father," 
notes  the  extent  of  this  authority.  In  all  worship  we  acknowledge 
the  object  of  our  worship  our  Lord,  and  ourselves  his  vassals  ;  if  we 
bear  a  sense  that  he  is  our  Sovereign  King,  it  would  draw  us  to  him 
in  every  exigence,  and  keep  us  with  him  in  a  reverential  posture,  in 
every  address ;  when  we  come,  we  should  be  careful  not  to  violate 
his  right,  but  render  him  the  homage  due  to  his  royalty.  "We  should 
not  appear  before  him  with  empty  souls,  but  filled  with  holy 
thoughts :  we  should  bring  him  the  best  of  our  flock,  and  present 
him  with  the  prime  of  our  strength ;  were  we  sensible  we  hold  all 
of  him,  we  should  not  withhold  anything  from  him  which  is  more 
worthy  than  another.  Our  hearts  would  be  framed  into  an  awful 
regard  of  him,  when  we  consider  that  glorious  and  "  fearful  name, 
the  Lord  our  God"  (Deut,  xxviii.  58).  We  should  look  to  our  feet 
when  we  enter  into  his  house ;  if  we  considered  him  in  heaven  upon 
his  throne,  and  ourselves  on  earth  at  his  footstool  (Eccles.  v.  2), 
lower  before  him  than  a  worm  before  an  angel,  it  would  hinder  gar- 
nishness  and  lightness.  The  Jews,  saith  Capel,  on  1  Tim.  i.  17,  re- 
peat this  expression,  db^■sn  -;b^,  King  of  worlds,  or  Eternal  King ; 
probably  the  first  original  of  it  might  be  to  stake  them  down  from 
wandering.  When  we  consider  the  majesty  of  God,  clothed  with  a 
robe  of  light,  sitting  upon  his  high  throne,  adorned  with  his  royal 
ensigns,  we  should  not  enter  into  the  presence  of  so  great  a  Majesty 
with  the  sacrifice  of  fools,  with  light  motions  and  foolish  thoughts, 
as  if  he  were  one  of  our  companions  to  be  drolled  with.  We  should 
not  hear  his  word  as  if  it  were  the  voice  of  some  ordinary  peasant. 
The  consideration  of  majesty  would  engender  reverence  in  our  ser- 


456  CHARNOCK  ON  THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

vice  ;  it  would  also  make  us  speak  of  God  witli  honor  and  respect, 
as  of  a  great  and  glorious  king,  and  not  use  defaming  expressions  of 
him,  as  if  he  were  an  infamous  being.  And  were  he  considered  as 
a  terrible  majesty,  he  would  not  be  frequently  solicited  by  some  to 
pronounce  a  damnation  upon  them  upon  every  occasion, 

3.  It  would  make  us  charitable  to  others.  Since  he  is  our  Lord, 
the  great  Proprietor  of  the  world,  it  is  fit  he  should  have  a  part  of 
our  goods,  as  well  as  our  time  :  he  being  the  Lord  both  of  our  goods 
and  time.  The  Lord  is  to  be  honored  with  our  substance  (Prov.  iii. 
9) ;  kings  were  not  to  be  approached  to  without  a  present ;  tribute 
is  due  to  kings :  but  because  he  hath  no  need  of  any  from  us  to 
bear  up  his  state,  maintain  the  charge  of  his  wars,  or  pay  his  mili- 
tary officers  and  hosts,  it  is  a  debt  due  to  him  to  acknowledge  him  in 
his  poor,  to  sustain  those  that  are  a  part  of  his  substance ;  though  he 
stands  in  no  need  of  it  himself,  yet  the  poor,  that  we  have  always 
with  us,  do ;  as  a  seventh  part  of  our  weekly  time,  so  some  part  of 
our  weekly  gains,  are  due  to  him.  There  was  to  be  a  weekly  laying 
by  in  store  somewhat  of  what  God  had  prospered  them,  for  the  re- 
lief of  others  (1  Cor.  xvi.  1,  2) ;  the  quantity  is  not  determined,  that 
is  left  to  every  man's  conscience,  "  according  as  God  hath  prospered 
him"  that  week.  If  we  did  consider  God  as  the  Donor  and  Pro- 
prietor, we  should  dispose  of  his  gifts  according  to  the  design  of  the 
true  owner,  and  act  in  our  places  as  stewards  entrusted  by  him,  and 
not  purse  up  his  part,  as  well  as  our  own,  in  our  coffers.  We  should 
not  deny  him  a  small  quit  rent,  as  an  acknowledgement  that  we 
have  a  greater  income  from  him ;  we  should  be  ready  to  give  the 
inconsiderable  pittance  he  doth  require  of  us,  as  an  acknowledgment 
of  his  propriety,  as  well  as  liberality. 

4.  It  would  make  us  watchful,  and  arm  us  against  all  temptations. 
Had  Eve  stuck  to  her  first  argument  against  the  serpent,  she  had  not 
been  instrumental  to  that  destruction  which  mankind  yet  feel  the 
smart  of  (Gen.  iii.  3) :  "  God  hath  said.  Ye  shall  not  eat  of  it;"  the 
great  Governor  of  the  world  hath  laid  his  sovereign  command  upon 
us  in  this  point.  The  temptation  gained  no  ground  till  her  heart  let 
go  the  sense  of  this  for  the  pleasure  of  her  eye  and  palate.  The  re- 
petition of  this,  the  great  Lord  of  the  world  hath  said  or  ordered, 
had  both  unargumented  and  disarmed  the  tempter.  A  sense  of 
God's  dominion  over  us  would  discourage  a  temptation,  and  put  it 
out  of  countenance ;  it  would  bring  us  with  a  vigorous  strength  to 
beat  it  back  to  a  retreat.  If  this  were  as  strongly  urged  as  the 
temptation,  it  would  make  the  heart  of  the  tempted  strong,  and  the 
motion  of  the  tempter  feeble. 

5.  It  would  make  us  entertain  afflictions  as  they  ought  to  be  en- 
tertained, viz.^  with  a  respect  to  God.  When  men  make  light  of 
any  affliction  from  God,  it  is  a  contempt  of  his  sovereignty,  as  to 
contemn  the  frown,  displeasure,  and  check  of  a  prince,  is  an  affront 
to  majesty  :  it  is  as  if  they  did  not  care  a  straw  what  God  did  with 
them,  but  dare  him  to  do  his  worst.  There  is  a  "despising  the 
chastening  of  the  Almighty"  (Job,  v.  17).  To  be  unhumbled  under 
his  hand,  is  as  much,  or  more,  affront  to  him,  than  to  be  impatient 
under  it.     Afflictions  must  be  entertained  as  a  check  from  heaven, 


ON  GOD'S  DOMINION.  457 

as  a  frown  from  tlie  great  Monarch  of  the  world  ;  under  the  feeling 
of  every  stroke,  we  are  to  acknowledge  his  sovereignty  and  bounty ; 
to  despise  it,  is  to  make  light  of  his  authority  over  us  ;  as  to  despise 
his  favors  is  to  make  light  of  his  kindness  to  us.  A  sense  of  God's 
dominion  would  make  us  observe  every  check  from  him,  and  not 
diminish  his  authority  by  casting  off  a  due  sense  of  his  correction. 

6.  This  dominion  of  God  would  make  us  resign  up  ourselves  to 
God  in  everything.  He  that  considers  himself  a  thing  made  by 
God,  a  vassal  under  his  authority,  would  not  expostulate  with  him, 
and  call  him  to  an  account  why  he  hath  dealt  so  or  so  with  him.  It 
would  stab  the  vitals  of  all  pleas  against  him.  We  should  not  then 
contest  with  him,  but  humbly  lay  our  cause  at  his  feet,  and  say 
with  Eli,  (1  Sam.  iii.  18),  "  It  is  the  Lord,  let  him  do  what  seems 
good."  We  should  not  commence  a  suit  against  God,  when  he  doth 
not  answer  our  prayers  presently,  and  send  the  mercy  we  Avant  upon 
the  wings  of  the  wind  ;  he  is  the  Lord,  the  Sovereign.  The  consid- 
eration of  this  would  put  an  end  to  our  quarrels  with  God  ;  should 
I  expect  that  the  Monarch  of  the  world  should  wait  upon  me  ;  or 
I,  a  poor  worm,  wait  upon  him  ?  Must  I  take  state  upon  me  be- 
fore the  throne  of  heaven,  and  expect  the  King  of  kings  should 
lay  by  his  sceptre,  to  gratify  my  humor?  -Surely  Jonah  thought 
God  no  more  than  his  fellow,  or  his  vassal,  at  that  time  when  he 
told  him  to  his  face  he  did  well  to  be  angry,  as  though  God  might 
not  do  what  he  pleased  with  so  small  a  thing  as  a  gourd ;  he 
speaks  as  if  he  would  have  sealed  a  lease  of  ejectment,  to  exclude 
him  from  any  propriety  in  anything  in  the  world. 

7.  This  dominion  of  God  would  stop  our  vain  curiosity.  When 
Peter  was  desirous  to  know  the  fate  of  John,  the  beloved  disciple, 
Christ  answereth  no  more  than  this  :  (John,  xxi.  22),  "  If  I  will  that 
he  tarry  till  I  come,  what  is  that  to  thee  ?  follow  thou  me."  Con- 
sider your  duty,  and  lay  aside  your  curiosity,  since  it  is  my  pleasure 
not  to  reveal  it.  The  sense  of  God's  absolute  dominion  would 
silence  many  vain  disputes  in  the  world.  What  if  God  will  not  re- 
veal this  or  that  ?  the  manner  and  method  of  his  resolves  should 
humble  the  creature  under  intruding  inquiries. 

UseY.  Of  exhortation. 

1.  The  doctrine  of  the  dominion  of  God  may  teach  us  humility. 
We  are  never  truly  abased,  but  by  the  consideration  of  the  emi- 
nence and  excellency  of  the  Deity.  Job  never  thought  himself  so 
pitiful  a  thing,  so  despicable  a  creature,  as  after  God's  magnificent 
declamation  upon  the  theme  of  his  own  sovereignty  (Job,  xlii.  5,  6). 
When  God's  name  is  regarded  as  the  most  excellent  and  sovereign 
name  in  all  the  earth,  then  is  the  soul  in  the  fittest  temper  to  lie 
low,  and  cry  out.  What  is  man,  that  so  gTcat  a  Majesty  should  be 
mindful  of  him  ?  When  Abraham  considers  God  as  the  supreme 
Judge  of  all  the  earth,  he  then  owns  "  himself  but  dust  and  ashes" 
(Gen.  xviii.  25,  27).  Indeed,  how  can  vile  and  dusty  man  vaunt 
before  God,  when  angels,  far  more  excellent  creatures,  cannot  stand 
before  him,  but  with  a  veil  on  their  faces  ?  How  little  a  thing  is 
man  in  regard  of  all  the  earth  !  How  mean  a  thing  is  the  earth  in 
regard  of  the  vaster  heavens !      How  poor  a  thing  is  the  whole 


458  CHARNOCK  ON"  THE  ATTRIBUTES, 

world  in  comparison  of  God !  How  pitiful  a  thing  is  man,  if  com- 
pared with  so  excellent  a  Majesty  !  There  is  as  great  a  distance  be- 
tween God  and  man,  as  between  being  and  not  being ;  and  the  more 
man  considers  the  Divine  royalty,  the  more  disesteem  he  will  have 
of  himself ;  it  would  make  him  stoop  and  disrobe  himself,  and  fall 
low  before  the  throne  of  the  King  of  kings,  throwing  down  before 
his  throne  any  crown  he  gloried  in  (Rev.  iv.  10). 

(1).  In  regard  of  authority.  How  unreasonable  is  pride  in  the 
presence  of  majesty !  How  foolish  is  it  for  a  country  justice  of 
peace  to  think  himself  as  great  as  his  prince  that  commissioned  him  ! 
How  unreasonable  is  pride  in  the  presence  of  the  greatest  sov- 
ereignty! What,  is  human  greatness  before  Divine?  The  stars 
discover  no  light  when  the  sun  appears,  but  in  a  humble  posture 
withdraw  in  their  lesser  beams,  to  give  the  sole  glory  of  enlighten- 
ing the  world  to  the  sun,  who  is,  as  it  were,  the  sovereign  of  those 
stars,  and  imparts  a  light  unto  them.  The  greatest  prince  is  in- 
finitely less,  if  compared  with  God,  than  the  meanest  scullion  in  his 
kitchen  can  be  before  him.  As  the  wisdom,  goodness,  and  holiness 
of  a  man  is  a  mere  mote  compared  to  the  goodness  and  holiness  of 
God,  so  is  the  authority  of  a  man  a  mere  trifle  in  regard  of  the 
sovereignty  of  God :  and  who  but  a  simple  child  would  be  proud 
of  a  mote  or  trifle  ?  Let  man  be  as  great  as  he  can,  and  command 
others,  he  is  still  a  subject  to  One  greater  than  himself.  Pride  would 
then  vanish  like  smoke  at  the  serious  consideration  of  this  sov- 
ereignty. One  of  the  kings  of  this  country  did  very  handsomely 
shame  the  flattery  of  his  courtiers,  that  cried  him  up  as  lord  of  sea 
and  land,  by  ordering  his  chair  to  be  set  on  the  sand  of  the  sea 
shore,  when  the  tide  was  coming  in,  and  commanding  the  waters 
not  to  touch  his  feet,  which  when  they  did  without  any  regard  to 
his  authority,  he  took  occasion  thereby  to  put  his  flatterers  out  of 
countenance,  and  instruct  himself  in  a  lesson  of  humility.  "  See," 
saith  he,  "  how  I  rule  all  things,  when  so  mean  a  thing  as  the  water 
will  not  obey  me !"  It  is  a  ridiculous  pride  that  the  Turk  and 
Persian  discover  in  their  swelling  titles.  What  poor  sovereigns  are 
they,  that  cannot  command  a  cloud,  give  out  an  effectual  order  for 
a  drop  of  rain,  in  a  time  of  drought,  or  cause  the  bottles  of  heaven 
to  turn  their  mouth  another  way  in  a  time  of  too  much  moisture ! 
Yet  their  own  prerogatives  are  so  much  in  their  minds,  that  they 
jostle  out  all  thoughts  of  the  supreme  prerogative  of  God,  and  give 
thereby  occasion  to  frequent  rebellions  against  him. 

(2).  In  regard  of  propriety.  And  this  doctrine  is  no  less  an 
abatement  of  pride  in  the  highest,  as  well  as  in  the  meanest;  it 
lowers  pride  in  point  of  propriety,  as  well  as  in  point  of  authority. 
Is  any  proud  of  his  possessions  ?  how  many  lords  of  those  posses- 
sions have  gone  before  you!  how  many  are  to  follow  you!-^  Your 
dominion  lasts  but  a  short  time,  too  short  to  be  a  cause  of  any 
pride  and  glory  in  it.  God  by  a  sovereign  power  can  take  you 
from  them,  or  them  from  you,  when  he  pleaseth.  The  traveller  re- 
fresheth  himself  in  the  heat  of  summer  under  a  shady  tree ;  how 
many  have  done  so  before  him  the  same  day  he  knows  not,  and 

*  Raynard,  de  Deo,  p.  766. 


ON  GOD'S  DOMINION".  459 

how  many  will  liave  tlie  benefit  after  before  night  comes,  he  is  as 
much  ignorant  of;  he,  and  the  others  that  went  before  him  and 
follow  after  him,  use  it  for  their  refreshment,  but  none  of  them  can 
say,  that  they  are  the  lords  of  it ;  the  property  is  invested  in  some 
other  person,  whom  perhaps  they  know  not.  The  propriety  of  all 
you  have  is  in  God,  not  truly  in  yourselves.  Doth  not  that  man 
deserve  scorn  from  you,  who  will  play  the  proud  fool  in  gay  clothes 
and  attire,  which  are  known  to  be  none  of  his  own,  but  borrowed  ? 
Is  it  not  the  same  case  with  every  proud  man,  though  he  hath  a 
property  in  his  goods  by  the  law  of  the  land  ?  Is  anything  you 
have  your  own  truly  ?  Is  it  not  lent  you  by  the  great  Lord  ?  Is 
it  not  the  same  vanity  in  any  of  you,  to  be  proud  of  what  you  have 
as  God's  loan  to  you,  as  for  such  a  one  to  be  proud  of  what  he  hath 
borrowed  of  man  ?  And  do  you  not  make  yourselves  as  ridiculous 
to  angels  and  good  men,  who  know  that  though  it  is  yours  in  op- 
position to  man,  yet  it  is  not  yours  in  opposition  to  God  ?  they  are 
granted  you  only  for  your  use,  as  the  collar  of  esses  and  sword, 
and  other  ensigns  of  the  chief  magistrate  in  the  city,  pass  through 
many  hands  in  regard  of  the  use  of  them,  but  the  propriety  remains 
in  the  community  and  body  of  the  city  :  or  as  the  silver  plate  of  a 
person  that  invites  you  to  a  feast  is  for  your  use  during  the  time 
of  the  invitation.  What  ground  is  there  to  be  proud  of  those  things 
you  are  not  the  absolute  lords  and  proprietors  of,  but  only  have 
the  use  of  them  granted  to  you  during  the  pleasure  of  the  Sov- 
ereign of  the  world ! 

2.  Praise  and  thankfulness  result  from  this  doctrine  of  the  sov- 
ereignty of  God. 

(1).  He  is  to  be  praised  for  his  royalty.  (Ps.  cxlv.  1),  "I  will  ex- 
toll  thee,  my  God,  O  King."  The  Psalmist  calls  upon  men  five 
times  to  sing  praise  to  him  as  King  of  all  the  earth.  (Ps.  xlvii. 
6,  7),  "  Sing  praises  to  God,  sing  praises :  sing  praises  to  our  king, 
sing  praises :  for  God  is  the  King  of  all  the  earth  ;  sing  ye  praises 
with  understanding."  All  creatures,  even  the  inanimate  ones,  are 
called  upon  to  praise  him  because  of  the  excellency  of  his  name 
and  the  supremacy  of  his  glor}^,  in  the  148th  Psalm  throughout, 
and  ver.  13.  That  Sovereign  Power  that  gave  us  hearts  and 
tongues,  deserves  to  have  them  employed  in  his  praises,  especially 
since  he  hath  by  the  same  hand  given  us  so  great  matter  for  it.  As 
he  is  a  Sovereign  we  owe  him  thankfulness ;  he  doth  not  deal  with 
us  in  a  way  of  absolute  dominion  ;  he  might  then  have  annihilated 
us,  since  he  hath  as  full  a  dominion  to  reduce  us  to  nothing.  Con- 
sider the  absoluteness  of  his  sovereignty  in  itself,  and  you  must 
needs  acknowledge  that  he  might  have  multiplied  precepts,  enjoined 
us  the  observance  of  more  than  he  hath  done  ;  he  might  have  made 
our  tether  much  shorter ;  he  might  exact  obedience,  and  j^romise 
no  reward  for  it ;  he  might  dash  us  against  the  walls,  as  a  ^^otter 
doth  his  vessel,  and  no  man  have  any  just  reason  to  say,  What  dost 
thou?  or.  Why  dost  thou  use  me  so ?  A  greater  right  is  in  him  to 
use  us  in  such  a  manner  as  we  do  sensible  as  well  as  insensible 
things.  And  if  you  consider  his  dominion  as  it  is  capable  to  be  ex- 
ercised in  a  way  of  unquestionable  justice,  and  submitted  to  the 


460  CHAENOCK  ON  THE  ATTEIBUTES. 

reason  and  judgments  of  creatures,  he  might  have  dealt  with  us  in 
a  smarter  way  than  he  hath  hitherto  done  ;  instead  of  one  affliction, 
we  might  have  had  a  thousand:  he  might  have  shut  his  own  hands 
from  pouring  out  any  good  upon  us,  and  ordered  innumerable 
scourges  to  be  prepared  for  us ;  but  he  deals  not  with  us  according 
to  the  rights  of  his  dominion.  He  doth  not  oppress  us  by  the  great- 
ness of  his  majesty ;  he  enters  into  covenant  with  us,  and  allures  us 
by  the  chords  of  a  man,  and  shows  himself  as  much  a  merciful  as 
an  absolute  Sovereign. 

(2.)  As  he  is  a  Proprietor,  we  owe  him  thankfulness.  He  is  at  his 
own  choice  whether  he  will  bestow  upon  us  any  blessings  or  no ;  the 
more  value,  therefore,  his  benefits  deserve  from  us,  and  the  Donor 
the  more  sincere  returns.  K  we  have  anything  from  the  creature  to 
serve  our  turn,  it  is  by  the  order  of  the  chief  Proprietor.  He  is  the 
spring  of  honor,  and  the  fountain  of  supplies :  all  creatures  are  but 
as  the  conduit  pipes  in  a  great  city,  which  serve  several  houses  with 
water,  but  from  the  great  spring.  All  things  are  conveyed  originally 
from  his  own  hand,  and  are  dispensed  from  his  exchequer.  If  this 
great  Sovereign  did  not  order  them,  you  would  have  no  more  sup- 
plies from  a  creature  than  you  could  have  nourishment  from  a  chip : 
it  is  the  Divine  will  in  everything  that  doth  us  good ;  every  favor 
from  creatures  is  but  a  smile  from  God,  an  evidence  of  his  royalty 
to  move  us  to  pay  a  respect  to  him  as  the  great  Lord.  Some  hea- 
thens had  so  much  respect  for  God,  as  to  conclude  that  his  will,  and 
not  their  prudence,  was  the  chief  conductor  of  their  affairs.  His 
goodness  to  us  calls  for  our  thankfulness,  but  his  sovereignty  calls 
for  a  higher  elevation  of  it :  a  smile  from  a  prince  is  more  valued, 
and  thought  worthy  of  more  gratitude,  than  a  present  from  a  peasant ; 
a  small  gift  from  a  great  person  is  more  gratefully  to  be  received 
than  a  larger  from  an  inferior  person :  the  condescension  of  royalty 
magnifies  the  gift.  What  is  man,  that  thou,  so  great  a  Majesty,  art 
mindful  of  him,  to  bestow  this  or  that  favor  upon  him  ? — is  but  a 
due  reflection  upon  every  blessing  we  receive.  Upon  every  fresh 
blessing  we  should  acknowledge  the  Donor  and  true  Proprietor,  and 
give  him  the  honor  of  his  dominion :  his  property  ought  to  be  thank- 
fully owned  in  everything  we  are  capable  of  consecrating  to  him ;  as 
David,  after  the  liberal  collection  he  had  made  for  the  building  of 
the  temple,  owns  in  his  dedication  of  it  to  that  use  the  propriety  of 
God :  "  Who  am  I,  and  what  is  my  people,  that  we  should  be  able 
to  offer  so  willingly  after  this  sort  ?  for  all  things  come  of  thee,  and 
of  thine  own  have  we  given  thee"  (1  Chron.  xxix.  14) :  it  was  but  a 
return  of  God's  own  to  him,  as  the  waters  of  the  river  are  no  other 
than  the  return  to  the  sea  of  what  was  taken  from  it.  Praise  and 
thankfulness  is  a  rent  due  from  all  mankind,  and  from  every  crea- 
ture, to  the  great  Landlord,  since  all  are  tenants,  and  hold  by  him 
at  his  will.  "  Every  creature  in  heaven  and  earth,  and  under  the 
earth,  and  in  the  sea,"  were  heard,  by  John,  to  ascribe  "  blessing, 
honor,  glory,  and  power,  to  Him  that  sits  on  the  throne"  (Rev.  v.  13). 
We  are  as  much  bound  to  the  sovereignty  of  God  for  his  preserva- 
tion of  us,  as  for  his  creation  of  us ;  we  are  no  less  obliged  to  him 
that  preserves  our  beings  ^Yhen  exposed  to  dangers,  than  we  are  for 


ON  GOD'S  DOMINION.  461 

bestowing  a  being  upon  ns  when  we  were  not  capable  of  danger. 
Thankfulness  is  due  to  this  Sovereign  for  public  concerns.  Hath 
he  not  preserved  the  ship  of  his  church  in  the  midst  of  whistling 
winds  and  roaring  waves ;  in  the  midst  of  the  combats  of  men  and 
devils ;  and  rescued  it  often  when  it  hath  been  near  shipwrecked  ? 

3.  How  should  we  be  induced  from  hence  to  promote  the  honor 
of  this  Sovereign !  We  should  advance  him  as  supreme,  and  all  our 
actions  should  concur  in  his  honor :  we  should  return  to  his  glory 
what  we  have  received  from  his  sovereignty,  and  enjoy  by  his  mercy : 
he  that  is  the  superior  of  all,  ought  to  be  the  end  of  all.  This  is  the 
harmony  of  the  creation ;  that  which  is  of  an  inferior  nature  is  or- 
dered to  the  service  of  that  which  is  of  a  more  excellent  nature ; 
thus  water  and  earth,  that  have  a  lower  being,  are  employed  for  the 
honor  and  beauty  of  the  plants  of  the  earth,  who  are  more  excellent 
in  having  a  principle  of  a  growing  life :  these  plants  are  again  sub- 
servient to  the  beasts  and  birds,  which  exceed  them  in  a  principle 
of  sense,  which  the  others  want:  those  beasts  and  birds  are  ordered 
for  the  good  of  man,  who  is  superior  to  them  in  a  principle  of  reason, 
and  is  invested  with  a  dominion  over  them.  Man  having  God  for 
his  superior,  ought  as  much  to  serve  the  glory  of  God,  as  other 
things  are  designed  to  be  useful  to  man.  Other  governments  are 
intended  for  the  good  of  the  community,  the  chief  end  is  not  the 
good  of  the  governors  themselves :  but  God  being  every  way  sover- 
eign, the  sovereign  Being,  giving  being  to  all  things,  the  sovereign 
Ruler,  giving  order  and  preservation  to  all  things,  is  also  the  end 
of  all  things,  to  whose  glory  and  honor  all  things,  all  creatures,  are 
to  be  subservient;  "for  of  him,  and  through  him,  and  to  him,  are 
all  things,  to  whom  be  glory  for  ever"  (Rom.  xi.  S6):  o/him,  as  the 
efl&cient  cause ;  through  him,  as  the  preserving  cause ;  to  him,  as  the 
final  cause.  All  our  actions  and  thoughts  ought  to  be  addressed  to 
his  glory ;  our  whole  beings  ought  to  be  consecrated  to  his  honor, 
though  we  should  have  no  reward  but  the  honor  of  having  been 
subservient  to  the  end  of  our  creation :  so  much  doth  the  excellency 
and  majesty  of  God,  infinitely  elevated  above  us,  challenge  of  us. 
Subjects  use  to  value  the  safety,  honor,  and  satisfaction  of  a  good 
prince  above  their  own  :  David  is  accounted  worth  ten  thousand  of 
the  people ;  and  some  of  his  courtiers  thought  themselves  obliged  to 
venture  their  lives  for  his  satisfaction  in  so  mean  a  thing  as  a  little 
water  from  the  well  of  Bethlehem.  Doth  not  so  great,  so  good  a 
Sovereign  as  God,  deserve  the  same  affection  from  us  ?  "  Do  we 
swear,"  saith  a  heathen,  "  to  prefer  none  before  Caesar,  and  have  we 
not  greater  reason  to  prefer  none  before  God  ?"y  It  is  a  justice  due 
from  us  to  God  to  maintain  his  glory,  as  it  is  a  justice  to  preserve 
the  right  and  property  of  another.  As  God  would  lay  aside  his 
Deity  if  he  did  deny  himself,  so  a  creature  acts  irregularly,  and  out 
of  the  rank  of  a  creature,  if  it  doth  not  deny  itself  for  God.  He  that 
makes  himself  his  own  end,  makes  himself  his  own  sovereign.  To 
napkin  up  a  gift  he  hath  bestowed  upon  us,  or  to  employ  what  we 
possess  solely  to  our  own  glory,  to  use  anything  barely  for  ourselves, 
without  respect  to  God,  is  to  apply  it  to  a  wrong  use,  and  to  injure 

y  Arrian  iu  Epictet. 


462  CHARNOCE   ON  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

God  in  his  propriety,  and  tlie  end  of  his  donation.  What  we  have 
ought  to  be  used  for  the  honor  of  Grod :  he  retains  the  dominion  and 
lordship,  though  he  grants  us  the  use :  we  are  but  stewards,  not  pro- 
prietors, in  regard  to  God,  who  expects  an  account  from  us,  how 
Ave  have  employed  his  goods  to  his  honor.  The  kingdom  of  God  is 
to  be  advanced  by  us :  we  are  to  pray  that  his  kingdom  may  come : 
we  are  to  endeavor  that  his  kingdom  may  come,  that  is,  that  God 
may  be  known  to  be  the  chief  Sovereign ;  that  his  dominion,  which 
was  obscured  by  Adam's  fall,  may  be  more  manifested ;  that  his  sub- 
jects, which  are  suppressed  in  the  world,  maybe  supported;  his 
laws,  which  are  violated  by  the  rebellions  of  men,  may  be  more 
obeyed ;  and  his  enemies  be  fully  subdued  by  his  final  judgment,  the 
last  evidence  of  his  dominion  in  this  state  of  the  world ;  that  the 
empire  of  sin  and  the  devil  may  be  abolished,  and  the  kingdom  of 
God  perfected,  that  none  may  rule  but  the  great  and  rightful  Sover- 
eign. Thus  while  we  endeavor  to  advance  the  honor  of  his  throne,  we 
shall  not  want  an  honor  to  ourselves.  He  is  too  gracious  a  Sovereign 
to  neglect  them  that  are  mindful  of  his  glory;  "those  that  honor 
him,  he  will  honor"  (1  Sam.  ii.  30). 

4.  Fear  and  reverence  of  God  in  himself,  and  in  his  actions,  is  a 
duty  incumbent  on  us  from  this  doctrine  (Jer.  x.  7):  "Who  would 
not  fear  thee,  0  King  of  nations  ?"  The  ingratitude  of  the  world  is 
taxed  in  not  reverencing  God  as  a  great  king,  who  had  given  so 
many  marks  of  his  royal  government  among  them.  The  prophet 
wonders  there  was  no  fear  of  so  great  a  King  in  the  world,  since, 
"  among  all  the  wise  men  of  the  nations,  and  among  all  their  kings, 
there  is  none  like  unto  this;"  no  more  reverence  of  him,  since  none 
ruled  so  wisely,  nor  any  ruled  so  graciously.  The  dominion  of  God 
is  one  of  the  first  sparks  that  gives  fire  to  religion  and  worship,  con- 
sidered with  the  goodness  of  this  Sovereign  (Ps.  xii.  27,  28):  "All 
the  nations  shall  worship  before  thee,  for  the  kingdom  is  the  Lord's, 
and  he  is  Governor  among  the  nations."  Epicurus,  who  thought 
God  careless  of  human  affairs,  leaving  them  at  hap-hazard,  to  the 
conduct  of  men's  wisdom  and  mutability  of  fortune,  yet  acknowl- 
edged that  God  ought  to  be  worshipped  by  man  for  the  excellency 
of  his  nature,  and  the  greatness  of  his  majesty.  How  should  we 
reverence  that  God,  that  hath  a  throne  encompassed  with  such  glo- 
rious creatures  as  angels,  whose  faces  we  are  not  able  to  behold, 
though  shadowed  in  assumed  bodies !  how  should  we  fear  the  Lord 
of  Hosts,  that  hath  so  many  armies  at  his  command  in  the  heavens 
above,  and  in  the  earth  below,  whom  he  can  dispose  to  the  exact 
obedience  of  his  will !  how  should  men  be  afraid  to  censure  any  of 
his  actions,  to  sit  judge  of  their  Judge,  and  call  him  to  an  account  at 
their  bar !  how  should  such  an  earth-worm,  a  mean  animal  as  man, 
be  afraid  to  speak  irreverently  of  so  great  a  King  among  his  pots 
and  strumpets !  Not  to  fear  him,  not  to  reverence  him,  is  to  pull 
his  throne  from  under  him,  and  make  him  of  a  lower  authority  than 
ourselves,  or  any  creature  that  we  reverence  more. 

5.  Prayer  to  God,  and  trust  in  him,  is  inferred  from  his  sovereign- 
ty. If  he  be  the  supreme  Sovereign,  holding  heaven  and  earth  in 
his  hand,  disposing  all  things  here  below,  not  committing  everything 


ON  GOD'S  DOMINION.  463 

to  the  influence  of  tlie  stars  or  the  liumors  of  men,  we  ought,  then, 
to  apply  ourselves  to  him  in  every  case,  implore  the  exercise  of  his 
authority ;  we  hereby  own  his  pecuhar  right  over  all  things  and  per- 
sons. He  only  is  the  supreme  Head  in  all  causes,  and  over  all  per- 
sons: "  Thine  is  the  kingdom"  (Matt,  vi.  13),  concludes  the  Lord's 
prayer,  both  as  a  motive  to  pray,  and  a  ground  to  expect  what  we 
want.  He  that  believes  not  God's  government  Avill  think  it  needless 
to  call  upon  him,  will  expect  no  refuge  under  him  in  a  strait,  but 
make  some  creature-reed  his  support.  If  we  do  not  seek  to  him, 
but  rely  upon  the  dominion  we  have  over  our  own  possessions,  or 
upon  the  authority  of  anything  else,  we  disown  his  supremacy  and 
dominion  over  all  things ;  we  have  as  good  an  opinion  of  ourselves, 
or  of  some  creatures,  as  we  ought  to  have  of  God;  we  think  our- 
selves, or  some  natural  cause  we  seek  to  or  depend  upon,  as  much 
sovereigns  as  he,  and  that  all  things  which  concern  us  are  as  much 
at  the  dispose  of  an  inferior,  as  of  the  great  Lord.  It  is,  indeed,  to 
make  a  god  of  ourselves,  or  of  the  creature ;  when  we  seek  to  him, 
upon  all  occasions,  we  own  this  Divine  eminenc}^,  we  acknowledge 
that  it  is  by  him  men's  hearts  are  ordered,  the  world  governed,  all 
things  disposed  ;  and  God,  that  is  jealous  of  his  glory,  is  best  pleas- 
ed with  any  duty  in  the  creature  that  doth  acknowledge  and  desire 
the  glorification  of  it,  which  prayer  and  dependence  on  him  doth 
in  a  special  manner,  desiring  the  exercise  of  his  authority,  and  the 
preservation  of  it  in  ordering  the  affairs  of  the  world. 

6.  Obedience  naturallj''  results  from  this  doctrine.  As  his  justice 
requires  fear,  his  goodness  thankfulness,  his  faithfulness  trust,  his 
truth  belief,  so  his  sovereignty,  in  the  nature  of  it,  demands  obe- 
dience :  as  it  is  most  fit  he  should  rule,  in  regard  of  his  excellency, 
so  it  is  most  fit  we  should  obey  him  in  regard  of  his  authority :  he 
is  our  Lord,  and  we  his  subjects ;  he  is  our  Master,  and  we  his  ser- 
vants ;  it  is  righteous  we  should  observe  him,  and  conform  to  his 
will :  he  is  everything  that  speaks  an  authority  to  command  us,  and 
tliat  can  challenge  an  humility  in  us  to  obey.  As  that  is  the  truest 
doctrine  that  subjects  us  most  to  God,  so  he  is  the  truest  Christian 
that  doth,  in  his  practice,  most  acknowledge  this  subjection ;  and  as 
sovereignty  is  the  first  notion  a  creature  can  have  of  God,  so  obe- 
dience is  the  first  and  chief  thing  conscience  reflects  upon  the  crea- 
ture. Man  holds  all  of  God  ;  and  therefore  owes  all  the  operations 
capable  to  be  produced  by  those  faculties  to  that  Sovereign  Power 
that  endowed  him  with  them.  Man  had  no  being  but  from  him  ;  he 
hath  no  motion  without  him ;  he  should,  therefore,  have  no  being 
but  for  him ;  and  no  motion  but  according  to  him :  to  call  him 
Lord,  and  not  to  act  in  subjection  to  him,  is  to  mock  and  put  a  scorn 
upon  him  (Luke  vi.  46) :  "Why  call  you  me  Lord,  Lord,  and  do 
not  the  things  that  I  say  ?"  It  is  like  the  crucifying  Christ  un- 
der the  title  of  a  King.  It  is  not  by  professions,  but  by  observ- 
ance of  the  laws  of  a  prince,  that  we  m.anifest  a  due  respect  to 
him :  by  that  we  reverence  that  authority  that  enacted  them,  and 
the  prudence  that  framed  them. 

This  doctrine  affords  us  motives  to  obey,  and  directs  us  to  the 
manner  of  obedience. 


464  CHAENOCK  ON  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

1st.  Motives  to  obey, 

(1.)  It  is  comely  and  orderly.  Is  it  not  a  more  becoming  thing  to 
be  ruled  by  the  will  of  our  Sovereign  than  by  that  of  our  lusts  ? — 
to  observe  a  wise  and  gracious  Authority,  than  to  set  up  inordinate 
appetites  in  the  room  of  his  law  ?  Would  not  all  men  account  it  a 
disorder  to  be  abominated,  to  see  a  slave  or  vassal  control  the  just 
orders  of  his  lord,  and  endeavor  to  subject  his  master's  will  to  his 
own  ?  much  more  to  expect  God  should  serve  our  humor  rather 
than  we  be  regulated  by  his  will.  It  is  more  orderly  that  subjects 
should  obey  their  governors,  than  governors  their  subjects ;  that 
passion  should  obey  reason,  than  reason  obey  passion.  When  good 
governors  are  to  conform  to  subjects,  and  reason  veil  to  passion,  it  is 
monstrous !  the  one  disturbs  the  order  of  a  community,  and  the 
other  defaceth  the  beauty  of  the  soul.  Is  it  a  comely  thing  for  God 
to  stoop  to  our  meanness,  or  for  us  to  stoop  to  his  greatness? 

(2.)  In  regard  of  the  Divine  sovereignty,  it  is  both  honorable  and 
advantageous  to  obey  God.  It  is,  indeed,  the  glory  of  a  superior  to 
be  obeyed  by  his  inferior ;  but  where  the  sovereign  is  of  transcend- 
ent excellency  and  dignity,  it  is  an  honor  to  a  mean  person  to  be 
under  his  immediate  commands,  and  enrolled  in  his  service.  It  is 
more  honor  to  be  God's  subject  than  to  be  the  greatest  worldly 
monarch  ;  his  very  service  is  an  empire,  and  disobedience  to  him  is 
a  slavery.  It  is  a  part  of  his  sovereignty  to  reward  any  service 
done  him.2  Other  lords  may  be  willing  to  recompense  the  service  of 
their  subjects,  but  are  often  rendered  unable ;  but  nothing  can  stand 
in  the  way  of  God  to  hinder  your  reward,  if  nothing  stand  in  your 
way  to  hinder  your  obedience  (Lev.  xviii.  5) :  "If  you  keep  my 
statutes,  you  shall  live  in  them ;  I  am  the  Lord."  Is  there  anything 
in  the  world  can  recompense  you  for  rebellion  against  God,  and  obe- 
dience to  a  lust  ?  Saul  cools  the  hearts  of  his  servants  from  running 
after  David,  by  David's  inability  to  give  them  fields  and  vineyards 
(1  Sam.  xxii.  7) :  "  Will  the  son  of  Jesse  give  every  one  of  you 
fields  and  vineyards,  and  make  you  captains  of  thousands,  and  cap- 
tains of  hundreds,  that  you  have  conspired  against  me  ?"  But  God 
hath  a  dominion  to  requite,  as  well  as  an  authority  to  comm'and 
your  obedience  ;  he  is  a  great  Sovereign,  to  bear  you  out  in  your 
observance  of  his  precepts  against  all  reproaches  and  violence  of 
men,  and  at  last  to  crown  you  with  eternal  honor.  If  he  should 
neglect  vindicating,  one  time  or  other,  your  loyalty  to  him,  he 
will  neglect  the  maintaining  and  vindicating  his  own  sovereignty 
and  greatness. 

(3.)  God,  in  all  his  dispensations  to  man,  was  careful  to  preserve 
the  rights  of  his  sovereignty  in  exacting  obedience  of  his  creature. 
The  second  thing  he  manifested  his  sovereignty  in  was  that  of  a 
Lawgiver  to  Adam,  after  that  of  a  Proprietor  in  giving  him  the  pos- 
session of  the  garden ;  one  followed  immediately  the  other  (Gen.  ii. 
15,  16)  :  "  The  Lord  God  took  the  man,  and  put  him  into  the  gar- 
den of  Eden,  to  dress  it ;  and  the  Lord  God  commanded  the  man, 
saying.  Of  every  tree  of  the  garden  thou  may  est  freely  eat,  but  of 
the  tree  of  the  knowledge  of  good  and  evil  thou  shalt  not  eat  of  it," 

*  Servire,  Deo  regnare  est. 


ON  god's  dominion.  465 

&c.  Nothing  was  to  be  enjoyed  by  man  but  upon  tlie  condition  of 
obedience  to  his  Lord ;  and  it  is  observed  that  in  the  description  of 
the  creation,  God  is  not  called  "  Lord"  till  the  finishing  of  the  crea- 
tion, and  particularly  in  the  forming  of  man.  "  And  the  Lord  God 
formed  man"  (Gen.  ii.  7).  Though  he  was  Lord  of  all  creatures,  yet 
it  was  in  man  he  would  have  his  sovereignty  particularly  manifest- 
ed, and  by  man  have  his  authority  specially  acknowledged.  The 
law  is  prefaced  with  this  title  :  "  I  am  the  Lord  thy  God"  (Exod. 
XX.  2) :  authority  in  Lord,  sweetness  in  God,  the  one  to  enjoin,  the 
other  to  allure  obedience ;  and  God  enforceth  several  of  the  com- 
mands with  the  same  title.  And  as  he  begins  many  precepts  with 
it,  so  he  concludes  them  with  the  same  title,  "  I  am  the  Lord,"  Lev. 
xix.  37,  and  in  other  places.  In  all  his  communications  of  his  good- 
ness to  man  in  ways  of  blessing  them,  he  stands  upon  the  preserva- 
tion of  the  rights  of  his  sovereignty,  and  manifests  his  graciousness 
in  favor  of  his  authority.  "  I  am  the  Lord  your  God,"  your  God  in 
all  my  perfections  for  your  advantage,  but  yet  your  Sovereign  for 
your  obedience.  In  all  his  condescension  he  will  have  the  rights  of 
this  untouched  and  unviolated  by  us.  When  Christ  would  give  the 
most  pregnant  instance  of  his  condescending  and  humble  kindness, 
he  urgeth  his  authority  to  ballast  their  spirits  from  any  presumptu- 
ous eruptions  because  of  his  humility.  "  You  call  me  Master,  and 
Lord  ;  and  you  say  well :  for  so  I  am"  (John,  xiii,  18),  He  asserts 
his  authority,  and  presseth  them  to  their  duty,  when  he  had  seemed 
to  lay  it  by  for  the  demeanor  of  a  servant,  and  had,  below  the  dig- 
nity of  a  master,  put  on  the  humility  of  a  mean  underling,  to  wash 
the  disciples  feet ;  all  which  was  to  oblige  them  to  perform  the  com- 
mand he  then  gave  them  (ver.  14),  and  in  obedience  to  his  author- 
ity, and  imitation  of  his  example. 

(4.)  All  creatures  obey  him.  All  creatures  punctually  observe 
the  law  he  hath  imprinted  on  their  nature,  and  in  their  several  capa- 
cities acknowledge  him  their  Sovereign ;  they  move  according  to  the 
inclinations  he  imprinted  on  them.  The  sea  contains  itself  in  its 
bounds,  and  the  sun  steps  out  of  its  sphere ;  the  stars  march  in  their 
order,  "  they  continue  this  day  according  to  thy  ordinance,  for  all 
are  thy  servants"  (Ps.  cxix.  91).  If  he  orders  things  contrary  to  their 
primitive  nature,  they  obey  him.  When  he  speaks  the  word,  the 
devouring  fire  becomes  gentle,  and  toucheth  not  a  hair  of  the 
children  he  will  preserve ;  the  hunger-starved  lions  suspend  their 
ravenous  nature,  when  so  good  a  morsel  as  Daniel  is  set  before  them ; 
and  the  sun,  which  had  been  in  perpetual  motion  since  its  creation, 
obeys  the  writ  of  ease  God  sent  it  in  Joshua's  time,  and  stands  still. 
Shall  insensible  and  sensible  creatures  be  punctual  to  his  orders,  pas- 
sively acknowledge  his  authority?  shall  lions  and  serpents  obey 
God  in  their  places? — and  shall  not  man,  who  can,  by  reason,  argue 
out  the  sovereignty  of  God,  and  understand  the  sense  and  goodness 
of  his  laws,  and  actively  obey  God  with  that  will  he  hath  enriched 
him  with  above  other  creatures  ?  Yet  the  truth  is,  every  sensitive, 
3^ea,  every  senseless  creature,  obeys  God  more  than  his  rational,  more 
than  his  gracious  creatures  in  this  world.  The  rational  creatures 
since  the  fall  have  a  prevailing  principle  of  corruption.    Let  the  obe- 

VOL.  II. — 30 


466  CHARNOCK  ON  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

dience  of  otlier  creatures  incite  us  more  to  imitate  them,  and  shame 
our  remissness  in  not  acknowledging  the  dominion  of  God,  in  the 
just  way  he  prescribes  us  to  walk  in.  Well  then,  let  us  not  pretend 
to  own  God  as  our  Lord,  and  yet  act  the  part  of  rebels ;  let  us  give 
him  the  reverence,  and  pay  him  that  obedience,  which  of  right  be- 
longs to  so  great  a  King.  Whatsoever  he  speaks  as  a  true  God, 
ought  to  be  believed;  whatsoever  he  orders  as  a  sovereign  God, 
ought  to  be  obeyed  ;  let  not  God  have  less  than  man,  nor  man  have 
more  than  God.  It  is  a  common  principle  writ  upon  the  reason  of 
all  men,  that  respect  and  observance  is  due  to  the  majesty  of  a  man, 
much  more  to  the  Majesty  of  God  as  a  Lawgiver. 

2d.  As  this  doctrine  presents  us  motives,  so  it  directs  us  to  the 
manner  and  kind  of  our  obedience  to  God. 

(1.)  It  must  be  with  a  respect  to  his  authority.  As  the  veracity 
of  God  is  the  formal  object  of  faith,  and  the  reason  why  we  believe 
the  things  he  hath  revealed ;  so  the  authority  of  God  is  the  formal 
object  of  our  obedience,  or  the  reason  why  we  observe  the  things  he 
hath  commanded.  There  must  be  a  respect  to  his  will  as  the  rule, 
as  well  as  to  his  glory  as  the  end.  It  is  not  formally  obedience  that 
is  not  done  with  regard  to  the  order  of  God,  though  it  may  be  ma- 
terially obedience,  as  it  answers  the  matter  of  the  precept.  As  when 
men  will  abstain  from  excess  and  rioting,  because  it  is  ruinous  to 
their  health,  not  because  it  is  forbidden  by  the  great  Lawgiver ;  this 
is  to  pay  a  respect  to  our  own  conveniency  and  interest,  not  a  con- 
scientious observance  to  God ;  a  regard  to  our  health,  not  to  our 
Sovereign ;  a  kindness  to  ourselves,  not  a  justice  due  to  the  rights 
of  God.  There  must  not  only  be  a  consideration  of  the  matter  of  the 
precept  as  convenient,  but  a  consideration  of  the  authority  of  the 
Lawgiver  as  obligatory.  "  Thus  saith  the  Lord,"  ushers  in  every 
order  of  his,  directing  our  eye  to  the  authority  enacting  it ;  Jero- 
boam did  God's  will  of  prophecy  in  taking  the  kingdom  of  Israel ; 
and  the  devils  may  be  subservient  in  God's  will  or  providence ;  but 
neither  of  them  are  put  upon  the  account  of  obedience,  because  not 
done  intentionally  with  any  conscience  of  the  sovereignty  of  God. 
God  will  have  this  owned  by  a  regular  respect  to  it ;  so  much  he  insists 
upon  the  honor  of  it,  that  the  sacrifice  of  Christ,  God-man,  was 
most  agreeable  to  him,  not  only  as  it  was  great  and  admirable  in  it- 
self, but  also  for  that  ravishing  obedience  to  his  will,  which  was  the 
life  and  glory  of  his  sacrifice,  whereby  the  justice  of  God  wps  not 
only  owned  in  the  oifering,  but  the  sovereignty  of  God  owned  in  the 
obedience^  "  He  became  obedient  unto  death  ;  wherefore  God  highly 
exalted  him"  (Phil.  ii.  8). 

(2.)  It  must  be  the  best  and  most  exact  obedience.  The  most 
sovereign  authority  calls  for  the  exactest  and  lowest  observance ;  the 
highest  Lord  for  the  deepest  homage ;  being,  he  is,  a  "  great  King, 
he  must  have  the  best  in  our  flock"  (Mai.  i.  14).  Obedience  is  due 
to  God,  as  King,  and  the  choicest  obedience  is  due  to  him,  as  he  is 
the  most  excellent  King.  The  more  majestic  and  noble  any  man  is, 
the  more  careful  we  are  in  our  manner  of  service  to  him.  We  are 
bound  to  obey  God,  not  only  under  the  title  of  a  "Lord"  in  regard 
of  jurisdiction  and  political  subjection,  but  under  the  title  of  a  true 


ON  GOD'S  DOMINION".  467 

"  Lord  and  Master,"  in  regard  of  propriety  ;  since  -u'e  are  not  only 
his  subjects  but  his  servants,  the  exactest  obedience  is  due  to  God, 
jure  servitutis  ;  "  When  you  have  done  all,  say  you  are  unprofitable 
servants"  (Luke,  xvii.  10),  because  we  can  do  nothing  which  we  owe 
not  to  God. 

(3.)  Sincere  and  inward  obedience.  As  it  is  a  part  of  his  sover- 
eignty to  prescribe  laws  not  only  to  man  in  his  outward  state,  but 
to  his  conscience,  so  it  is  a  part  of  our  subjection  to  receive  his  laws 
into  our  will  and  heart.  The  authority  of  his  laws  exceeds  human 
laws  in  the  extent  and  riches  of  them,  and  our  acknowledgment  of 
his  sovereignty  cannot  be  right,  but  by  subjecting  the  faculties  of  our 
soul  to  the  Lawgiver  of  our  souls;  we  else  acknowledge  his  au- 
thority to  be  as  limited  as  the  empire  of  man ;  when  his  will  not 
only  sways  the  outward  action,  but  the  inward  motion,  it  is  a  giving 
him  the  honor  of  his  high  throne  above  the  throne  of  mortals.  The 
right  of  God  ought  to  be  preserved  undamaged  in  affection,  as  well 
as  action, 

(4.)  It  must  be  sole  obedience.  We  are  ordered  to  serve  him  only ; 
"  Him  only  shalt  thou  serve"  (Matt.  iv.  10) :  as  the  only  Supreme 
Lord,  as  being  the  highest  Sovereign,  it  is  fit  he  should  have  the 
highest  obedience  before  all  earthly  sovereigns,  and  as  being  unpar- 
alleled by  any  among  all  the  nations,  so  none  must  have  an  obe- 
dience equal  to  him.  When  God  commands,  if  the  highest  power 
on  earth  countermands  it,  the  precept  of  God  must  be  preferred  be- 
fore the  countermand  of  the  creature.  "  Whether  it  be  right  in  the 
sight  of  God,  to  hearken  unto  you  more  than  unto  God,  judge  ye" 
(Acts,  iv.  18,  19).  We  must  never  give  place  to  the  authority  of  all 
the  monarchs  in  the  world,  to  the  prejudice  of  that  obedience  we  owe 
to  the  Supreme  Monarch  of  heaven  and  earth ;  this  would  be  to 
place  the  throne  of  God  at  the  footstool  of  man,  and  debase  him 
below  the  rank  of  a  creature.  Loyalty  to  man  can  never  recompense 
for  the  mischief  accruing  from  disloyalty  to  God.  All  the  obedience 
we  are  to  give  to  man,  is  to  be  paid  in  obedience  to  God,  and  with 
an  eye  to  his  precept :  therefore,  what  servants  do  for  their  masters, 
they  must  do  "  as  to  the  Lord"  (Col.  iii.  23) ;  and  children  are  to 
obey  their  parents  "  in  the  Lord"  (Eph.  vi.  1).  The  authority  of 
God  is  to  be  eyed  in  all  the  services ,  payable  to  man  ;  proper  and 
true  obedience  hath  God  solely  for  its  principal  and  primary  object ; 
all  obedience  to  man  that  interferes  with  that,  and  would  justle  out 
obedience  to  God,  is  to  be  refused.  What  obedience  is  due  to  man, 
is  but  rendered  as  a  part  of  obedienceto  God,  and  a  stooping  of  his 
authority. 

(5.)  It  must  be  universal  obedience.  The  laws  of  man  are  not  to 
be  universally  obeyed  ;  some  may  be  oppressing  and  unjust :  no  man 
hath  authority  to  make  an  unjust  law,  and  no  subject  is  bound  to 
obey  an  unrighteous  law ;  but  God  being  a  righteous  Sovereign, 
there  is  not  one  of  his  laws  but  doth  necessarily  oblige  us  to  obe- 
dience. Whatsoever  this  Supreme  Power  declares  to  be  his  will,  it 
must  be  our  care  to  observe;  man,  being  his  creature,  is  bound  to 
be  subject  to  whatsoever  laws  he  doth  impose  to  the  meanest  as  well 
as  to  the  greatest :  they  having  equally  a  stamp  of  Divine  authority 


468  CHARNOCK  ON  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

upon  them,  "We  are  not  to  pick  and  clioose  among  his  precepts : 
this  is  to  pare  away  part  of  his  authority,  and  render  him  a  half  sov- 
ereign. It  must  be  universal  in  all  places.  An  Englishman  in 
Spain  is  bound  to  obey  the  laws  of  that  country  wherein  he  resides : 
and  so  not  responsible  there  for  the  breach  of  the  laws  of  his  native 
country.  In  the  same  condition  is  a  Spaniard  in  England.  But  the 
laws  of  God  are  to  be  obeyed  in  every  part  of  the  world ;  whereso- 
ever Divine  Providence  doth  cast  us,  it  casts  us  not  out  of  the  places 
where  he  commands,  nor  out  of  the  compass  of  his  own  empire.  He 
is  Lord  of  the  world,  and  his  laws  oblige  in  every  part  of  the  world ; 
they  were  ordered  for  a  world,  and  not  for  a  particular  climate  and 
territory. 

(6.)  It  must  be  indisputable  obedience.  All  authority  requires 
readiness  in  the  subject;  the  centurion  had  it  from  his  soldiers;  they 
went  when  he  ordered  them,  and  came  when  he  beckoned  to  them 
(Matt.  viii.  9).  It  is  more  fit  God  should  have  the  same  promptness 
from  his  subjects.  We  are  to  obey  his  orders,  though  our  purblind 
understanding  may  not  apprehend  the  reason  of  every  one  of  them. 
It  is  without  dispute  that  he  is  sovereign,  and  therefore  it  is  without 
dispute  that  we  are  bound  to  obey  him,  without  controlling  his 
conduct.  A  master  will  not  bear  it  from  his  slave,  why  should 
God  from  his  creature  ?  Though  God  admits  his  creatures  some- 
times to  treat  with  him  about  the  equality  of  his  justice,  and. 
also  about  the  reason  of  some  commands,  yet  sometimes  he  gives  no 
other  reason  but  his  own  sovereignty,  "  Thus  saith  the  Lord ;"  to 
correct  the  malapertness  of  men,  and  exact  from  them  an  entire  obe- 
dience to  his  unlimited  and  absolute  authority.  When  Abraham  was 
commanded  to  offer  Isaac,  God  acquaints  him  not  with  the  reason 
of  his  demand  till  after  (Gen.  xxii.  2,  12),  nor  did  Abraham  enter 
any  demur  to  the  order,  or  expostulate  with  God,  either  from  his 
own  natural  affection  to  Isaac,  the  hardness  of  the  command,  it  being, 
as  it  were,  a  ripping  up  of  his  own  bowels,  nor  the  quickness  of  it 
after  he  had  been  a  child  of  the  promise,  and  a  Divine  donation  above 
the  course  of  nature.  Nor  did  Paul  confer  with  flesh  and  blood, 
and  study  arguments  from  nature  and  interest  to  oppose  the  Divine 
command,  when  he  was  sent  upon  his  apostolical  employment  (Gal. 
i.  16).  The  more  indisputable  his  right  is  to  command,  the  stronger  is 
our  obligation  to  obey,  without  questioning  the  reason  of  his  orders. 

(7.)  It  must  be  joyful  obedience.  Men  are  commonly  more  cheer- 
ful in  their  obedience  to  a  great  prince  than  to  a  mean  peasant ;  be- 
cause the  quality  of  the  master  renders  the  service  more  honorable. 
It  is  a  discredit  to  a  prince's  government,  when  his  subjects  obey 
him  with  discontent  and  dejectedness,  as  though  he  were  a  hard 
master,  and  his  laws  tyrannical  and  unrighteous.  When  we  pay 
obedience  but  with  a  dull  and  feeble  pace,  and  a  sour  and  sad  tem- 
per, we  blemish  our  great  Sovereign,  imply  his  commands  to  be 
grievous,  void  of  that  peace  and  pleasure  he  proclaims  to  be  in  them ; 
that  he  deserves  no  respect  from  us,  if  we  obey  him  because  we 
must,  and  not  because  we  will.  Involuntary  obedience  deserves  not 
the  title  :  it  is  rather  submission  than  obedience,  an  act  of  the  body, 
not  of  the  mind :  a  mite  of  obedience  with  cheerfulness,  is  better 


ON  GOD'S   DOMINION.  469 

than  a  talent  "without  it.  In  the  little  Paul  did,  he  comforts  himself 
in  this,  that  with  the  "  mind  he  served  the  law  of  God"  (Rom.  vii. 
25) ;  the  testimonies  of  God  were  David's  delight  (Ps.  cxix.  24).  Our 
understandings  must  take  pleasure  in  knowing  him,  our  wills  de- 
lightfully embrace  him,  and  our  actions  be  cheerfully  squared  to 
him.  This  credits  the  sovereignty  of  God  in  the  world,  makes 
others  believe  him  to  be  a  gracious  Lord,  and  move  them  to  have 
some  veneration  for  his  authority. 

(8.)  It  must  be  a  perpetual  obedience.  As  man  is  a  subject  as 
soon  as  he  is  a  creature,  so  he  is  a  subject  as  long  as  he  is  a  creature. 
God's  sovereignty  is  of  perpetual  duration,  as  long  as  he  is  God ; 
man's  obedience  must  be  perpetual,  while  he  is  a  man.  God  cannot 
part  with  his  sovereignty,  and  a  creature  cannot  be  exempted  from 
subjection  ;  we  must  not  only  serve  him,  but  cleave  to  him  (Deut. 
xiii.  4).  Obedience  is  continued  in  heaven,  his  throne  is  established 
in  heaven,  it  must  be  bowed  to  in  heaven,  as  well  as  in  earth.  The 
angels  continually  fulfil  his  pleasure. 

7.  Exhortation.  Patience  is  a  duty  flowing  from  this  doctrine.  In 
all  strokes  upon  ourselves,  or  thick  showers  upon  the  church,  "the 
Lord  reigns,"  is  a  consideration  to  prevent  muttering  against  him, 
and  make  us  quietly  wait  to  see  what  the  issue  of  his  Divine 
pleasure  will  be.  It  is  too  great  an  insolence  against  the  Divine 
Majesty  to  censure  what  he  acts,  or  quarrel  Avith  him  for  what 
he  inflicts.  Proud  clay  doth  very  unbecomingly  swell  against  an 
infinite  superior.  If  God  be  our  Sovereign,  we  ought  to  subscribe 
to  his  afflicting  will  without  debates,  as  well  as  to  his  liberal  will 
with  affectionate  applauses.  We  should  be  as  full  of  patience 
under  his  sharper,  as  of  praise  under  his  more  grateful,  dispen- 
sations, and  be  without  reluctancy  against  his  penal,  as  well  as  his 
preceptive,  pleasure.  It  is  God's  part  to  inflict,  and  the  creature's 
part  to  submit. 

This  doctrine  affords  us  motives,  and  shows  us  the  nature  of  pa- 
tience.    1.  Motives  to  it, 

(1.)  God,  being  Sovereign,  hath  an  absolute  right  to  dispose  of 
all  things.  His  title  to  our  persons  and  possessions  is,  upon  this  ac- 
count, stronger  than  our  own  can  be  ;  we  have  as  much  reason  to  be 
angry  with  ourselves,  when  we  assert  our  worldly  right  against 
others,  as  to  be  angry  with  God  for  asserting  the  right  of  his  domin- 
ion over  us.  Why  should  we  enter  a  charge  against  him,  because 
he  hath  not  tempered  us  so  strong  in  our  bodies,  drawn  us  with  as 
fair  colors,  embellished  our  spirits  with  as  rich  gifts  as  others  ?  Is 
he  not  the  Sovereign  of  his  own  goods,  to  impart  what,  and  in  what 
measure,  he  pleaseth  ?  Would  you  be  content  your  servants  should 
check  your  pleasure  in  dispensing  your  own  favors  ?  It  is  an  un- 
reasonable thing  not  to  leave  God  to  the  exercise  of  his  own  domin- 
ion. Though  Job  were  a  pattern  of  patience,  yet  he  had  deep  tinc- 
tures of  impatience ;  he  often  complains  of  God's  usage  of  him  as 
too  hard,  and  stands  much  upon  his  own  integrity ;  but  when  God 
comes,  in  the  latter  chapters  of  that  book,  to  justify  his  carriage  to- 
wards him,  he  chargeth  him  not  as  a  criminal,  but  considers  him 
only  as  his  vassal.     He  might  have  found  flaws  enough  in  Job's  car- 


470  CHARNOCK  ON"  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

riage,  and  corruption  enough  in  Job's  nature,  to  clear  the  equity  of 
his  proceeding  as  a  judge  ;  but  he  useth  no  other  medium  to  con- 
vince him,  but  the  greatness  of  his  Majesty,  the  unlimitedness  of 
his  sovereignty,  which  so  appals  the  good  man,  that  he  puts  his 
finger  on  his  mouth  and  stands  mute  with  a  self-abhorrency  before 
him,  as  a  Sovereign,  rather  than  as  a  Judge.  When  he  doth  pinch 
us,  and  deprive  us  of  what  we  most  affect,  his  right  to  do  it  should 
silence  our  lips  and  calm  our  hearts  from  any  boisterous  uproars 
against  him. 

(2.)  The  property  of  all  still  remains  in  God,  since  he  is  sovereign. 
He  did  not  divest  himself  of  the  property  when  he  granted  us  the  use ; 
the  earth  is  his,  not  ours ;  the  fulness  any  of  us  have,  as  well  as  the 
fulness  others  have.  After  he  had  given  the  Israelites  corn,  wine, 
and  oil,  he  calls  them  all  his,  and  emphatically  adds  my,  to  every 
one  of  them  (Hos.  ii.  9).  His  right  is  universal  over  every  mite  we 
have,  and  perpetual  too ;  he  may,  therefore,  take  from  us  what  he 
please.  He  did  but  dejDosit  in  our  hands  for  awhile  the  benefits  we 
enjoy,  either  children,  friends,  estate,  or  lives ;  he  did  not  make  a 
total  conveyance  of  them,  and  alienate  his  own  property,  Avhen  he 
put  them  into  our  hands ;  we  can  show  no  patent  for  them,  wherein 
the  full  right  is  passed  over  to  us,  to  hold  them  against  his  will  and 
pleasure,  and  implead  him  if  he  offer  to  re-assume  them :  he  re- 
served a  power  to  dispossess  us  upon  a  forfeiture,  as  he  is  the  Lord 
and  Governor.  Did  any  of  us  yet  answer  the  condition  of  his  grant? 
it  was  his  indulgence  to  allow  them  so  long ;  there  is  reason  to  sub- 
mit to  him,  when  he  re-assumes  what  he  lent  us,  and  rather  to  thank 
him  that  he  lent  it  so  long,  and  did  not  seize  upon  it  sooner. 

(3.)  Other  things  have  more  reason  to  complain  of  our  sover- 
eignty over  them,  than  we  of  God's  exercise  of  his  sovereignty 
over  us.  Do  we  not  exercise  an  authority  over  our  beasts,  as  to 
strike  them  when  we  please,  and  merely  for  our  pleasure ;  and 
think  we  merit  no  reproof  for  it,  because  they  are  our  own,  and 
of  a  nature  inferior  to  ours  ?  And  shall  not  God,  who  is  abso- 
lute, do  as  much  with  us,  who  are  more  below  him  than  the  mean- 
est creatures  are  below  us  ?  They  are  creatures  as  well  as  we,  and 
we  no  more  creatures  than  they  ;  they  were  framed  by  Omnipotence 
as  well  as  we  ;  there  is  no  more  difference  between  them  and  us  in 
the  notion  of  creatures.  As  there  is  no  difference  between  the  great- 
est monarch  on  earth,  and  the  meanest  beggar  on  the  dunghill,  in 
the  notion  of  a  man ;  the  beggar  is  a  man,  as  well  as  the  monarch, 
and  as  much  a  man ;  the  difference  consists  in  the  special  endow- 
ments we  have  above  them  by  the  bounty  of  their  and  our  common 
Creator.  We  are  less,  if  compared  with  God,  than  the  worst,  mean- 
est, and  most  sordid  creature  can  be,  if  compared  with  us.  Hath  not 
a  bird  or  a  hare  (if  they  had  a  capacity)  more  reason  to  complain  of 
men's  persecuting  them  by  their  hawks  and  their  dogs  ?  but  would 
their  complaints  appear  reasonable,  since  both  were  made  for  the  use 
of  man,  and  man  doth  but  use  the  nature  of  the  one  to  attain  a 
benefit  by  the  other  ?  Have  we  any  reason  to  complain  of  God  if 
he  lets  loose  other  creatures,  the  devouring  hounds  of  the  world,  to 
bite  and  afflict  us  ?     We  must  not  open  our  lips  against  him,  nor 


ON   GOD'S  DOMINION.  471 

let  our  heart  swell  against  his  scourge,  since  both  they  and  we 
were  made  for  his  use,  as  well  as  other  creatures  for  our ;  this  is  a 
reason  to  stifle  all  complaints  against  God,  but  not  to  make  us  care- 
less of  preventing  afflictions,  or  emerging  out  of  them  by  all  just 
ways.  The  hare  hath  a  nature  to  shift  for  itself  by  its  winding  and 
turning,  and  the  bird  by  its  flight ;  and  neither  of  them  could  be 
blamed,  if  they  were  able,  should  the  one  scratch  out  the  eyes  of  the 
hounds,  and  the  other  sacrifice  the  hawk  to  its  own  fury. 

(4.)  It  is  a  folly  not  to  submit  to  him.  Why  should  we  strive 
against  him,  since  he  is  an  unaccountable  Sovereign,  and  "  gives  no 
account  of  any  of  his  matters  ?"  (Job,  xxxiii.  13.)  Who  can  dis- 
annul the  judgment  God  gives?  There  is  no  appeal  from  the  su- 
preme court ;  a  higher  court  can  repeal  or  null  the  sentence  of  an 
inferior  court,  but  the  sentence  of  the  highest  stands  irreversible,  but 
by  itself  and  its  own  authority.  It  is  better  to  lower  our  sails,  than 
to  grapple  with  one  that  can  shoot  us  under  water  ;  to  submit  to  that 
Sovereign  whom  we  cannot  subdue. 

2.  It  shows  us  the  true  nature  of  patience  in  regard  of  God  :  it  is 
a  submission  to  God's  sovereignty.  As  the  formal  object  of  obe- 
dience is  the  authority  of  God  enacting  the  law,  so  the  formal  object 
of  patience  is  the  authority  of  God  inflicting  the  punishment :  as  his 
right  of  commanding  is  to  be  eyed  in  the  one,  so  his  right  of  punish- 
ing is  to  be  considered  in  the  other.  This  was  Eli's  condition,  when 
he  had  received  a  message  that  might  put  flesh  and  blood  into  a 
mutiny,  the  rending  the  priesthood  from  his  family,  and  the  ruin  of 
his  house  :  yet  this  consideration,  "  It  is  the  Lord,"  calms  him  into 
submission,  and  a  willing  compliance  with  the  Divine  pleasure  (1 
Sam.  iii.  18) :  "  It  is  the  Lord,  let  him  do  what  seems  good  in  his 
sight."  Job  was  of  the  same  strain  (Job,  i.  21) :  "  The  Lord  gives, 
and  the  Lord  hath  taken  away,  blessed  be  the  name  of  the  Lord  ;" 
he  considers  God  as  a  sovereign,  who  was  not  to  be  reproached,  or 
have  anything  uncomely  uttered  of  him,  for  what  he  had  done.  To 
be  patient  because  we  cannot  avoid  it,  or  resist  it,  is  a  violent,  not  a 
loyal  patience  ;  but  to  submit  because  it  is  the  will  of  God  to  inflict ; 
to  be  silent,  because  the  sovereignty  of  God  doth  order  it,  is  a  pa- 
tience of  a  true  complexion.  The  other  kind  of  patience  is  no  other 
than  that  of  an  enemy  that  will  free  hhnself  as  soon  as  he  can,  and 
by  any  way,  though  never  so  violent,  that  offers  itself.  This  sort  of 
patience  is  that  of  a  subject  acknowledging  the  supreme  authority 
over  him,  and  that  he  ought  to  be  ordered  by  the  will,  and  to  the 
glory  of  God,  more  than  by  his  own  will,  and  for  his  own  ease  ;  "I 
was  dumb,  I  opened  not  my  mouth"  (Ps.  xxxix.  10)  ;  not  because  I 
could  not  help  it,  but  "  because  thou  didst  it,"  thou  who  art  my 
sovereign  Lord.  The  greatness  of  God  claims  an  awful  and  invio- 
lable respect  from  his  creatures  in  what  way  soever  he  doth  dispose 
of  them  ;  this  is  due  to  him  ;  since  his  kingdom  ruleth  over  all,  his 
kingdom  should  be  acknowledged  by  all,  and  his  royal  authority 
submitted  to  in  all  that  he  doth. 


DISCOURSE    XIV. 

ON    GOD'S    PATIENCE. 

Nahum,  I.  3. — The  Lord  is  slow  to  anger,  and  great  in  power,  and  will  not  at  all  acquit 
the  wicked :  the  Lord  liath  his  way  in  the  whirlwind  and  in  the  storm,  and  the  clouds 
are  the  dust  of  his  feet. 

The  subject  of  this  prophecy  is  God's  sentence  against  Nineveh, 
the  head  and  metropoHs  of  the  Assyrian  empire :  a  city  famous  for 
its  strength,  and  thickness  of  its  walls,  and  the  multitude  of  its 
towers  for  defence  against  an  enemy.  The  forces  of  this  empire  did 
God  use  as  a  scourge  against  the  Israelites,  and  by  their  hands  ruined 
Samaria,  the  chief  city  of  the  ten  tribes,  and  transplanted  them  as 
captives  into  another  country  (2  Kings,  xvii.  5,  6),  about  six  years 
after  Hezekiah  came  to  the  crown  of  Judah  (2  Kings,  xviii.  compared 
with  chap.  xvii.  6),  in  whose  time,  or,  as  some  think,  later,  Nahum 
uttered  this  prophecy.  The  name,  Nahum,  signifies  Comforter ; 
though  the  matter  of  his  prophecy  be  dreadful  to  Nineveh,  it  was 
comfortable  to  the  people  of  God :  for  a  promise  is  made,  (ver.  7), 
"  The  Lord  is  good,  a  stronghold  in  the  day  of  trouble ;  and  he 
knoweth  them  that  trust  in  him."  And  an  encouragement  to  Judah, 
to  keep  their  solemn  feasts,  (ver.  15  :  and  also  in  chap.  ii.  3),  with 
a  declaration  of  the  misery  of  Nineveh,  and  the  destruction  of  it. 
Observe, 

1.  In  all  the  fears  of  God's  people,  God  will  have  a  Comforter  for 
them.  Judah  might  well  be  dejected  with  the  calamity  of  their 
brethren,  not  knowing  but  it  might  be  their  own  turn  shortly  after. 
They  knew  not  where  the  ambition  of  the  Assyrian  would  stop ; 
but  God  by  his  prophets  calms  their  fears  of  their  furious  neighbor, 
by  predicting  to  them  the  ruin  of  their  feared  adversary. 

2.  The  destruction  of  the  church's  enemies  is  the  comfort  of  the 
church.  By  that  God  is  glorified  in  his  justice,  and  the  church  se- 
cured in  its  worship. 

3.  The  victories  of  persecutors  secure  them  not  from  being  the 
triumphs  of  others.  The  Assyrians  that  conquered  and  captived 
Israel,  were  themselves  to  be  conquered  and  captived  by  the 
Medes.  The  whole  oppressing  empire  is  threatened  with  destruction 
in  the  ruin  of  their  chief  city  ;  accordingly  it  was  accomplished,  and 
the  empire  extinguished  by  a  greater  power.  God  burns  the  rod 
when  it  hath  done  the  work  he  appointed  it  for ;  and  the  wisp  of 
straw  wherewith  the  vessels  are  scoured,  is  flung  into  the  fire,  or 
upon  the  dunghill. 

Nahum  begins  his  prophecy  majestically,  with  a  description  of  the 


ON"  GOD'S  PATIENCE.  473 

wrath  and  fury  of  God.  (Ver.  2),  "  God  is  jealous,  and  the  Lord 
revengeth ;  the  Lord  revengeth,  and  is  furious :  the  Lord  will  take 
vengeance  on  his  adversaries,  and  reserveth  wrath  for  his  enemies." 
And  therefore  the  whole  of  it  is  called  (ver.  1),  "  The  burden  of 
Nineveh,"  as  those  prophecies  are,  which  are  composed  of  threaten- 
ings  of  judgments,  which  lie  as  a  mighty  weight  upon  the  heads  and 
backs  of  sinners. 

Ood  is  jealous — jealous  of  his  glory  and  worship,  and  jealous  for 
his  people,  and  their  security.  He  cannot  long  bear  the  oppressions 
of  his  people,  and  the  boasts  of  his  enemies.  He  is  jealous  for  him- 
self, and  is  jealous  for  you  of  Judah,  who  retain  his  worship.  He  is 
not  forgetful  of  those  that  remember  him,  nor  of  the  danger  of  those 
that  are  desirous  to  maintain  his  honor  in  the  world.  In  this  first 
expression,  the  prophet  uses  the  covenant  name,  God  ;  the  covenant 
runs,  "  I  am  your  God,"  or  "  the  Lord  your  God  ;"  mostly  God  with- 
out Lord,  never  Lord  without  God  :  and,  therefore,  his  jealousy  here 
is  meant  of  the  care  of  his  people,  and  the  relation  that  his  actions 
against  his  enemies  have  to  his  servants.  He  is  a  lover  of  his  own, 
and  a  revenger  on  his  enemies. 

The  Lord  revengeth,  and  is  furious. — He  now  describes  God  by  a 
name  of  sovereignty  and  power,  when  he  describes  him  in  his  wrath 
and  fury,  and  is  furious.  Heh.  rvav.  bi'D,  Lord  of  hot  anger.  God  will 
vindicate  his  own  glory,  and  have  his  right  on  his  enemies  in  a  way 
of  punishment,  if  they  will  not  give  it  him  in  a  way  of  obedience. 
It  is  three  times  repeated,  to  show  the  certainty  of  the  judgment  ;a 
and  the  name  of  "  Lord"  added  to  every  one,  to  intimate  the  power 
wherewith  the  judgment  should  be  executed.  It  is  not  a  fatherly 
correction  of  children  in  a  way  of  mercy,  but  an  offended  Sovereign's 
destruction  of  his  enemies  in  a  way  of  vengeance.  There  is  an  anger 
of  God  with  his  own  people,  which  hath  more  of  mercy  than  wrath  ; 
in  this  his  rod  is  guided  by  his  bowels.  There  is  a  fury  of  God 
against  his  enemies,  where  there  is  sole  wrath  without  any  tincture 
of  mercy  ;  when  his  sword  is  all  edge,  without  any  balsam  drops 
upon  it.  Such  a  fury  as  David  deprecates  (Ps.  vi.  1) :  "0  Lord,  re- 
buke me  not  in  thy  anger,  nor  chasten  me  in  thy  sore  displeasure," 
with  a  fury  untempered  with  grace,  and  insupportable  wrath. 

Lie  reserves  ivrathfor  his  enemies. — He  lays  it  up  in  his  treasury,  to 
be  brought  out  and  expended  in  a  due  season.  "  Wrath"  is  supplied 
by  our  translators,  and  is  not  in  the  Hebrew.  He  reserves,  what  ? — 
that  which  is  too  sharp  to  be  expressed,  too  great  to  be  conceived : 
a  vengeance  it  is.  And  xin  lais-i.  Lie  reserves  it.  He  that  hath  an  in- 
finite wrath,  he  reserves  it ;  that  hath  a  strength  and  power  to  exe- 
cute it. 

(Ver.  3.)  The  Lord  is  slow  to  anger,  Lleb.  d^bx  "^is,  ofhroad  nostrils. 
The  anger  of  God  is  expressed  by  this  word,  which  signifies  "  nos- 
trils :"  as.  Job,  ix.  13,  "  If  God  will  not  withdraw  his  anger,"  Heh. 
"  his  nostrils."  And  the  anger  whereby  the  wicked  are  consumed, 
is  called  the  "  breath  of  nostrils"  (Job,  iv.  9)  ;  and  when  he  is  angry, 
smoke  and  fire  are  said  to  go  out  of  his  nostrils  (2  Sam.  ii.  9) ;  and 
in  Psalm  Ixxiv.  1,  "  Why  doth  thy  anger  smoke  ?"     Heh.  "  Why  do 

»  Ribera,  in  loc. 


474  CHARNOCK  ON  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

thy  nostrils  smoke  ?"  So  tlie  rage  of  a  horse,  when  he  is  provoked 
in  battle,  is  called  the  glory  of  his  nostrils  (Job,  xxxix.  20).  He 
breathes  quick  fumes,  and  neighs  with  fury.  And  slowness  to  anger 
is  here  expressed  by  the  phrase  of  "  long  or  wide  nostrils  :"  because 
in  a  vehement  anger,  the  blood  boiling  about  the  heart,  exhales  men's 
spirit,  which  fume  up,  and  break  out  in  dilated  nostrils.  But  where 
the  passages  are  straighter  the  spirits  have  not  so  quick  a  vent,  and 
therefore  raise  more  motions  within  ;  or,  because  the  wider  the  nos- 
trils are,  the  more  cool  air  is  drawn  in  to  temper  the  heat  of  the 
heart,  where  the  angry  spirits  are  gathered ;  and  so  the  passion  is 
allayed,  and  sooner  calmed.  God  speaks  of  himself  in  Scripture 
often  after  the  rate  of  men ;  Jeremiah  prays  (ch.  xv.  15)  that  God 
would  not  take  him  away  in  his  long-suffering,  Heb.  "  in  the  length 
of  his  nostrils,"  i.  e.  Be  not  slow  and  backward  in  thy  anger  against 
my  persecutors,  as  to  give  them  time  and  opportunity  to  destroy  me. 
The  nostrils,  as  well  as  other  members  of  a  human  body,  are  ascribed 
to  God.  He  is  slow  to  anger ;  he  hath  anger  in  his  nature,  but  is 
not  always  in  the  execution  of  it. 

And  great  in  power. — This  may  refer  to  his  patience  as  the  cause 
of  it,  or  as  a  bar  to  the  abuse  of  it. 

1.  "  He  is  slow  to  anger,  and  great  in  power,"  i.  e.  his  power  mod- 
erates his  anger ;  he  is  not  so  impotent  as  to  be  at  the  command  of 
his  passions,  as  men  are ;  he  can  restrain  his  anger  under  just  pro- 
vocations to  exercise  it.  His  power  over  himself  is  the  cause  of  his 
slowness  to  wrath,  as  Numb.  xiv.  17 :  "  Let  the  power  of  my  Lord 
be  great,"  saith  Moses,  when  he  pleads  for  the  Israelites'  pardon. 
Men  that  are  great  in  the  world  are  quick  in  passions,  and  are  not  so 
ready  to  forgive  an  injury,  or  bear  with  an  offender,  as  one  of  a 
meaner  rank.  It  is  a  want  of  a  power  over  a  man's  self  that  makes 
him  do  unbecoming  things  upon  a  provocation.  A  prince  that  can 
bridle  his  passion,  is  a  king  over  himself,  as  well  as  over  his  subjects. 
God  is  slow  to  anger,  because  great  in  power :  he  hath  no  less  power 
over  himself  than  over  his  creatures:  he  can  sustain  great  injuries 
without  an  immediate  and  quick  revenge  :  he  hath  a  power  of  pa- 
tience, as  well  as  a  power  of  justice. 

2.  Or  thus:  "He  is  slow  to  anger  and  great  in  power."  He  is 
slow  to  anger,  but  not  for  want  of  power  to  revenge  himself;  his 
power  is  as  great  to  punish,  as  his  patience  to  spare.  It  seems  thus, 
that  slowness  to  anger  is  brought  in  as  an  objection  against  the  re- 
venge proclaimed.  What  do  you  tell  us  of  vengeance,  vengeance, 
nothing  but  such  repetitions  of  vengeance  ? — as  though  we  were,  ig- 
norant that  God  is  slow  to  anger.  It  is  true,  saith  the  prophet,  I 
acknowledge  it  as  much  as  you,  that  God  is  slow  to  anger;  but 
withal,  great  in  power.  His  anger  certainly  succeeds  his  abused 
patience ;  he  Avill  not  always  bridle  in  his  wrath,  but  one  time  or 
other  let  it  march  out  in  fury  against  his  adversaries.  The  Assyrians, 
who  had  captived  the  ten  tribes,  and  been  victorious  a  little  against 
the  Jews,  might  think  that  the  God  of  Israel  had  been  conquered 
by  their  gods,  as  well  as  the  people  professing  him  had  been  sub- 
dued by  their  arms  ;  that  God  had  lost  all  his  power ;  and  the  Jews 
might  argue,  from  God's  patience  to  his  enemies,  against  the  credit 


ON   GOD'S   PATIENCE.  475 

of  the  prophet's  denouncing  revenge.  The  prophet  answers,  to  the 
terror  of  the  one,  and  the  comfort  of  the  other,  that  this  indulgence 
to  his  enemies,  and  not  accounting  "svith  them  for  their  crimes,  pro- 
ceeded from  the  greatness  of  his  patience,  and  not  from  any  debihty 
in  his  power.  As  it  refers  to  the  Assyrian,  it  may  be  rendered  thus: 
You  Ninevites,  upon  your  repentance  after  Jonah's  thundering  of 
judgments,  are  witnesses  of  the  slowness  of  God  to  anger,  and  had 
your  punishments  deferred  ;  but,  falling  to  your  old  sins,  you  shall 
find  a  real  punishment,  and  that  he  hath  as  much  j^ower  to  execute 
his  ancient  threatenings,  as  he  had  then  compassion  to  recall  them  ; 
his  patience  to  you  then  was  not  for  want  of  power  to  ruin  you,  but 
was  the  effect  of  his  goodness  towards  you.  As  it  refers  to  the 
Jews,  it  may  be  thus  paraphrased  :  Do  not  despise  this  threatening 
against  your  enemies  because  of  the  greatness  of  their  might,  the 
seeming  stability  of  their  empire,  and  the  terror  they  possess  all  the 
nations  with  round  about  them :  it  may  be  long  before  it  comes,  but 
assure  yourselves  the  threatening  I  denounce  shall  certainly  be  exe- 
cuted ;  though  he  hath  patience  to  endure  them  a  hundred  and 
thirty-five  years  (for  so  long  as  it  was  before  Nineveh  was  destroyed 
after  this  threatening,  as  Ribera,  in  loc.^  computes  from  the  years  of 
the  reign  of  the  kings  of  Judah),  yet  he  hath  also  power  to  verify 
his  word,  and  accomplish  his  will :  assure  yourselves,  he  will  not  at 
all  acquit  the  wicked. 

He  will  not  acquit  the  wiclced. — He  will  not  always  account  the  crim- 
inal an  innocent,  as  he  seems  to  do  by  a  present  sparing  of  them, 
and  dealing  with  them  as  if  they  were  destitute  of  any  provoking 
carriage  towards  him,  and  he  void  of  any  resentment  of  it.  He  will 
"  not  acquit  the  wicked ;"  how  is  this  ?  Who  then  can  be  saved  ? 
Is  there  no  place  for  remission?  He  will  "  not  acquit  the  wicked." 
i.  e.  he  will  not  acquit  obstinate  sinners.  As  he  hath  patience  for 
the  wicked,  so  he  hath  mercy  for  the  penitent.  The  wicked  are  the 
subjects  of  his  long-suffering,  but  not  of  his  acquitting  grace ;  he 
doth  not  presently  punish  their  sins,  because  he  is  slow  to  anger ; 
but  without  their  repentance  he  will  not  blot  out  their  sins,  because 
he  is  righteous  in  judgment :  if  God  should  acquit  them  without  re- 
pentance for  their  crimes,  he  must  himself  repent  of  his  own  law 
and  righteous  sanction  of  it.  "  He  will  not  acquit,"  i.  e.  he  will  not 
go  back  from  the  thing  he  hath  spoken,  and  forbear,  at  long  run, 
the  punishment  he  hath  threatened. 

The  Lord  hath  his  way  in  ilie  ivhirlwind. — The  way  of  God  signifies 
sometimes  the  law  of  God,  sometimes  the  providential  operations  of 
God :  "  Is  not  my  way  equal  ?"  (Ezek.  xviii.  25).  It  seems  there 
to  take  in  both. 

And  in  the  stor^n,  and  the  clouds  are  the  dust  of  his  feet. — The  pro- 
phet describes  here  the  fight  of  God  with  the  Assyrians,  as  if  he 
rushed  upon  them  with  a  mighty  noise  of  an  army,  raising  the  dust 
with  the  feet  of  their  horses,  and  motion  of  their  chariots.^  Symbol- 
ically, it  signifies  the  multitude  of  the  Chaldean  and  Median  forces, 
invading,  besieging,  and  storming  the  city.     It  signifies, 

1.  The  rule  of  providence.      The  way  of  God  is  in  every  motion 

''  Page  359,  col.  1.  <=  Tiriuus,  hi  loc. 


476  CHARNOCK  ON   THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

of  the  creature  ;  lie  rules  all  things,  whirlwinds,  storms,  and  clouds ; 
his  way  is  in  all  their  walks,  in  the  whirlings  and  blusterings  of  the 
one,  in  the  raising  and  dissolving  the  other.  He  blows  up  the  winds, 
and  compacts  the  clouds,  to  make  them  serviceable  to  his  designs. 

2.  The  management  of  wars  by  God.  His  way  is  in  the  storm : 
as  he  was  the  Captain  of  the  Assyrians  against  Samaria,  so  he  will 
be  the  Captain  of  the  Medes  against  Nineveh :  as  Israel  was  not  so 
much  wasted  by  the  Assyrians  as  by  the  Lord,  who  levied  and 
armed  their  forces  ;  so  Nineveh  shall  be  subverted,  rather  by  God, 
than  by  the  arms  of  the  Medes.  Their  force  is  described  not  to  be 
so  much  from  human  power  as  Divine.  God  is  President  in  all  the 
commotions  of  the  world,  his  way  is  in  every  whirlwind. 

3.  The  easiness  of  executing  the  judgment.  He  is  of  so  great 
power  that  he  can  excite  tempests  in  the  air,  and  overthrow  them 
with  the  clouds,  which  are  the  dust  of  his  feet :  he  can  blind  his 
enemies,  and  avenge  himself  on  them :  he  is  Lord  of  clouds,  and 
can  fill  their  womb  with  hail,  lightnings,  and  thunders,  to  burst  out 
upon  those  he  kindles  his  anger  against :  he  is  of  so  great  force,  that 
he  needs  not  use  the  strength  of  his  arm,  but  the  dust  of  his  feet,  to 
effect  his  destroying  purpose. 

4.  The  suddenness  of  the  judgment.  Whirlwinds  come  suddenly, 
without  any  harbingers  to  give  notice  of  their  approach :  clouds  are 
swift  in  their  motion ;  "  Who  are  those  that  fly  as  a  cloud  ?"  (Isa.  Ix. 
8),  i.  e.  with  a  mighty  nimbleness.  What  God  doth,  he  shall  do  on 
the  sudden,  come  upon  them  before  they  are  aware,  be  too  quick  for 
them  in  his  motion  to  overrun  and  overreach  them.  The  winds  are 
described  with  wings,  in  regard  of  the  quickness  of  their  motion. 

5.  The  terror  of  judgments.  "  The  Lord  hath  his  way  in  the 
whirlwind,"  ^.  e.  in  great  displeasure.  The  anger  of  the  Lord  is 
often  compared  to  a  storm ;  he  shall  bring  clouds  of  judgments  upon 
them,  many  and  thick,  as  terrible  as  when  a  day  is  turned  into  night, 
by  the  mustering  of  the  darkest  clouds  that  interpose  between  the 
sun  and  the  earth.  "  Clouds  and  darkness  are  round  about  him,  and 
a  fire  goes  before  him,"  when  he  "burns  up  his  enemies"  (Ps.  xcvii. 
2,  3).  The  judgments  shall  have  terror  without  mercy,  as  clouds  ob- 
scure the  light,  and  are  dark  masks  before  the  face  and  glory  of  the 
sun,  and  cut  off  its  refreshing  beams  from  the  earth.  Clouds  note 
multitude  and  obscurity ;  God  could  crush  them  without  a  whirl- 
wind, beat  them  to  powder  with  one  touch,  but  he  will  bring  his 
judgments  in  the  most  surprising  and  amazing  manner  to  flesh  and 
blood,  so  that  all  their  glory  shall  be  changed  into  nothing  but  ter- 
ror, by  the  noise  of  the  bellowing  winds,  and  the  clouds,  like  ink, 
blacking  the  heavens. 

6.  The  confusion  of  the  offenders  upon  God's  proceeding.  A 
whirlwind  is  not  only  a  boisterous  wind,  that  hurls  and  rolls  every- 
thing out  of  its  place,  but,  by  its  circular  motion,  by  its  winding  to 
all  points  of  the  compass,  it  confounds  things,  and  jumbles  them  to- 
gether. It  keeps  not  one  point,  but,  by  a  circumgyration,  toucheth 
upon  all.  Clouds,  like  dust,  shall  be  blown  in  their  face,  and  gum 
up  their  eyes :  they  shall  be  in  a  posture  of  confusion,  not  know 
what  counsels  to  take,  what  motions  to  resolve  upon.     Let  them  look 


ON   GOD'S   PATIENCE.  477 

to  every  point  of  heaven  and  eartli,  they  shall  meet  with  a  whirl- 
wind to  confound  them,  and  cloudy  dust  to  blind  them. 

7.  The  irresistibleness  of  the  judgment.  Winds  have  more  than 
a  giant-like  force,  a  torrent  of  compacted  air,  that,  with  an  invincible 
wifulness,  bears  all  before  it,  displaceth  the  firmest  trees,  and  levels 
the  tallest  towers,  and  pulls  up  bodies  from  their  natural  place. 
Clouds  also  are  over  our  heads,  and  above  our  reach ;  when  God 
places  them  upon  his  people  for  defence  they  are  an  invincible  se- 
curity (Isa.  iv.  5) ;  and  when  he  moves  them,  as  his  chariot,  against 
a  people,  they  end  in  an  irresistible  destruction.  Thus  the  ruin  of 
the  wicked  is  described  (Pro  v.  x.  25) :  "As  the  whirlwind  passes, 
so  is  the  wicked  no  more  :"  it  blows  them  down,  sweeps  them  away, 
they  irrecoverably  fall  before  the  force  of  it.  What  heart  can  en- 
dure, and  what  hands  can  be  strong,  in  the  days  wherein  God  doth 
deal  with  them !  (Ezek.  xxii.  14).  Thus  is  the  judgment  against 
Nineveh  described :  God  hath  his  way  in  the  whirlwind,  to  thunder 
down  their  strongest  walls,  which  were  so  thick  that  chariots  could 
march  abreast  upon  them ;  and  batter  down  their  mighty  towers, 
which  that  city  had  in  multitudes  upon  their  walls. 

They  are  the  first  words  I  intend  to  insist  upon,  to  treat  of  the 
Patience  of  God  described  in  those  words,  "  The  Lord  is  slow  to 
anger." 

Doctrine.  Slowness  to  anger,  or  admirable  patience,  is  the  property 
of  the  Divine  nature.  As  patience  signifies  suffering,  so  it  is  not  in 
God,  The  Divine  nature  is  impassible,  incapable  of  any  impair,  it 
cannot  be  touched  by  the  violences  of  men,  nor  the  essential  glory 
of  it  be  diminished  by  the  injuries  of  men  ;  but  as  it  signifies  a  will- 
ingness to  defer,  and  an  unwillingness  to  pour  forth  his  wrath  upon 
sinful  creatures,  he  moderates  his  provoked  justice,  and  forbears  to 
revenge  the  injuries  he  daily  meets  with  in  the  world.  He  suffers 
no  grief  by  men's  wronging  him,  but  he  restrains  his  arm  from  pun- 
ishing them  according  to  their  merits ;  and  thus  there  is  patience  in 
every  cross  a  man  meets  with  in  the  world,  because,  though  it  be  a 
punishment,  it  is  less  than  is  merited  by  the  unrighteous  rebel,  and 
less  than  may  be  inflicted  by  a  righteous  and  powerful  God.  This 
patience  is  seen  in  his  providential  works  in  the  world :  "  He  suffered 
the  nations  to  walk  in  their  own  way,"  and  the  witness  of  his  provi- 
dence to  them  was  his  "  giving  them  rain  and  fruitful  seasons,  filling 
their  heart  with  food  and  gladness"  (Acts,  xvi.  17).  The  heathens 
took  notice  of  it,  and  signified  it  by  feigning  their  god  Saturn,  to  be 
bound  a  whole  year  in  a  soft  cord,  a  cord  of  wool,  and  expressed  it 
by  this  proverb:  "The  mills  of  the  gods  grind  slowly;"  i.  e.  God 
doth  not  use  men  with  that  severity  that  they  deserve ;  the  mills 
being  usually  turned  by  criminals  condemned  to  that  work.<^  This, 
in  Scripture,  is  frequently  expressed  by  a  slowness  to  anger  (Ps.  ciii. 
8),  sometimes  by  long-suffering,  which  is  a  patience  with  duration 
(Ps.  cxlv.  8  ;  Joel,  ii.  13).  He  is  slow  to  anger,  he  takes  not  the  first 
occasions  of  a  provocation  ;  he  is  long-suffering  (Kom.  ix.  22),  and 
(Ps.  Ixxxvi.  15)  he  forbears  punishment  upon  many  occasions  of- 
fered him.     It  is  long  before  he  consents  to  give  fire  to  his  wrath, 

^  Rhodigi.  lib.  vi.  c.  14. 


478  CHARNOCK  ON  THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

and  shoot  out  his  thunderbolts.  Sin  hath  a  loud  cry,  but  God  seems 
to  stop  his  ears,  not  to  hear  the  clamor  it  raises  and  the  charge  it 
presents.  He  keeps  his  sword  a  long  time  in  the  sheath  ;  one  calls 
the  patience  of  God  the  sheath  of  his  sword,  upon  those  words  (Ezek. 
xxi.  3),  "I  will  draw  forth  my  sword  out  of  his  sheath,"  This  is  one 
remarkable  letter  in  the  name  of  God ;  he  himself  proclaims  it  (Exod. 
xxxiv.  6) :  "  The  Lord,  the  Lord  God,  merciful,  gracious,  and  long- 
suffering."  And  Moses  pleads  it  in  the  behalf  of  the  people  (Numb, 
xiv.  18),  where  he  placeth  it  in  the  first  rank ;  the  Lord  is  "  long- 
suffering  and  of  great  mercy :"  it  is  the  first  spark  of  mercy,  and  ush- 
ers it  to  its  exercises  in  the  world. c  In  the  Lord's  proclamation,  it  is 
put  in  the  middle  link,  mercy  and  truth  together ;  mercy  could  have 
no  room  to  act  if  patience  did  not  prepare  the  way  ;  and  his  truth 
and  goodness,  in  his  promise  of  the  Eedeemer,  would  not  have  been 
manifest  to  the  world  if  he  had  shot  his  arrows  as  soon  as  men  com- 
mitted their  sins,  and  deserved  his  punishment.  This  perfection  is 
expressed  by  other  phrases,  as  "keeping  silence"  (Ps.  1.  21)  :  "These 
things  hast  thou  done,  and  I  kept  silence,"  "'na  nnm  niay  nbs ;  it 
signifies  to  behave  one's  self  as  a  deaf  or  dumb  man.  I  did  not  fly 
in  thy  face,  as  some  do,  with  a  great  noise  upon  a  light  provoca- 
tion, as  if  their  life,  honor,  estates,  were  at  the  stake ;  I  did  not 
presently  call  thee  to  the  bar,  and  pronounce  judicial  sentence  upon 
thee  according  to  the  law,  but  demeaned  myself  as  if  I  had  been 
ignorant  of  thy  crimes,  and  had  not  been  invested  with  the  power 
of  judging  thee  for  them.  Chald.  "  I  waited  for  thy  conversion." 
God's  patience  is  the  silence  of  his  justice,  and  the  first  whisper  of 
his  mercy.  It  is  also  expressed  by  not  laying  folly  to  men  (Job,  xxiv. 
12) ;  men  groan  under  the  oppressions  of  others,  yet  God  lays  not 
folly  to  them,  i.  e.  to  the  oppressors ;  God  sufifers  them  to  go  on  with 
impunity.  He  doth  not  dehver  his  people  because  he  would  try 
them,  and  takes  not  revenge  upon  the  unrighteous,  because  in  pa- 
tience he  doth  bear  with  them  :  patience  is  the  life  of  his  providence 
in  this  world.  He  chargeth  not  men  with  their  crimes  here,  but  re- 
serves them,  upon  impenitency,  for  another  trial.  This  attribute  is 
so  great  a  one,  that  it  is  signally  called  by  the  name  of  "Perfection" 
(Matt.  V.  45,  48).  He  had  been  speaking  of  Divine  goodness,  and 
patience  to  evil  men,  and  he  concludes,  "  Be  you  perfect,"  &c.,  im- 
plying it  to  be  an  amazing  perfection  of  the  Divine  nature,  and  wor- 
thy of  imitation. 

In  the  prosecution  of  this,  I.  Let  us  consider  the  nature  of  this  pa- 
tience. II.  Wherein  it  is  manifested.  HI.  Why  God  doth  exercise 
so  much  patience.     IV.  The  Use. 

I.  The  nature  of  this  patience. 

1.  It  is  part  of  the  Divine  goodness  and  mercy,  yet  differs  from 
both.  God  being  the  greatest  goodness,  hath  the  greatest  mildness. 
Mildness  is  always  the  companion  of  true  goodness,  and  the  greater 
the  goodness  the  greater  the  mildness.  Who  so  holy  as  Christ,  and 
who  so  meek  ?  God's  slowness  to  anger  is  a  branch  or  slip  from  his 
mercy  (Ps.  cxlv.  8) :  "The  Lord  is  full  of  compassion,  slow  to  anger  " 

'  A^/lof  6i  uTi  eyxEi-pi.^101'  ti/v  rifiupiav  KaXel,  Ko7.iov  6t  tovteotl  r;)v  d/JKi/v  tov  iyxeipu^cov 
fiaKpoOv/iiav  ovofid^et.     Theodoret,  in  loc. 


ON  GOD'S  PATIENCE.  479 

It  differs  from  mercy  in  the  formal  consideration  of  tlie  object ;  mercy 
respects  tlie  creature  as  miserable,  j)atience  respects  the  creature  as 
criminal ;  mercy  pities  liim  in  liis  misery,  and  patience  bears  with 
the  sin  which  engendered  that  misery,  and  is  giving  birth  to  more. 
Again,  mercy  is  one  end  of  patience  ;  his  long-suffering  is  partly  to 
glorify  his  grace  :  so  it  was  in  Paul  (1  Tim.  i.  16).  As  slowness  to 
anger  springs  from  goodness,  so  it  makes  mercy  the  butt  and  mark 
of  its  operations  (Isa.  xxx.  18) :  "  He  waits  that  he  may  be  gTacious." 
Goodness  sets  God  upon  the  exercise  of  jDatience,  and  patience  sets 
many  a  sinner  on  running  into  the  arms  of  mercy.  That  mercy 
which  makes  God  ready  to  embrace  returning  sinners,  makes  him 
willing  to  bear  with  them  in  their  sins,  and  wait  their  return.  It 
differs  also  from  goodness,  in  regard  of  the  object.  The  object  of 
goodness  is  every  creature,  angels,  men,  all  inferior  creatures,  to  the 
lowest  worm  that  crawls  upon  the  ground.  The  object  of  patience 
is,  primarily,  man,  and  secondarily,  those  creatures  that  respect  men's 
support,  conveniency,  and  delight ;  but  they  are  not  the  objects  of 
patience,  as  considered  in  themselves,  but  in  relation  to  man,  for 
whose  use  they  were  created ;  and  therefore  God's  patience  to  them 
is  properly  his  patience  with  man.  The  lower  creatures  do  not  in- 
jure God,  and  therefore  are  not  the  objects  of  his  jjatience,  but  as 
they  are  forfeited  by  man,  and  man  deserves  to  be  deprived  of  them ; 
as  man  in  this  regard  falls  under  the  patience  of  God,  so  do  those 
creatures  which  are  designed  for  man's  good.  That  patience  which 
spares  man,  spares  other  creatures  for  him,  which  were  all  forfeited 
by  man's  sin,  as  well  as  his  own  life,  and  are  rather  the  testimonies 
of  God's  patience,  than  the  proper  objects  of  it.  The  object  of  God's 
goodness,  then,  is  the  whole  creation ;  not  a  devil  in  hell,  but  as  a 
creature,  is  a  mark  of  his  goodness,  but  not  of  his  patience.  There 
is  a  kind  of  sparing  exercised  to  the  devils,  in  deferring  their  com- 
plete punishment,  and  hitherto  keeping  off  the  day  wherein  their 
final  sentence  is  to  be  pronounced  ;  yet  the  Scripture  never  mentions 
this  by  the  name  of  slowness  to  anger,  or  long-suffering.  It  can  no 
more  be  called  patience,  than  a  prince's  keeping  a  malefactor  in  chains, 
and  not  pronouncing  a  condemning  sentence,  or  not  executing  a  sen- 
tence already  pronounced,  can  be  called  a  patience  with  him,  when 
it  is  not  out  of  kindness  to  the  offender,  but  for  some  reasons  of  state. 
God's  sparing  the  devils  from  their  total  punishment — which  they 
have  not  yet,  but  are  "reserved  in  chains,  under  darkness  for  it" 
(Jude,  6) — is  not  in  order  to  repentance,  or  attended  with  any  invita- 
tions from  God,  or  hopes  in  them ;  and,  therefore,  cannot  come  un- 
der the  same  title  as  God's  sparing  man  :  where  there  is  no  proposal 
of  mercy,  there  is  no  exercise  of  patience.  The  fallen  angels  had  no 
mercy  reserved  for  them,  nor  any  sacrifices  prepared  for  them ;  God 
"  spared  not  the  angels"  (2  Pet,  ii.  4),  "  but  delivered  them  into  chains 
of  darkness,  to  be  reserved  unto  judgment,"  i.  e.  he  had  no  patience 
for  them  ;  for  patience  is  properly  a  temporary  sparing  a  person, 
with  a  waiting  of  his  relenting,  and  a  change  of  his  injurious  de- 
meanor. The  object  of  goodness  is  more  extensive  than  that  of  pa- 
tience :  nor  do  they  both  consider  the  object  under  the  same  relation. 
Goodness  respects  things  in  a  capacity,  or  in  a  state  of  creation,  and 


480  CHARNOCK  ON  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

brings  them  forth  into  creation,  and  nurseth  and  supports  them  as 
creatures.  Patience  considers  them  already  created,  and  fallen  short 
of  the  duty  of  creatures  ;  it  considers  them  as  sinners,  or  in  relation 
to  sinners.  Had  not  sin  entered,  patience  had  never  been  exercised ; 
but  goodness  had  been  exercised,  had  the  creature  stood  firm  in  its 
created  state  without  any  transgression ;  nay,  creation  could  not 
have  been  without  goodness,  because  it  was  goodness  to  create  ;  but 
patience  had  never  been  known  without  an  object,  which  could  not 
have  been  without  an  injury.  Where  there  is  no  wrong,  no  suffer- 
ing, nor  like  to  be  any,  patience  hath  no  prospect  of  any  operation. 
So,  then,  goodness  respects  persons  as  creatures,  patience  as  trans- 
gressors ;  mercy  eyes  men  as  miserable  and  obnoxious  to  punish- 
ment ;  patience  considers  men  as  sinful,  and  provoking  to  punish- 
ment. 

2.  Since  it  is  a  part  of  goodness  and  mercy,  it  is  not  an  insensible 
patience.  What  is  the  fruit  of  pure  goodness  cannot  be  from  a  weak- 
ness of  resentment ;  he  is  "  slow  to  anger ;"  the  prophet  doth  not 
say,  he  is  incapable  of  anger,  or  cannot  discern  what  is  a  real  object 
of  anger  ;  it  implies,  that  he  doth  consider  every  provocation,  but  he 
is  not  hasty  to  discharge  his  arrows  upon  the  offenders ;  he  sees  all, 
while  he  bears  with  them  ;  his  omniscience  excludes  any  ignorance ; 
he  cannot  but  see  every  wrong ;  every  aggravation  in  that  wrong, 
every  step  and  motion  from  the  beginning  to  the  completing  it ;  for 
he  knows  all  our  thoughts ;  he  sees  the  sin  and  the  sinner  at  the 
same  time ;  the  sin  with  an  eye  of  abhorrency,  and  the  sinner  with 
an  eye  of  pity.  His  eye  is  upon  their  iniquities,  and  his  hatred  edged 
against  them ;  while  he  stands  with  arms  open,  waiting  a  penitent 
return.  When  he  publisheth  his  patience  in  his  keeping  silence,  he 
publisheth  also  his  resolution,  to  set  sin  in  order  before  their  eyes 
(Ps.  1.  21) :  "  I  will  reprove  thee,  and  set  them  in  order  before  thy 
eyes."  Think  me  not  such  a  piece  of  phlegm,  and  so  dull  as  not  to 
resent  your  insolences ;  you  shall  see,  in  my  final  charge,  when  I 
come  to  judge,  that  not  a  wry  look  escaped  my  knowledge,  that  I 
had  an  eye  to  heboid,  and  a  heart  to  loathe  every  one  of  your  trans- 
gressions. The  church  was  ready  to  think  that  God's  slowness  to  de- 
liver her,  and  his  bearing  with  her  oppressors,  was  not  from  any  pa- 
tience in  his  nature,  but  a  drowsy  carelessness,  a  senseless  lethargy 
(Ps.  xliv.  23) :  "  Awake,  why  sleepest  thou,  0  Lord  ?"  We  must 
conclude  him  an  inapprehensive  God,  before  we  can  conclude  him 
an  insensible  God.  As  his  delaying  his  jDromise  is  not  slackness  to 
his  people  (2  Pet.  iii.  9),  so  his  deferring  of  punishment  is  not  from 
a  stupidity  under  the  affronts  offered  him. 

3.  Since  it  is  a  part  of  his  mercy  and  goodness,  it  is  not  a  con- 
strained or  faint-hearted  patience.  It  is  not  a  slowness  to  anger, 
arising  from  a  despondency  of  his  own  power  to  revenge.  He  hath 
as  much  power  to  punish  as  he  hath  to  forbear  punishment.  He  that 
created  a  world  in  six  days,  and  that  by  a  word,  wants  not  a  strength 
to  crush  all  mankind  in  ore  minute ;  and  with  as  much  ease  as  a 
word  imports,  can  give  satisfaction  to  his  justice  in  the  blood  of  the 
offender.  Patience  in  man  is  many  times  interpreted,  and  truly  too, 
a  cowardice,  a  feebleness  of  spirit,  and  a  want  of  strength.     But  it  is 


ON"  GOD'S  PATIENCE.  .  481 

not  from  the  shortness  of  the  Divine  arm,  that  he  cannot  reach  us, 
nor  from  the  feebleness  of  his  hand,  that  he  cannot  strike  us.  It  is 
not  because  he  cannot  level  us  with  the  dust,  dash  us  in  pieces  like 
a  potter's  vessel,  or  consume  us  as  a  moth.  He  can  make  the  might- 
iest to  fall  before  him,  and  lay  the  strongest  at  his  feet  the  first  mo- 
ment of  their  crime.  He  that  did  not  want  a  powerful  word  to  create 
a  world,  cannot  want  a  powerful  word  to  dissolve  the  whole  frame 
of  it,  and  raze  it  out  of  being.  It  is  not,  therefore,  out  of  a  distrust 
of  his  own  power,  that  he  hath  supported  a  sinful  world  for  so  many 
ages,  and  patiently  borne  the  blasphemies  of  some,  the  neglects  of 
others,  and  the  ingratitude  of  all,  without  inflicting  that  severe  jus- 
tice which  righteously  he  might  have  done  ;  he  wants  no  thunder  to 
crush  the  whole  generation  of  men,  nor  waters  to  drown  them,  nor 
earth  to  swallow  them  up.  How  easy  is  it  for  him  to  single  out  this 
or  that  particular  person  to  be  the  object  of  his  wrath,  and  not  of  his 
patience !  What  he  hath  done  to  one,  he  may  to  another ;  any  sig- 
nal judgment  he  hath  sent  upon  one,  is  an  evidence  that  he  wants 
not  power  to  inflict  it  upon  all.  Could  he  not  make  the  motes  in 
the  air  to  choke  us  at  every  breath,  rain  thunderbolts  instead  of 
drops  of  water,  fill  the  clouds  with  a  consuming  lightning,  take  off 
the  reverence  and  fear  of  man,  which  he  hath  imprinted  upon  the 
creature,  spirit  our  domestic  beasts  to  be  our  executioners,  unloose 
the  tiles  from  the  house-top  to  brain  us,  or  make  the  fall  of  a  house 
to  crush  us  ?  It  is  but  taking  out  the  pins,  and  giving  a  blast,  and 
the  work  is  done.  And  doth  he  want  a  power  to  do  any  of  those 
things  ?  It  is  not  then  a  faint-hearted,  or  feeble  patience,  that  he 
exerciseth  towards  man. 

4.  Since  it  is  not  for  want  of  power  over  the  creature,  it  is  from  a 
fulness  of  power  over  himself.  This  is  in  the  text,  "  The  Lord  is 
slow  to  anger,  and  great  in  power;"  it  is  a  part  of  his  dominion  over 
himself,  whereby  he  can  moderate,  and  rule  his  own  affections  accord- 
ing to  the  holiness  of  his  own  will.  As  it  is  the  effect  of  his  power, 
so  it  is  an  argument  of  his  power ;  the  greatness  of  the  effect  demon- 
strates the  fulness  and  sufficiency  of  the  cause.  The  more  feeble 
any  man  is  in  reason  the  less  command  he  hath  over  his  passions, 
and  he  is  the  more  heady  to  revenge.  Kevenge  is  a  sign  of  a  child- 
ish mind ;  the  stronger  any  man  is  in  reason,  the  more  command  he 
hath  over  himself  "  He  that  is  slow  to  anger  is  better  than  the 
mighty ;  and  he  that  rules  his  own  spirit,  than  he  that  takes  a  city" 
(Prov.  xvi.  32) ;  he  that  can  restrain  his  anger,  is  stronger  than  the 
Ciesars  and  Alexanders  of  the  world,  that  have  filled  the  earth  with 
slain  carcasses  and  ruined  cities.  By  the  same  reason,  God's  slowness 
to  anger  is  a  greater  argument  of  his  power  than  the  creating  a  world, 
or  the  power  of  dissolving  it  by  a  word ;  in  this  he  hath  a  dominion 
over  creatures,  in  the  other  over  himself;  this  is  the  reason  he  will 
not  return  to  destroy;  because  "I  am  God,  and  not  man"  (Hos.  xi. 
9);  I  am  not  so  weak  and  impotent  as  man,  that  cannot  restrain  his 
anger.  This  is  a  strength  possessed  only  by  a  God,  wherein  a  crea- 
ture is  no  more  able  to  parallel  him,  than  in  any  other ;  so  that  he 
may  be  said  to  be  the  Lord  of  himself;  as  it  is  in  the  verse  before 
the  text,  that  he  is  the  Lord  of  anger,  in  the  Hebrew,  instead  of 

VOL.  II. — 31 


482  .        CHARNOCK   ON   THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

"  furious,"  as  we  translate  it ;  so  lie  is  tlie  Lord  of  patience.  The  end 
why  God  is  patient,  is  to  show  his  power,  "  What  if  God,  willing 
to  show  his  wrath,  and  to  make  his  power  known,  endured  with 
much  long-suffering  the  vessels  of  wrath  fitted  to  destruction  ?"  (Rom. 
ix.  22),  To  show  his  wrath  upon  sinners,  and  his  power  over  him- 
self in  bearing  such  indignities,  and  forbearing  punishment  so  long, 
when  men  were  vessels  of  wrath  fitted  for  destruction,  of  whom  there 
was  no  hopes  of  amendment.  Had  he  immediately  broken  in  pieces 
those  vessels,  his  power  had  not  so  eminently  appeared  as  it  hath 
done,  in  tolerating  them  so  long,  that  had  provoked  him  to  take 
them  off  so  often ;  there  is  indeed  the  power  of  his  anger,  and  there 
is  the  power  of  his  patience ;  and  his  power  is  more  seen  in  his 
patience  than  in  his  wrath :  it  is  no  wonder  that  He  that  is  above  all, 
is  able  to  crush  all ;  but  it  is  a  wonder,  that  he  that  is  provoked  by 
all,  doth  not,  upon  the  first  provocation,  rid  his  hands  of  all.  This 
♦  is  the  reason  why  he  did  bear  such  a  weight  of  provocations  from 
vessels  of  wrath,  prepared  for  ruin,  that  he  might  /j'wjjfawt  to  Swaibf 
(Kvrov,  show  what  he  was  able  to  do,  the  lordship  and  royalty  he  had 
over  himself.  The  power  of  God  is  more  manifest  in  his  patience 
to  a  multitude  of  sinners,  than  it  would  be  in  creating  millions  of 
worlds  out  of  nothing;  this  was  the  ^v^al^)^'  u^wv,  a  power  over  him- 
self, 

5.  This  patience  being  a  branch  of  mercy,  the  exercise  of  it  is 
founded  in  the  death  of  Christ.  Without  the  consideration  of  this, 
we  can  give  no  account  why  Divine  patience  should  extend  itself  to 
us,  and  not  to  the  fallen  angels.  The  threatening  extends  itself  to 
us  as  well  as  to  the  fallen  angels ;  the  threatening  must  necessarily 
have  sunk  man,  as  well  as  those  glorious  creatures,  had  not  Christ 
stepped  in  to  our  relief.  Had  not  Christ  interposed  to  satisfy  the 
justice  of  God,  man  upon  his  sin  had  been  actually  bound  over  to 
punishment,  as  well  as  the  fallen  angels  were  upon  theirs,  and  been 
fettered  in  chains  as  strong  as  those  spirits  feel.f  The  reason  wh\ 
man  was  not  hurled  into  the  same  deplorable  condition  upon  his  sin, 
as  they  were,  is  Christ's  promise  of  taking  our  nature,  and  not  theirs. 
Had  God  designed  Christ's  taking  their  nature,  the  same  patience 
had  been  exercised  towards  them,  and  the  same  offers  would  have 
been  made  to  them,  as  are  made  to  us.  In  regard  to  these  fruits  of 
this  patience,  Christ  is  said  to  buy  the  wickedest  apostates  from  him: 
"  Denying  the  Lord  that  bought  them"  (1  Pet,  ii,  1),  Such  were 
bought  by  him,  as  "  bring  upon  themselves  just  destruction,  and 
whose  damnation  slumbers  not"  (ver,  3) ;  he  purchased  the  continu- 
ance of  their  lives,  and  the  stay  of  their  execution,  that  offers  of 
grace  might  be  made  to  them.  This  patience  must  be  either  upon 
the  account  of  the  law,  or  the  gospel ;  for  there  are  no  other  rules, 
whereby  God  governs  the  world.  A  fruit  of  the  law  it  was  not ; 
that  spake  nothing  but  curses  after  disobedience ;  not  a  letter  of 
mercy  was  writ  upon  that,  and  therefore  nothing  of  patience ;  death 
and  wrath  were  denounced;  no  slowness  to  anger  intimated.  It 
must  be  therefore  upon  account  of  the  gospel,  and  a  fruit  of  the  cov- 
enant of  grace,  whereof  Christ  was  Mediator,   Besides  this  perfection 

f  Testard.  de  Natur.  et  Grat.  These.  119. 


ON"  GOD'S  PATIENCE.  483 

being  God's  "  waiting  tliat  lie  might  be  gracious"  (Isa,  xxx.  18),  that 
which  made  way  for  God's  grace  made  way  for  his  waiting  to  mani- 
fest it.  God  discovered  not  his  grace,  but  in  Christ ;  and  therefore 
discovered  not  his  patience  but  in  Christ ;  it  is  in  him  he  met  with 
the  satisfaction  of  his  justice,  that  he  might  have  a  ground  for  the 
manifestation  of  his  patience.  And  the  sacrifices  of  the  law,  wherein 
the  life  of  a  beast  was  accepted  for  the  sin  of  man,  discovered  the 
ground  of  his  forbearance  of  them  to  be  the  expectation  of  the  great 
Sacrifice,  whereby  sin  was  to  be  completely  expiated  (Gen.  viii.  21). 
The  publication  of  his  patience  to  the  end  of  the  world  is  presently 
after  the  sweet  savor  he  found  in  Noah's  sacrifice.  The  promised 
and  designed  coming  of  Christ,  was  the  cause  of  that  patience  God 
exercised  before  in  the  world ;  and  his  gathering  the  elect  together, 
is  the  reason  of  his  patience  since  his  death. 

6.  The  naturalness  of  his  veracity  and  holiness,  and  the  strictness 
of  his  justice,  are  no  bars  to  the  exercise  of  his  patience. 

(1.)  His  veracity.  In  those  threatenings  where  the  punishment  is 
expressed,  but  not  the  time  of  inflicting  it  prefixed  and  determined 
in  the  threatening,  his  veracity  suffers  no  damage  by  the  delaying 
execution ;  so  it  be  once  done,  though  a  long  time  after,  the  credit 
of  his  truth  stands  unshaken  :  as  when  God  promises  a  thing  with- 
out fixing  the  the  time,  he  is  at  liberty  to  pitch  upon  what  time  he 
pleases  for  the  performance  of  it,  without  staining  his  faithfulness  to 
his  Avord,  by  not  giving  the  thing  promised  presently.  Why  should 
the  deferring  of  justice  upon  an  offender  be  any  more  against  his 
veracity  than  his  delaying  an  answer  to  the  petitions  of  a  suppliant? 
But  the  difference  will  lie  in  the  threatening.  "  In  the  day  thou  eat- 
est  thereof,  thou  shalt  die  the  death"  (Gen.  ii.  17).  The  time  was 
there  settled  ;  "in  that  day  thou  shalt  die ;"  some  refer  "  day"  to 
eating,  not  to  dying ;  and  render  the  sentence  thus :  I  do  not  pro- 
hibit thee  the  eating  this  fruit  for  a  day  or  two,  but  continually.  In 
whatsoever  day  thou  eatest  thereof,  thou  shalt  die ;  but  not  under- 
standing his  dying  that  very  day  he  should  eat  of  it ;  referring 
"  day"  to  the  extensiveness  of  the  prohibition,  as  to  time.  But  to 
leave  this  as  uncertain,  it  may  be  answered,  that  as  in  some  threat- 
enings a  condition  is  implied,  though  not  expressed,  as  in  that  posi- 
tive denouncing  of  the  destruction  of  Ninevah  :  "  Yet  forty  days, 
and  Mnevah  shall  be  destroyed"  (Jonah,  iii.  4),  the  condition  is  im- 
plied ;  unless  they  humble  themselves,  and  repent ;  for  upon  their 
repentance,  the  sentence  was  deferred.  So  here,  "  in  the  day  thou 
eatest  thereof,  thou  shalt  die  the  death,"  or  certainly  die,  unless  there 
be  a  way  found  for  the  expiation  of  thy  crime,  and  the  righting  my 
honor.  This  condition,  in  regard  of  the  event,  may  as  well  be  as- 
serted to  be  implied  in  this  threatening,  as  that  of  repentance  was  in 
the  other ;  or  rather,  "  thou  shalt  die,"  thou  shalt  die  spiritually,  thou 
shalt  lose  that  image  of  mine  in  thy  nature,  that  righteousness  which 
is  as  much  the  life  of  thy  soul  as  thy  soul  is  the  life  of  thy  body ; 
that  righteousness  whereby  thou  art  enabled  to  live  to  me  and  tlay 
own  happiness.  What  the  soul  is  to  the  body,  a  quickening  sou], 
that  the  image  of  God  is  to  the  soul,  a  quickening  image.  Or  "thou 
shalt  die  the  death,"  or  certainly  die ;  thou  shalt  be  liable  to  death. 


484  CHARNOCK  ON   THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

And  so  it  is  to  be  understood,  not  of  an  actual  death,  of  the  bodj, 
but  the  merit  of  death,  and  the  necessity  of  death  ;  thou  wilt  be  ob- 
noxious to  death,  which  will  be  avoided,  if  thou  dost  forbear  to  eat 
of  the  forbidden  fruit ;  thou  shalt  be  a  guilty  person,  and  so  under 
a  sentence  of  death,  that  I  may,  when  I  please,  inflict  it  on  thee.? 
Death  did  come  upon  Adam  that  day,  because  his  nature  was  vitiat- 
ed ;  he  was  then  also  under  an  expectation  of  death,  he  was  obnox- 
ious to  it,  though  that  day  it  was  not  poured  out  upon  him  in  the 
full  bitterness  and  gall  of  it :  as  when  the  apostle  saith,  "  The  body 
is  dead  because  of  sin"  (Rom.  viii.  10),  he  speaks  to  the  living,  and 
yet  tells  them  the  body  was  dead  because  of  sin ;  he  means  no  more 
than  that  it  was  under  a  sentence,  and  so  a  necessity  of  dying,  though, 
not  actually  dead ;  so  thou  shalt  be  under  the  sentence  of  death  that 
day,  as  certainly  as  if  that  day  thou  shouldst  sink  into  the  dust :  and 
as  by  his  patience  towards  man,  not  sending  forth  death  upon  him 
in  all  the  bitter  ingredients  of  it,  his  justice  afterwards  was  more 
eminent  upon  man's  surety,  than  it  would  have  been  if  it  had  been 
then  employed  in  all  its  severe  operations  upon  man.  So  was  his 
veracity  eminent  also  in  making  good  this  threatening,  in  inflicting 
the  punishment  included  in  it  upon  our  nature  assumed  by  a  mighty 
Person,  and  upon  that  Person  in  our  nature,  who  was  infinitely 
higher  than  our  nature. 

(2.)  His  justice  and  righteousness  are  not  prejudiced  by  his  pa- 
tience. There  is  a  hatred  of  the  sin  in  his  holiness,  and  a  sen- 
tence past  against  the  sin  in  his  justice,  though  the  execution  of 
that  sentence  be  suspended,  and  the  person  reprieved  by  patience, 
which  is  implied  (Eccles.  viii.  11) :  "  Because  sentence  against  an 
evil  work  is  not  executed  speedily ;  therefore,  the  heart  of  the  sons 
of  men  is  fully  set  in  them  to  do  evil ;"  sentence  is  past,  but  a  speedy 
execution  is  stopped.  Some  of  the  heathens,  who  would  not  imagine 
God  unjust,  and  yet,  seeing  the  villanies  and  oppressions  of  men  in 
the  world  remain  unpunished,  and  frequently  beholding  prosperous 
wickedness,  to  free  him  from  the  charge  of  injustice,  denied  his 
providence  and  actual  government  of  the  world ;  for  if  he  did 
take  notice  of  human  affairs,  and  concern  himself  in  what  was  done 
upon  the  earth,  they  could  not  think  an  Infinite  Goodness  and  Jus- 
tice could  be  so  slow  to  punish  oppressors,  and  relieve  the  misera- 
ble, and  leave  the  world  in  that  disorder  under  the  injustice  of  men : 
they  judged  such  a  patience  as  was  exercised  by  him,  if  he  did  gov- 
ern the  world,  was  drawn  out  beyond  the  line  of  fit  and  just.  Is  it 
not  a  presumption  in  men  to  prescribe  a  rule  of  righteousness  and 
conveniency  to  their  Creator  ?  It  might  be  demanded  of  such,  whe- 
ther they  never  injured  any  in  their  lives ;  and  when  certainly  they 
have  one  way  or  another,  would  they  not  think  it  a  very  unworthy, 
if  not  unjust,  thing,  that  a  person  so  injured  by  them  should  take  a 
speedy  and  severe  revenge  on  them  ? — and  if  every  man  should  do 
the  like,  would  there  not  be  a  speedy  despatch  made  of  mankind  ? 
Would  not  the  world  be  a  shambles,  and  men  rush  forwards  to  one 
another's  destructions,  for  the  wrongs  they  have  mutually  received  ? 
If  it  be  accounted  a  virtue  in  man,  and  no  unrighteousness,  not  pre- 

f  Perer,  in  loc. 


ON  GOD'S  PATIENCE.  485 

sently  to  be  all  on  fire  against  an  offence ;  by  what  right  should  any 
question  the  inconsistency  of  God's  patience  with  his  justice?  Do 
we  praise  the  lenity  of  parents  to  children,  and  shall  we  disparage 
the  long-suffering  of  God  to  men  ?  We  do  not  censure  the  right- 
eousness of  physicians  and  chirurgeons,  because  they  cut  not  off  a 
corrupt  member  this  day  as  well  as  to-morrow  ?  And  is  it  just  to 
asperse  God,  because  he  doth  defer  his  vengeance  which  man  as- 
sumes to  himself  a  right  to  do  ?  We  never  account  him  a  bad  gov- 
ernor that  defers  the  trial,  and  consequently  the  condemnation  and 
execution  of  a  notorious  offender  for  important  reasons,  and  bene- 
ficial to  the  public,  either  to  make  the  nature  of  his  crime  more  evi- 
dent, or  to  find  out  the  rest  of  his  complices  by  his  discovery.  A 
governor,  indeed,  were  unjust,  if  he  commanded  that  which  were 
unrighteous,  and  forbade  that  which  were  worthy  and  commenda- 
ble ;  but  if  he  delays  the  execution  of  a  convict  ofiender  for  weighty 
reasons,  either  for  the  benefit  of  the  state  whereof  he  is  the  ruler,  or 
for  some  advantage  to  the  offender  himself,  to  make  him  have  a 
sense  of,  and  a  regret  for  his  offence,  we  account  him  not  unjust  for 
this.  God  doth  not  by  his  patience  dispense  with  the  holiness  of 
his  law,  nor  cut  off  sftiything  from  its  due  authority.  If  men  do 
strengthen  themselves  by  his  long-suffering  against  his  law,  it  is 
their  fault,  not  any  unrighteousness  in  him  ;  he  will  take  a  time  to 
vindicate  the  righteousness  of  his  own  commands,  if  men  will 
wholly  neglect  the  time  of  his  patience,  in  forbearing  to  pay  a  duti- 
ful observance  to  his  precept.  If  justice  be  natural  to  him,  and  he 
cannot  but  punish  sin,  yet  he  is  not  necessitated  to  consume  sinners, 
as  the  fire  doth  stubble  put  into  it,  which  hath  no  command  over  its 
own  qualities  to  restrain  them  from  acting  ;  but  God  is  a  free  agent, 
and  may  choose  his  own  time  for  the  distribution  of  that  punish- 
ment his  nature  leads  him  to.  Though  he  be  naturally  just,  yet  it 
is  not  so  natural  to  him,  as  to  deprive  him  of  a  dominion  over  his 
own  acts,  and  a  freedom  in  the  exerting  them  what  time  he  judgeth 
most  convenient  in  his  wisdom.  God  is  necessarily  holy,  and  is  ne- 
cessarily angry  with  sin ;  his  nature  can  never  like  it,  and  cannot 
but  be  displeased  with  it ;  yet  he  hath  a  liberty  to  restrain  the  effects 
of  this  anger  for  a  time,  without  disgracing  his  holiness,  or  being  in- 
terpreted to  act  unrighteously ;  as  well  as  a  prince  or  state  may  sus- 
pend the  execution  of  a  law,  which  they  will  never  break,  only  for 
a  time  and  for  a  public  benefit.  If  God  should  presently  execute 
his  justice,  this  perfection  of  patience,  which  is  a  part  of  his  good- 
ness, would  never  have  an  opportunity  of  discovery ;  part  of  his 
glory,  for  which  he  created  the  world,  would  lie  in  obscurity  from 
the  knowledge  of  his  creature ;  his  justice  would  be  signal  in  the 
destruction  of  sinners,  but  this  stream  of  his  goodness  would  be 
stopped  up  from  any  motion.  One  perfection  must  not  cloud  an- 
other ;  God  hath  his  seasons  to  discover  all,  one  after  another  :  "  The 
times  and  seasons  are  in  his  own  power"  (Acts,  i.  7) :  the  seasons  of 
manifesting  his  own  perfections  as  well  as  other  things  ;  succession 
of  them,  in  their  distinct  appearance,  makes  no  invasion  upon  the 
rights  of  any.  If  justice  should  complain  of  an  injury  from  pa- 
tience, because  it  is  delayed,  patience  hath  more  reason  to  complain 


486  CHARNOCK  ON  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

of  an  injury  from  justice,  that  by  such  a  plea  it  would  be  wholly 
obscured  and  inactive :  for  this  perfection  hath  the  shortest  time  to 
act  its  part  of  any,  it  hath  no  stage  but  this  world  to  move  in ; 
mercy  hath  a  heaven,  and  justice  a  hell,  to  display  itself  to  eternity, 
but  long-suffering  hath  only  a  short-lived  earth  for  the  compass  of 
its  operation.  Again,  justice  is  so  far  from  being  wronged  by  pa- 
tience, that  it  rather  is  made  more  illustrious,  and  hath  the  fuller 
scope  to  exercise  itself ;  it  is  the  more  righted  for  being  deferred,  and 
will  have  stronger  grounds  than  before  for  its  activity  ;  the  equity 
of  it  will  be  more  apparent  to  every  reason,  the  objections  more 
fully  answered  against  it,  when  the  way  of  dealing  with  sinners  by 
patience  hath  been  slighted.  When  this  dam  of  long-suffering  is  re- 
moved, the  floods  of  fiery  justice  will  rush  down  with  more  force 
and  violence ;  justice  will  be  fully  recompensed  for  the  delay,  when, 
after  patience  is  abused,  it  can  spread  itself  over  the  offender  with  a 
more  unquestionable  authority ;  it  will  have  more  arguments  to  hit 
the  sinner  in  the  teeth  with,  and  silence  him  ;  there  will  be  a  sharper 
edge  for  every  stroke ;  the  sinner  must  not  only  pay  for  the  score 
of  his  former  sins,  but  the  score  of  abused  patience,  so  that  justice 
hath  no  reason  to  commence  a  suit  against  God's  slowness  to  anger : 
what  it  shall  want  by  the  fulness  of  mercy  upon  the  truly  penitent, 
it  will  gain  by  the  contempt  of  patience  on  the  impenitent  abusers. 
When  men,  by  such  a  carriage,  are  ripened  for  the  stroke  of  justice, 
justice  may  strike  without  any  regret  in  itself,  or  pull-back  from 
mercy ;  the  contempt  of  long-suffering  will  silence  the  pleas  of  the 
one,  and  spirit  the  severity  of  the  other.  To  conclude :  since  God 
hath  glorified  his  justice  on  Christ,  as  a  surety  for  sinners,  his  pa- 
tience is  so  far  from  interfering  with  the  rights  of  his  justice,  that  it 
promotes  it ;  it  is  dispensed  to  this  end,  that  God  might  pardon  with 
honor,  both  upon  the  score  of  purchased  mercy  and  contented  jus- 
tice ;  that  by  a  penitent  sinner's  return  his  mercy  might  be  acknowl- 
edged free,  and  the  satisfaction  of  his  justice  by  Christ  be  glorified 
in  believing:  for  he  is  long-suffering  from  an  unwillingness  "that 
any  should  perish,  but  that  all  should  come  to  repentance"  (2  Pet. 
iii,  9) ;  i.  e.  all  to  whom  the  promise  is  made,  for  to  such  the  apostle 
speaks,  and  calls  it  "  long-suffering  to  us- ward  ;"  and  repentance  be- 
ing an  acknowledgment  of  the  demerit  of  sin,  and  a  breaking  off 
unrighteousness,  gives  a  particular  glory  to  the  freeness  of  mercy, 
and  the  equity  of  justice. 

II.  The  second  thing,  How  this  patience  or  slowness  to  anger  is 
manifested. 

1.  To  our  first  parents.  His  slowness  to  anger  was  evidenced  in 
not  directing  his  artillery  against  them,  when  they  first  attempted  to 
rebel.  He  might  have  struck  them  dead  when  they  began  to  bite  at 
the  temptation,  and  were  inclinable  to  a  surrender ;  for  it  was  a  de- 
gree of  sinning,  and  a  breach  of  loyalty  as  well,  though  not  so  much 
as  the  consummating  act.  God  might  have  given  way  to  the  floods 
of  his  wrath  at  the  first  spring  of  man's  aspiring  thoughts,  when  the 
monstrous  motion  of  being  as  God  began  to  be  curdled  in  his  heart ; 
but  he  took  no  notice  of  any  of  their  embryo  sins  till  they  came  to  a 
rij^eness,  and  started  out  of  the  womb  of  their  minds  into  the  open 


ON   GOD'S   PATIENCE.  487 

air:  and  after  he  had  brought  his  sin  to  perfection,  God  did  not 
presently  send  that  death  upon  him,  which  he  had  merited,  but  con- 
tinued his  Hfe  to  the  space  of  930  years  (Gen.  v.  5).  The  sun  and 
stars  were  not  arrested  from  doing  their  office  for  him.  Creatures 
were  continued  for  his  use,  the  earth  did  not  swallow  him  up,  nor  a 
thunderbolt  from  heaven  raze  out  the  memory  of  him.  Though  he 
had  deserved  to  be  treated  with  such  a  severity  for  his  ungrateful 
demeanor  to  his  Creator  and  Benefactor,  and  affecting  an  equality 
with  him,  yet  God  continued  him  with  a  sufficiency  for  his  content, 
after  he  turned  rebel,  though  not  with  such  a  liberality  as  when  he 
remained  a  loyal  subject ;  and  though  he  foresaw  that  he  would  not 
make  an  end  of  sinning,  but  with  an  end  of  living,  he  used  him  not 
in  the  same  manner  as  he  had  used  the  devils.  He  added  days  and 
years  to  him,  after  he  had  deserved  death,  and  hath  for  this  5,000 
years  continued  the  propagation  of  mankind,  and  derived  from  his 
loins  an  innumerable  j)osterity,  and  hath  crowned  multitudes  of 
them  with  hoary  heads.  He  might  have  extinguished  human  race 
at  the  lirst ;  but  since  he  hath  preserved  it  till  this  day,  it  must  be 
interpreted  nothing  else  but  the  effect  of  an  admirable  patience. 

2.  His  slowness  to  anger  is  manifest  to  the  Gentiles.  What  they 
were,  we  need  no  other  witness  than  the  apostle  Paul,  who  sums  up 
many  of  their  crimes  (Rom.  i.  29 — 32).  He  doth  preface  the  cata- 
logue with  a  comprehensive  expression,  "  Being  filled  with  all  un- 
righteousness ;"  and  concludes  it  with  a  dreadful  aggravation,  "  They 
not  only  do  the  same,  but  have  pleasure  in  them  that  do  them."  They 
were  so  soaked  and  naturalized  in  wickedness,  that  they  had  no  de- 
light, and  found  no  sweetness  in  anything  else  but  what  was  in  itself 
abominable ;  all  of  them  were  plunged  in  idolatry  and  superstition ; 
none  of  them  but  either  set  up  their  great  men,  or  creatures,  benefi- 
cial to  the  world,  and  some  the  damned  spirits  in  his  stead,  and  paid 
an  adoration  to  insensible  creatures  or  devils,  which  was  due  to  God. 
Some  were  so  depraved  in  their  lives  and  actions,  that  it  seemed  to 
be  the  interest  of  the  rest  of  the  world,  that  they  should  have  been 
extinguished  for  the  instruction  of  their  contemporaries  and  pos- 
terity. The  best  of  them  had  turned  all  religion  into  a  fable,  coined 
a  world  of  rites,  some  unnatural  in  themselves,  and  most  of  them  un- 
becoming a  rational  creature  to  offer,  and  a  Deity  to  accept :  yet  he 
did  not  presently  arm  himself  against  them  with  fire  and  sword,  nor 
stopped  the  course  of  their  generations,  nor  tear  out  all  those  relics 
of  natural  light  which  were  left  in  their  minds.  He  did  not  do  what 
he  might  have  done,  but  he  winked  at  the  "  times  of  that  ignorance" 
(Acts,  xvii.  30),  their  ignorant  idolatry ;  for  that  it  refers  to  (ver. 
29) :  "  They  thought  the  Godhead  was  like  to  gold  or  silver,  or  stone 
graven  by  art,  and  men's  device  ;  ineQidwi'^  overlooking  them.  He 
demeaned  himself  so,  as  if  he  did  not  take  notice  of  them.  He 
winked  as  if  he  did  not  see  them,  and  would  not  deal  so  severely 
with  them :  the  eye  of  his  justice  seemed  to  wink,  in  not  calling  them 
to  an  account  for  their  sin. 

3.  His  slowness  to  anger  is  manifest  to  the  Israelites.  You  know 
how  often  they  are  called  a  "  stiff-necked  people ;"  they  are  said  to 
do  evil  "from  their  youth  ;"  i.  e.  from  the  time  wherein  they  were 


488  CHARNOCK  ON  THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

erected  a  nation  and  common  weal  tli ;  and  that  "the  city  had  been 
a  provocation  of  his  anger,  and  of  his  furj,  from  the  day  that  they 
built  it,  even  to  this  day ;"  i.  c.  the  day  of  Jeremiah's  prophecy, 
"  that  he  should  remove  it  from  before  his  face"  (Jer,  xxxii.  31) : 
from  the  days  of  Solomon,  say  some,  which  is  too  much  a  curtailing 
of  the  text,  as  though  their  provocations  had  taken  date  no  higher 
than  from  the  time  of  Solomon's  rearing  the  temple,  and  beautifying 
the  city,  whereby  it  seemed  to  be  a  new  building.  They  began  more 
early  ;  they  scarce  discontinued  their  revolting  from  God ;  they  were 
a  "  grief  to  him  forty  years  together  in  the  wilderness"  (Ps.  xcv.  10), 
"yet  he  suffered  their  manners"  (Acts,  xiii.  18).  He  bore  with  their 
ill-behaviour  and  sauciness  towards  him ;  and  no  sooner  was  Joshua's 
head  laid,  and  the  elders,  that  were  their  conductors,  gathered  to 
their  fathers,  but  the  next  generation  forsook  God,  and  smutted 
themselves  with  the  idolatry  of  the  nations  (Judges,  ii.  7,  10,  11): 
and  when  he  punished  them  by  prospering  the  arms  of  their  enemies 
against  them,  they  were  no  sooner  delivered  upon  their  cry  and  hu- 
miliation, but  they  began  a  new  scene  of  idolatry ;  and  though  he 
brought  upon  them  the  power  of  the  Babylonian  empire,  and  laid 
chains  upon  them  to  bring  them  to  their  right  mind.  And  at  seventy 
years'  end  he  struck  off  their  chains,  by  altering  the  whole  posture 
of  affairs  in  that  part  of  the  world  for  their  sakes :  overturning  one 
empire,  and  settling  another  for  their  restoration  to  their  ancient  city. 
And  though  they  did  not  after  disown  him  for  their  God,  and  set  up 
"  Baal  in  his  throne,"  yet  they  multiplied  foolish  traditions,  whereby 
they  impaired  the  authority  of  the  law ;  yet  he  sustained  them  with 
a  wonderful  patience,  and  preferred  them  before  all  other  people  in 
the  first  offers  of  the  gospel ;  and  after  they  had  outraged  not  only 
his  servants,  the  prophets,  but  his  Son,  the  Eedeemer,  yet  he  did  not 
forsake  them,  but  employed  his  apostles  to  solicit  them,  and  publish 
among  them  the  doctrine  of  salvation  :  so  that  his  treating  this  peo- 
ple might  well  be  called  "  much  long-suffering,"  it  being  above  1500 
years,  wherein  he  bore  with  them,  or  mildly  punished  them,  far  less 
than  their  deserts ;  their  coming  out  of  Egypt  being  about  the  year 
of  the  world  2450,  and  their  final  destruction  as  a  commonwealth, 
not  till  about  forty  years  after  the  death  of  Christ ;  and  all  this  while 
his  patience  did  sometimes  wholly  restrain  his  justice,  and  sometimes 
let  it  fall  upon  them  in  some  few  drops,  but  made  no  total  devasta- 
tion of  their  country,  nor  wrote  his  revenge  in  extraordinary  bloody 
characters,  till  the  Eoman  conquest,  wherein  he  put  a  period  to 
them  both  as  a  church  and  state.  In  particular  this  patience  is 
manifest, 

1st.  In  his  giving  warnings  of  judgments,  before  he  orders  them 
to  go  forth.  He  doth  not  punish  in  a  passion,  and  hastily ;  he  speaks 
before  he  strikes,  and  speaks  that  he  may  not  strike.  Wrath  is  pub- 
lished before  it  is  executed,  and  that  a  long  time ;  an  hundred  and 
twenty  years'  advertisement  was  given  to  a  debauched  world  before 
the  heavens  were  opened,  to  spout  down  a  deluge  upon  them.  He 
will  not  be  accused  of  coming  unawares  upon  a  people  ;  he  inflicts 
nothing  but  what  he  foretold  either  immediately  to  the  people  that 
provoke  him,  or  anciently  to  them  that  have  been  their  forerunners 


ON  GOD'S   PATIENCE.  489 

in  the  same  provocation  (Hos.  vii.  12),  "  I  will  chastise  them,  as  their 
congregation  hath  heard."  Many  of  the  leaves  of  the  Old  Testament 
are  full  of  those  presages  and  warnings  of  approaching  judgment. 
These  make  up  a  great  part  of  the  volume  of  it  in  various  editions, 
according  to  the  state  of  the  several  provoking  times.  Warnings  are 
given  to  those  people  that  are  most  abominable  in  his  sight  (Zeph.  ii. 
1,  2) ;  "  Gather  yourselves  together,  yea,  gather  together,  O  nation 
not  desired," — it  is  a  Meiosis,  O  nation  abhorred, — "before  the  decree 
bring  forth."  He  sends  his  heralds  before  he  sends  his  armies  ;  he 
summons  them  by  the  voice  of  his  prophets,  before  he  confounds 
them  by  the  voice  of  his  thunders.  When  a  parley  is  beaten,  a 
white  flag  of  peace  is  hung  out,  before  a  black  flag  of  fury  is  set  up. 
He  seldom  cuts  down  men  by  his  judgments,  before  he  hath  "  hewed 
them  by  his  prophets"  (Hos.  vi.  5),  Not  a  remarkable  judgment  but 
was  foretold :  the  flood  to  the  old  world  by  Noah ;  the  famine  to 
Egypt  by  Joseph ;  the  earthquake  by  Amos  (ch.  i.  1) ;  the  storm 
from  Chaldea  by  Jeremiah ;  the  captivity  of  the  ten  tribes  by  Hosea ; 
the  total  destruction  of  Jerusalem  and  the  Temj^le  by  Christ  himself. 
He  hath  chosen  the  best  persons  in  the  world  to  give  those  intima- 
tions ;  Noah,  the  most  righteous  person  on  the  earth,  for  the  old 
world ;  and  his  Son,  the  most  beloved  person  in  heaven,  for  the  Jews 
in  the  later  time :  and  in  other  parts  of  the  world,  and  in  the  later 
times,  where  he  hath  not  warned  by  prophets,  he  hath  supplied  it  by 
prodigies  in  the  air  and  earth ;  histories  are  full  of  such  items  from 
heaven.  Lesser  judgments  are  forewarners  of  greater,  as  lightnings 
before  thunder  are  messengers  to  tell  us  of  a  succeeding  clap. 

(1).  He  doth  often  give  warning  of  judgments.  He  comes  not  to 
extremity,  till  he  hath  often  shaken  the  rod  over  men ;  he  thunders 
often,  before  he  crusheth  them  with  his  thunderbolt ;  he  doth  not 
till  after  the  first  and  second  admonition  punish  a  rebel,  as  he  would 
have  us  reject  a  heretic.  "  He  speaks  once,  yea,  twice"  (Job,  xxxiii, 
14),  "  and  man  perceives  it  not ;"  he  sends  one  message  after  an- 
other, and  waits  the  success  of  many  messages  before  he  strikes. 
Eight  prophets  were  ordered  to  acquaint  the  whole  world  with 
approaching  judgment  (2  Pet.  ii.  5) :  he  saved  "  Noah,  the  eighth 
person,  a  preacher  of  righteousness,  bringing  in  the  flood  upon  the 
world  of  the  ungodly,"  called  "  the  eighth"  in  respect  of  his  preach- 
ing, not  in  regard  of  his  preservation  ;  he  was  the  eighth  preacher 
in  order,  from  the  beginning  of  the  world,  that  endeavored  to  restore 
the  world  to  the  way  of  righteousness.  Most,  indeed,  consider  him 
here  as  the  eighth  person  saved,  so  do  our  translators ;  and,  there- 
fore, add  person,  which  is  not  in  the  Greek.  Some  others  consider 
him  here  as  the  eighth  preacher  of  righteousness,  reckoning  Enoch, 
the  son  of  Seth,  the  first,  grounding  it  upon  Gen.  iv.  26  :  "  Then 
began  men  to  call  upon  the  name  of  the  Lord,"  Eeh.  "  Then  it  was 
began  to  call  in  the  name  of  the  Lord,"  t6  ovQi.m  tov  Kv^Iov  Gfov.  Sept. 
"  He  began  to  call  in  the  name  of  the  Lord,"  which  others  render, 
"  He  began  to  preach,  or  call  upon  men  in  the  name  of  the  Lord." 
The  word  xbp  signifies  to  preach,  or  to  call  upon  men  by  preach- 
ing (Prov.  i.  21) :  "  Wisdom  crieth,"  or  "  preaches ;"  and  if  this  be 
so,  as  it  is  very  probable,  it  is  easy  to    reckon  him   the   eighth 


490  CHARNOCK  ON  THE  ATTEIBUTES. 

preacher,  by  numbering  tlie  successive  heads  of  the  generations 
(Gen.  v.),  beginning  at  Enocli,  the  first  preacher  of  righteousness. 
So  many  there  were  before  God  choked  the  old  world  with  water, 
and  swept  them  away.  It  is  clear  he  often  did  admonish,  by  his 
prophets,  the  Jews  of  their  sin,  and  the  wrath  which  should  come 
upon  them.h  One  prophet,  Ilosea,  prophesied  seventy  years;  for 
he  prophesied  in  the  days  of  four  kings  of  Judah,  and  one  of  Israel, 
Jeroboam,  the  son  of  Joash  (Hos.  i.  1),  or  Jeroboam,  the  second  of 
that  name.  Uzziah,  king  of  Judah,  in  whose  reign  Hosea  pro- 
phesied, lived  thirty-eight  years  after  the  death  of  Jeroboam.  The 
second  Jotham,  Uzziah's  successor,  reigned  sixteen  years;  Ahaz 
sixteen  ;  Hezekiah  twenty-nine  years.  Now,  take  nothing  of  Heze- 
kiah's  time,  and  date  the  beginning  of  his  prophecy  from  the  last 
year  of  Jeroboam's  reign,  and  the  time  of  Hosea's  prophecy  will  be 
seventy  years  complete ;  wherein  God  warned  those  people,  and 
waited  the  return  particularly  of  Israel ;'  and  not  less  than  five  of 
those  we  call  the  Lesser  Prophets,  were  sent  to  foretell  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  ten  tribes,  and  to  call  them  to  repentance, — Hosea, 
Joel,  Amos,  Micah,  Jonah ;  and  though  we  have  nothing  of  Jonah's 
prophecy  in  this  concern  of  Israel,  yet  that  he  lived  in  the  time  of 
the  same  Jeroboam,  and  prophesied  things  which  are  not  upon 
record  in  the  book  of  Jonah,  is  clear  (2  Kings,  xiv.  25),  And 
besides  those,  Isaiah  prophesied  also  in  the  reign  of  the  same  kings 
as  Hosea  did  (Isa.  i.  1);  and  it  is  God's  usual  method  to  send  forlii 
his  servants,  and  when  their  admonitions  are  slighted  he  commissions 
others,  before  he  sends  out  his  destroying  armies  (Matt,  xxii, 
3,  4,  7). 

(2).  He  doth  often  give  warning  of  judgments,  that  he  might 
not  pour  out  his  wrath.  He  summons  them  to  a  surrender  of 
themselves,  and  a  return  from  their  rebellion,  that  they  might  not 
feel  the  force  of  his  arms.  He  offers  peace  before  he  shakes  off  the 
dust  of  his  feet,  that  his  despised  peace  might  not  return  in  vain  to 
him  to  solicit  a  revenge  from  his  anger.  He  hath  a  right  to  punish 
upon  the  first  commission  of  a  crime,  but  he  warns  men  of  what 
they  have  deserved,  of  what  his  justice  moves  him  to  inflict,  that 
by  having  recourse  to  his  mercy  he  might  not  exercise  the  rights 
of  his  justice.  God  sought  to  kill  Moses  for  not  circumcising  his 
son  (Exod.  iv.  24).  Could  God,  that  sought  it,  miss  a  way  to  do 
it?  Could  a  creature  lurch,  or  fly  from  him?  God  put  on  the 
garb  of  an  enemy,  that  Moses  might  be  discouraged  from  being  an 
instrument  of  his  own  ruin  :  God  manifested  an  anger  against  Moses 
for  his  neglect,  as  if  he  would  then  have  destroyed  him,  that  Moses 
might  prevent  it  by  casting  off  his  carelessness,  and  doing  his  duty. 
He  sought  to  kill  him  by  some  evident  sign,  that  Moses  might  es- 
cape the  judgment  by  his  obedience.  He  threatens  Nineveh,  by 
the  prophet,  with  destruction,  that  Nineveh's  repentance  might 
make  void  the  prophecy.  He  fights  with  men  by  the  sword  of  his 
mouth,  that  he  might  not  pierce'  them  by  the  sword  of  his  wrath. 
He  threatens,  that  men  might  prevent  the  execution  of  liis  threaten- 
ing ;  he  terrifies,  that  he  might  not  destroy,  but  that  men  by  humi- 

^  Vid.  Gell's  KyyElotiaria.  '  Sanctius.  Prolegom.  in  Hosea,  Prolog.  HI. 


ON   GOD'S  PATIENCE.  491 

liation  may  lie  prostrate  before  liim,  and  move  tlie  bowels  of  his 
mercy  to  a  louder  sound  than  the  voice  of  his  anger.  He  takes 
time  to  whet  his  sword,  that  men  may  turn  themselves  from  the 
edge  of  it.  He  roars  like  a  lion,  that  men,  by  hearing  his  voice, 
may  shelter  themselves  from  being  torn  by  his  wrath.  There  is 
patience  in  the  sharpest  threatening,  that  we  may  avoid  the  scourge. 
Who  can  charge  God  with  an  eagerness  to  revenge,  that  sends  so 
many  heralds,  and  so  often  before  he  strikes,  that  he  might  be  pre- 
vented from  striking  ?  His  threatenings  have  not  so  much  of  a 
black  flag  as  of  an  olive  branch.  He  lifts  up  his  hand  before  he 
strikes,  that  men  might  see  and  avert  the  stroke  (Isa.  xxvi.  11). 

2d.  His  patience  is  manifest  in  long  delaying  his  threatened  judg- 
ments, though  he  finds  no  repentance  in  the  rebels.  He  doth  some- 
times delay  his  lighter  punishments,  because  he  doth  not  delight  in 
torturing  his  creatures  ;  but  he  doth  longer  delay  his  destroying  pun- 
ishments, such  as  put  an  end  to  men's  happiness,  and  remit  them 
to  their  final  and  unchangeable  state ;  because  he  "  doth  not  de- 
light in  the  death  of  a  sinner."  While  he  is  preparing  his  an'ows, 
he  is  waiting  for  an  occasion  to  lay  them  aside,  and  dull  their 
points,  that  he  may  with  honor  march  back  again,  and  disband  his 
armies.  He  brings  lighter  smarts  sooner,  that  men  might  not  think 
him  asleep,  but  he  suspends  the  more  terrible  judgments  that  men 
might  be  led  to  repentance.  He  scatters  not  his  consuming  fires  at 
the  first,  but  brings  on  ruining  vengeance  with  a  "slow  pace  ;  sen- 
tence against  an  evil  work  is  not  speedily  executed"  (Eccles.  viii.  11). 
The  Jews  therefore  say,  that  Michael,  the  minister  of  justice,  flies 
with  one  wing,  but  Grabriel,  the  minister  of  mercy,  with  two.  An 
hundred  and  twenty  years  did  God  wait  upon  the  old  world,  and 
delay  their  punishment  all  the  time  the  "  ark  was  preparing" 
(1  Pet.  iii.  20) ;  wherein  that  wicked  generation  did  not  enjoy  only 
a  bare  patience,  but  a  striving  patience  (Gen.  vi.  8) :  "  My  Spuit 
shall  not  always  strive  with  man,  yet  his  days  shall  be  one  hundred 
and  twenty  years,"  the  days  wherein  I  will  strive  with  him ;  that 
his  long-siiifering  might  not  lose  all  its  fruit,  and  remit  the  objects 
of'it  into  the  hands  of  consuming  justice.  It  was  the  tenth  genera- 
tion of  the  world  from  Adam,  when  the  deluge  overflowed  it,  so 
long  did  God  bear  with  them  :  and  the  tenth  generation  from  Noah 
wherein  Sodom  was  consumed.  God  did  not  come  to  keep  his  as- 
sizes in  Sodom,  till  "the  cry  of  their  sins  was  very  strong,"  that  it 
had  been  a  wrong  to  his  justice  to  have  restrained  it  any  longer. 
The  cry  was  so  loud  that  he  could  not  be  at  quiet,  as  it  were,  on 
his  throne  of  glory  for  the  disturbing  noise  (Gen.  xviii.  20,  21). 
Sin  transgresseth  the  law  ;  the  law  being  violated,  solicits  justice  ; 
justice,  being  urged,  pleads  for  punishment;  the  cry  of  their  sins 
did,  as  it  were,  force  him  from  heaven  to  come  down,  and  examine 
what  cause  there  was  for  that  clamor.  Sin  cries  loud  and  long  be- 
fore he  takes  his  sword  in  hand.  Four  hundred  years  he  kept  off 
deserved  destruction  from  the  Amorites,  and  deferred  making  good 
his  promise  to  Abraham,  of  giving  Canaan  to  his  posterity,  out  of  his 
long-suffering  to  the  Amorites  (Gen.  xv.  16).  In  the  fourth  gene- 
ration they  shall  come  hither  again,  "  for  the  iniquity  of  the  Amor- 


492  CHARNOCK  ON  THE  ATTRIBUTES, 

ites  is  not  yet  full."  Their  measure  was  filling  then,  but  not  so 
full  as  to  put  a  stop  to  any  further  patience  till  four  hundred  years 
after.  The  usual  time  in  succeeding  generations,  from  the  denounc- 
ing of  judgments  to  the  execution,  is  forty  years ;  this  some  ground 
upon  Ezek.  iv.  6,  "  Thou  shalt  bear  the  iniquity  of  the  house  of 
Judah  forty  days,"  taking  each  day  for  a  year.  Though  Hosea 
lived  seventy  years,  yet  from  the  beginning  of  his  prophesying 
judgments  against  Israel  to  the  pouring  them  out  upon  that  idola- 
trous people,  it  was  forty  years.  Hosea,  as  was  mentioned  before, 
prophesied  against  them  in  the  days  of  Jeroboam  the  Second,  in 
whose  time  God  did  wonderfully  deliver  Israel  (2  Kings,  xiv.  26, 
27).  From  that  time,  till  the  total  destruction  of  the  ten  tribes,  it 
was  forty  years,  as  may  easily  be  computed  from  the  story  (2  Kings, 
XV. — xvi.),  by  the  reign  of  the  succeeding  kings.  So  forty  years 
aftSr  the  most  horrid  villany  that  ever  was  committed  in  the  face  of 
the  sun,  viz.^  the  crucifying  the  Son  of  God,  was  Jerusalem  de- 
stroyed, and  the  inhabitants  captived ;  so  long  did  God  delay  a 
visible  punishment  for  such  an  outrage.  Sometimes  he  prolongs 
sending  a  threatened  judgment  upon  a  mere  shadow  of  humiliation  ; 
so  he  did  that  denounced  against  Ahab.  He  turned  it  over  to  his 
posterity,  and  adjourned  it  to  another  season  (1  Kings,  xxi,  29).  He 
doth  not  issue  out  an  arrest  upon  one  transgression ;  you  often  find 
him  not  commencing  a  suit  against  men  till  "  three  and  four  trans- 
gressions." The  first  of  Amos,  all  along  that  chapter  and  the  second 
chapter,  for  "  three  and  four,"  i.  e.  "  seven  ;"  a  certain  number  for  an 
uncertain.  He  gives  not  orders  to  his  judgments  to  march  till  men 
be  obstinate,  and  refuse  any  commerce  with  him ;  he  stops  them  till 
"  there  be  no  remedy"  (2  Chron.  xxxvi.  16).  It  must  be  a  great 
wickedness  that  gives  vent  to  them  (Hos.  x.  15);  Heb.  "Your 
wickedness  of  wickedness."  He  is  so  "  slow  to  anger,"  and  stays  the 
punishment  his  enemies  deserve,  that  he  may  seem  to  have  forgot 
his  "  kindness  to  his  friends"  (Ps.  xliv.  24) :  "  Wherefore  hidest  thou 
thy  face,  and  forgettest  our  affliction  and  oppression  ?"  He  lets  his 
people  groan  under  the  yoke  of  their  enemies,  as  if  he  were  made 
up  of  kindness  to  his  enemies,  and  anger  against  his  friends.  This 
delaying  of  punishment  to  evil  men  is  visible  in  his  suspending  the 
terrifying  acts  of  conscience,  and  supporting  it  only  in  its  checking, 
admonishing,  and  controlling  acts.  The  patience  of  a  governor  is 
seen  in  the  patient  mildness  of  his  deputy :  David's  conscience  did  not 
terrify  him  till  nine  months  after  his  sin  of  murder.  Should  God 
set  open  the  mouth  of  this  power  within  us,  not  only  the  earth,  but 
our  own  bodies  and  spirits,  would  be  a  burden  to  us :  it  is  long  be- 
fore God  puts  scorpions  into  the  hands  of  men's  consciences  to 
scourge  them  :  he  holds  back  the  rod,  waiting  for  the  hour  of  our 
return,  as  if  that  would  be  a  recompense  for  our  offences  and  his 
forbearance. 

3d.  His  patience  is  manifest  in  his  unwillingness  to  execute  his 
judgments  when  he  can  delay  no  longer.  "  He  doth  not  afflict 
willingly,  nor  grieve  the  children  of  men"  (Lam.  iii.  83) :  Heb.  "  He 
doth  not  afflict  from  his  heart :"  he  takes  no  pleasure  in  it,  as  he  is 
Creator.     The  height  of  men's  provocations,  and  the  necessity  of  the 


ON"  GOD'S  PATIENCE.  493 

preserving  his  riglits,  and  vindicating  his  laws,  obligeth  him  to  it,  as 
he  is  the  Governor  of  the  world  ;  as  a  judge  may  willingly  condemn 
a  malefactor  to  death  out  of  affection  to  the  laws,  and  desire  to  pre- 
serve the  order  of  government,  but  unwillingly,  ont  of  compassion 
to  the  offender  himself  When  he  resolved  upon  the  destruction  of 
the  old  world,  he  spake  it  as  a  God  grieved  with  an  occasion  of  pun- 
ishment (Gen.  vi.  6,  7,  compared  together).  When  he  came  to  reckon 
with  Adam,  "  he  walked,"  he  did  not  run  with  his  sword  in  his  hand 
upon  him,  as  a  mighty  man  with  an  eagerness  to  destroy  him  (Gen. 
iii.  8),  and  that  "in  the  cool  of  the  day,"  a  time  when  men,  tired  in 
the  day,  are  unwilling  to  engage  in  a  hard  employment.  His  exer- 
cising judgment  is  a  "  coming  out  of  his  place"  (Isa.  xxvi.  21 ;  Mic. 
i.  3)  :  he  comes  out  of  his  station  to  exercise  judgment ;  a  throne  is 
more  his  place  than  a  tribunal.  Every  prophecy,  loaded  with  threat- 
enings,.  is  called  the  "  burden  of  the  Lord ;"  a  burden  to  him  to  exe- 
cute it,  as  well  as  to  men  to  suffer  it.  Though  three  angels  came  to 
Abraham  about  the  punishment  of  Sodom,  whereof  one  Abraham 
speaks  to  as  to  God,  yet  but  two  appeared  at  the  destruction  of  Sod- 
om, as  if  the  Governor  of  the  world  were  unwilling  to  be  present  at 
such  dreadful  work  (Gen.  xix.  1)  :  and  when  the  man,  that  had  the 
ink-horn  by  his  side,  that  was  appointed  to  mark  those  that  were  to 
be  preserved  in  the  common  destruction,  returned  to  give  an  account 
of  the  performing  his  commission  (Ezek.  ix.  10),  we  read  not  of  the 
return  of  those  that  were  to  kill,  as  if  God  delighted  only  to  hear 
again  of  his  works  of  mercy,  and  had  no  mind  to  hear  again  of  his 
severe  proceedings.  The  Jews,  to  show  God's  unwillingness  to 
punish,  imagine  that  hell  was  created  the  second  day,  because  that 
day's  work  is  not  pronounced  good  by  God  as  all  the  other  days' 
works  are''  (Gen.  i.  8). 

(1.)  When  God  doth  punish  he  doth  it  with  some  regret.  When 
he  hurls  down  his  thunders,  he  seems  to  do  it  with  a  backward  hand, 
because  with  an  unwilling  heart.'  He  created,  saith  Chrysostom,  the 
world  in  six  days,  but  was  seven  days  in  destroying  one  city,  Jericho, 
which  he  had  before  devoted  to  be  razed  to  the  ground.  What  is  the 
reason,  saith  he,  that  God  is  so  quick  to  build  up,  but  slow  to  pull 
down  ?  His  goodness  excites  his  power  to  the  one,  but  is  not  earn- 
est to  persuade  him  to  the  other  :  when  he  comes  to  strike,  he  doth 
it  with  a  sigh  or  groan  (Isa.  i.  24)  :  "  Ah !  I  will  ease  me  of  my  ad- 
versaries, and  avenge  me  on  my  enemies,"  "^in,  Ah  !  a  note  of  grief. 
So  Hos.  vi.  4,  "  O  Ephraim  !  what  shall  I  do  unto  thee  ?  0  Judah  ! 
what  shall  I  do  unto  thee  ?"  It  is  an  adduhitatio,  a  figure  in  rhetoric, 
as  if  God  were  troubled  that  he  must  deal  so  sharply  with  them,  and 
give  them  up  to  their  enemies : — I  have  tried  all  means  to  reclaim 
you  ;  I  have  used  all  ways  of  kindness,  and  nothing  prevails  ;  what 
shall  I  do  ?  my  mercy  invites  me  to  spare  them,  and  their  ingratitude 
provokes  me  to  ruin  them.  God  had  borne  with  that  people  of 
Israel  almost  three  hundred  years,  from  the  setting  up  of  the  calves 
at  Dan  and  Bethel ;  sent  many  a  prophet  to  warn  them,  and  spent 
many  a  rod  to  reform  them :  and  when  he  comes  to  execute  his 
threatenings,  he  doth  with  a  conflict  in  himself  (Hos.  xi.  8)  :  "  How 
^  Mercer  in  Gen.  '  Cressol.  Decad.  11.  p.  163. 


494  CHAHNOCK  ON"  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

sliall  I  give  tliee  up,  0  Epliraim  ?  how  shall  I  deliver  thee,  Israel  ?" 
as  if  there  were  a  pull-back  in  his  own  bowels.  He  solemnizeth 
their  approaching  funeral  with  a  hearty  groan,  and  takes  his  farewell 
of  the  dying  malefactor  with  a  pang  in  himself.  How  often,  in  for- 
mer times,  when  he  had  signed  a  warrant  for  their  execution,  did  he 
call  it  back  ?  (Ps.  Ixxviii.  38) :  "  Many  a  time  turned  he  his  anger 
away."  Many  a  time  he  recalled  or  ordered  his  anger  to  return 
again,  as  the  word  signifies,  as  if  he  were  irresolute  what  to  do  :  he 
recalled  it,  as  a  man  doth  his  servant,  several  times,  when  he  is 
sending  him  upon  an  unwelcome  message ;  or  as  a  tender-hearted 
prince  wavers  and  trembles  when  he  is  to  sign  a  writ  for  the  death 
of  a  rebel  that  hath  been  before  his  favorite,  as  if,  when  he  had  sign- 
ed the  -writ,  he  blotted  out  his  name  again,  and  flung  away  the  pen. 
And  his  method  is  remarkable  when  he  came  to  punish  Sodom ; 
though  the  cry  of  their  sin  had  been  fierce  in  his  ears,  yet  when  he 
comes  to  make  inquisition,  he  declares  his  intention  to  Abraham,  as 
if  he  were  desirous  that  Abraham  should  have  helped  him  to  some 
arguments  to  stop  the  outgoings  of  his  judgment.  He  gave  liberty 
to  the  best  person  in  the  world  to  stand  in  the  gap,  and  enter  into  a 
treaty  with  him,  to  show,  saith  one,™  how  willingly  his  mercy  would 
have  compounded  with  his  justice  for  their  redemption  ;  and  Abra- 
ham interceded  so  long,  till  he  was  ashamed  for  pleading  the  cause 
of  patience  and  mercy  to  the  wrong  of  the  rights  of  Divine  justice. 
Perhaps,  had  Abraham  had  the  courage  to  ask,  God  would  have 
had  the  compassion  to  grant  a  reprieve  just  at  the  time  of  execution. 
(2.)  His  patience  is  manifest  in  that  when  he  begins  to  send  out 
his  judgments,  he  doth  it  by  degrees.  His  judgments  are  "as  the 
morning  light,"  which  goes  forth  by  degrees  in  the  hemisphere  (Hos. 
vi.  5).  He  doth  not  shoot  all  his  thunders  at  once,  and  bring  his 
sharpest  judgments  in  array  at  one  time,  but  gradually,  that  a  people 
may  have  time  to  turn  to  him  (Joel,  i.  4).  First  the  palmer-worm, 
then  the  locust,  then  the  canker-worm,  then  the  caterpillar ;  what 
one  left,  the  other  was  to  eat,  if  there  were  not  a  timely  return.  A 
Jewish  writer"  saith,  these  judgments  came  not  all  in  one  year,  but 
one  year  after  another.  The  palmer- worm  and  locust  might  have 
eaten  all,  but  Divine  patience  set  bounds  to  the  devouring  creatures. 
God  had  been  first  as  a  moth  to  Israel  (Hos.  v.  12) :  "  Therefore  will 
I  be  to  the  house  of  Ephraim  as  a  moth ;"  Rivet  translates  it,  "  I 
have  been  ;"  in  the  Hebrew  it  is  "  I,"  without  adding  "  I  have  been," 
or  "  I  will  be,"  and  more  probably  "  I  have  been ;"  I  was  as  a  moth, 
which  makes  little  holes  in  a  garment,  and  consumes  it  not  all  at 
once ;  and  as  "  rottenness  to  the  house  of  Judah,"  or  a  worm  that 
eats  into  wood  by  degrees.  Indeed,  this  people  had  consumed  in- 
sensibly, partly  by  civil  combustions,  change  of  governors,  foreign 
invasions,  yet  they  were  as  obstinate  in  their  idolatry  as  ever ;  at 
last  God  would  be  no  longer  to  them  as  a  moth,  but  as  a  lion,  tear 
and  go  away  (ver.  14) :  so  Hos.  ii.,  God  had  disowned  Israel  for  his 
spouse  (ver.  2),  "  She  is  not  my  wife,  neither  am  I  her  husband  ;" 
yet  he  had  not  taken  away  her  ornaments,  which  by  the  right  of 
divorce  he  might  have  done,  but  still  expected  her  reformation,  for 

"»  Pierce,  Sinner  Implead,  p.  227.  "  Kimchi. 


ON  GOD'S  PATIENCE.  495 

that  the  threatening  intimates  (ver,  3) ;  let  her  put  away  her  whore- 
dom, "  lest  I  strip  her  naked,  and  set  her  as  in  the  day  when  she 
was  born."  If  she  returned,  she  might  recover  what  she  had  lost ; 
if  not,  she  might  be  stripped  of  what  remained  :  thus  God  dealt  with 
Judah  (Ezek.  ix.  3).  The  glory  of  God  goes  first  from  the  cherub 
to  the  threshold  of  the  house,  and  stays  there,  as  if  he  had  a  mind  to 
be  invited  back  again  ;  then  it  goes  from  the  threshold  of  the  house, 
and  stands  over  the  cherubims,  as  if  upon  a  penitent  call  it  would 
drop  down  again  to  its  ancient  station  and  seat,  over  which  it  hover- 
ed (Ezek.  X.  18) ;  and  when  he  was  not  solicited  to  return,  he  de- 
parts out  of  the  city,  and  stood  upon  the  mountain,  which  is  on  the 
east  part  of  the  city  (Ezek.  xi.  23),  looking  still  towards,  and  hover- 
ing about  the  temple,  which  was  on  the  east  of  Jerusalem,  as  if  loth 
to  depart,  and  abandon  the  place  and  people.  He  walks  so  leisurely, 
with  his  rod  in  his  hand,  as  if  he  had  a  mind  rather  to  fling  it  away 
than  use  it ;  his  patience  in  not  pouring  out  all  his  vials,  is  more  re- 
markable than  his  wrath  in  pouring  out  one  or  two.  Thus  hath  God 
made  his  slowness  to  anger  visible  to  us  in  the  gradual  punishment 
of  us ;  first,  the  pestilence  on  this  city,  then  firing  our  houses,  con- 
sumption of  trade ;  these  have  not  been  answered  with  such  a  carriage 
as  God  expects,  therefore  a  greater  is  reserved.  I  dare  prognosti- 
cate, upon  reasons  you  may  gather  from  what  hath  been  spoke  be- 
fore, if  I  be  not  much  mistaken,  the  forty  years  of  his  usual  patience 
are  very  near  expired ;  he  hath  inflicted  some,  that  he  might  be  met 
with  in  a  way  of  repentance,  and  omit  with  honor  the  inflicting  the 
remainder. 

4th.  His  patience  is  manifest,  in  moderating  his  judgments,  when 
he  sends  them.  Doth  he  empty  his  quiver  of  his  arrows,  or  exhaust 
his  magazines  of  thunder?  No;  he  could  roll  one  thunderbolt  suc- 
cessively upon  all  mankind ;  it  is  as  easy  with  him  to  create  a  j^ei'pet- 
ual  motion  of  lightning  and  thunder,  as  of  the  sun  and  stars,  and 
make  the  world  as  terrible  by  the  one,  as  it  is  delightful  by  the 
other.  He  opens  not  all  his  store,  he  sends  out  a  light  party  to  skir- 
mish with  men,  and  puts  not  in  array  his  whole  army ;  "  He  stirs 
not  up  all  his  wrath"  (Ps.  Ixxviii.  38)  ;  he  doth  but  pinch,  where  he 
might  have  torn  asunder ;  when  he  takes  away  much,  he  leaves 
enough  to  support  us ;  if  he  had  stirred  up  all  his  anger,  he  had 
taken  away  all,  and  our  lives  to  boot.  He  rakes  up  but  a  few  sparks, 
takes  but  one  firebrand  to  fling  upon  men,  when  he  might  discharge 
the  whole  furnace  upon  them ;  he  sends  but  a  few  drops  out  of  the 
cloud,  which  he  might  make  to  break  in  the  gross,  and  fall  down 
upon  our  heads  to  overwhelm  us  ;  he  abates  much  of  what  he  might 
do.  When  he  might  sweep  away  a  whole  nation  by  deluges  of 
water,  corruption  of  the  air,  or  convulsions  of  the  earth,  or  by  other 
ways  that  are  not  wanting  at  his  order ;  he  picks  out  only  some 
persons,  some  families,  some  cities ;  sends  a  plague  into  one  house, 
and  not  into  another;  here  is  patience  to  the  stock  of  a  nation,  while 
he  inflicts  punishment  upon  some  of  the  most  notorious  sinners  in  it. 
Herod  is  suddenly  snatched  away,  being  willingly  flattered  into  the 
thoughts  of  his  being  a  god ;  God  singled  out  the  chief  in  the  herd 
for  whose  sake  he  had  been  affronted  by  the  rabble  (Acts  xii.  22, 


496  CHARNOCK  ON  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

23).  Some  find  liim  sparing  them,  while  otliers  feel  Lim  destroying 
tliem ;  he  arrests  some,  when  he  might  seize  all,  all  being  his  debt- 
ors ;  and  often  in  great  desolations  brought  upon  a  people  for  their 
sin,  he  hath  left  a  stump  in  the  earth,  as  Daniel  speaks  (Dan.  iv.  15), 
for  a  nation  to  grow  upon  it  again,  and  arise  to  a  stronger  constitu- 
tion. He  doth  punish  "  less  than  our  iniquities  deserve"  (Ezra  ix, 
13),  and  rewards  us  "  not  according  to  our  iniquities"  (Ps,  ciii.  10). 
The  greatness  of  any  punishment  in  this  life,  answers  not  the  great- 
ness of  the  crime.  Though  there  be  an  equity  in  whatsoever  he 
doth,  yet  there  is  not  an  equality  to  what  we  deserve ;  our  iniquities 
Would  justify  a  severer  treating  of  us  ;  his  justice  goes  not  here  to 
the  end  of  its  line,  it  is  stopped  in  its  progress,  and  the  blows  of  it 
weakened  by  his  patience ;  he  did  not  curse  the  earth  after  Adam's 
fall,  that  it  should  bring  forth  no  fruit,  but  that  it  should  not  bring  forth 
fruit  without  the  wearisome  toil  of  man,  and  subjected  him  to  distem- 
pers presently,  but  inflicted  not  death  immediately ;  while  he  pun- 
ished him,  he  supported  him;  and  while  he  expelled  him  from 
paradise,  he  did  not  order  him  not  to  cast  his  eye  towards  it,  and 
conceive  some  hopes  of  regaining  that  happy  place. 

5th.  His  patience  is  seen  iu  giving  great  mercies  after  provoca- 
tions. He  is  so  slow  to  anger,  that  he  heaps  many  kindnesses  upon 
a  rebel,  instead  of  punishment.  There  is  a  prosperous  wickedness, 
wherein  the  provoker's  strength  continues  firm ;  the  troubles,  which 
like  clouds  drop  upon  others,  are  blown  away  from  them,  and  they 
are  "not  plagued  like  other  men,"  that  have  a  more  worthy  de- 
meanor towards  God  (Ps.  Ixxiii.  3' — 5).  He  doth  not  only  continue 
their  lives,  but  sends  out  fresh  beams  of  his  goodness  upon  them, 
and  calls  them  by  his  blessings,  that  they  may  acknowledge  their 
own  fault  and  his  bounty,  which  he  is  not  obhged  to  by  any  grati- 
tude he  meets  with  from  them,  but  by  the  richness  of  his  own  patient 
nature :  for  he  finds  the  unthankfulness  of  men  as  great  as  his  bene- 
fits to  them.  He  doth  not  only  continue  his  outward  mercies,  while 
we  continue  our  sins,  but  sometimes  gives  fresh  benefits  after  new 
provocations,  that  if  possible  he  might  excite  an  ingenuity  in  men. 
When  Israel  at  the  Red  Sea  flung  dirt  in  the  face  of  God,  by  quar- 
relling with  his  servant  Moses  for  bringing  them  out  of  Egypt,  and 
misjudging  God  in  his  design  of  deliverance,  and  were  ready  to  sub- 
mit themselves  to  their  former  oppressors  (Exod.  xiv.  11,  12),  which 
might  justly  have  urged  God  to  say  to  them,  Take  your  own  course; 
yet  he  is  not  only  patient  under  their  unjust  charge,  but  "  makes 
bare  his  arm  in  a  deliverance  at  the  Red  Sea,"  that  was  to  be  an 
amazing  monument  to  the  world  in  all  ages ;  and  afterwards,  when 
they  repiningly  quarrelled  with  him  in  their  wants  in  the  wilderness, 
he  did  not  only  not  revenge  himself  upon  them,  or  cast  off  the  con- 
duct of  them,  i3ut  bore  with  them  by  a  miraculous  long-suffering, 
and  supplied  them  with  miraculous  provision, — manna  from  heaven, 
and  water  from  a  rock.  Food  is  given  to  support  us,  and  clothes  to 
cover  us,  and  Divine  patience  makes  the  creature  which  we  turn  to 
another  use  than  what  they  were  at  first  intended  for,  serve  us  con- 
trary to  their  own  genius :  for  had  they  reason,  no  question  but 
they  would  complain  to  be  subjected  to  the  service  of  man,  who 


ON   GOD'S   PATIENCE.  497 

hatli  been  so  ungrateful  to  their  Creator,  and  groan  at  the  abuse 
of  God's  patience,  in  the  abuse  they  themselves  suffer  from  the 
hands  of  man. 

6th.  All  this  is  more  manifest,  if  we  consider  the  provocations  he 
hath.  Wherein  his  slowness  to  anger  infinitely  transcends  the  pa- 
tience of  any  creature ;  nay,  the  spirits  of  all  the  angels  and  glorified 
saints  in  heaven,  would  be  too  narrow  to  bear  the  sins  of  the  world 
for  one  day,  nay,  not  so  much  as  the  sins  of  churches,  which  is  a  lit- 
tle spot  in  the  whole  world ;  it  is  because  he  is  the  Lord,  one  of  an 
infinite  power  over  himself,  that  not  only  the  whole  mass  of  the  re- 
bellious world,  but  of  the  sons  of  Jacob  (either  considered  as  a 
church  and  nation  springing  from  the  loins  of  Jacob,  or  considered 
as  the  regenerate  part  of  the  world,  sometimes  called  the  seed  of 
Jacob),  "  are  not  consumed"  (Mai.  iii.  6).  A  Jonah  was  angry  with 
God,  for  recalling  his  anger  from  a  sinful  people ;  had  God  com- 
mitted the  government  of  the  world  to  the  glorified  saints,  who  are 
perfect  in  love  and  holiness,  the  world  would  have  had  an  end  long 
ago  ;  they  would  have  acted  that  which  they  sue  for  at  the  hands  of 
God,  and  is  not  granted  them.  "  How  long.  Lord,  holy  and  true, 
dost  thou  not  avenge  our  blood  on  them  that  dwell  on  the  earth  ?" 
(Rev.  vi.  10).  God  hath  designs  of  patience  above  the  world,  above 
the  unsinning  angels,  and  perfectly  renewed  spirits  in  glory.  The 
greatest  created  long-suffering  is  infinitely  disproportioned  to  the  Di- 
vine :  fire  from  heaven  would  have  been  showered  down  before  the 
greatest  part  of  a  day  were  spent,  if  a  created  patience  had  the  con- 
duct of  the  world,  though  that  creature  were  possessed  with  the  spirit 
of  patience,  extracted  from  all  the  creatures  which  are  in  heaven,  or 
are,  or  ever  were  upon  the  earth.  Methinks  Moses  intimates  this ;  for 
as  soon  as  God  had  passed  by,  proclaiming  his  name  gracious  and 
long  suffering,  as  soon  as  ever  Moses  had  paid  his  adoration,  he  falls 
to  praying  that  God  would  go  with  the  Israelites ;  "  For  it  is  a  stiff- 
necked  people"  (Exod.  xxxiv.  8,  9).  What  an  argument  is  here  for 
God  to  go  along  with  them !  he  might  rather,  since  he  had  heard 
him  but  just  before  say  "he  would  by  no  means  clear  the  guilty," 
desire  God  to  stand  further  off"  from  them,  for  fear  the  fire  of  his 
wrath  should  burst  out  from  him,  to  burn  them  as  he  did  the  Sodom- 
ites. But  he  considers,  that  as  none  but  God  had  such  anger  to 
destroy  them,  so  none  but  God  had  such  a  patience  to  bear  with 
them ;  it  is  as  much  as  if  he  should  have  said.  Lord !  if  thou  shouldest 
send  the  most  tender-hearted  angel  in  heaven  to  have  the  guidance 
of  this  people,  they  would  be  a  lost  people ;  a  period  will  quickly 
be  set  to  their  lives,  no  created  strength  can  restrain  its  jDOwer  from 
crushing  such  a  stiff-necked  people;  flesh  and  blood  cannot  bear 
them,  nor  any  created  spirit  of  a  greater  might. 

(1.)  Consider  the  greatness  of  the  provocations.  No  light  matter, 
but  actions  of  a  great  defiance :  what  is  the  practical  language  of 
most  in  the  world,  but  that  of  Pharoah  ?  "  Who  is  the  Lord,  that  I 
should  obey  him  ?"  How  many  questions  his  being,  and  more  his 
authority  ?  What  blasphemies  of  him,  what  reproaches  of  his  Ma- 
jesty !  'Men  "  drinking  up  iniquity  like  water,"  and  with  a  haste 
and  ardency  "  rushing  into  sin,  as  the  horse  into  the  battle."     What 

VOL.  II. — 32 


498  CHARNOCK   ON  THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

is  there  in  tlie  reasonable  creature,  tliat  liatli  the  quickest  capacity, 
and  the  deepest  obligation  to  serve  him,  but  opposition  and  enmity, 
a  slight  of  him  in  everything,  yea,  the  services  most  seriously  per- 
formed, unsuited  to  the  royalty  and  purity  of  so  great  a  Being  ?  such 
provocations  as  dare  him  to  his  face,  that  are  a  burden  to  so  right- 
eous a  Judge,  and  so  great  a  lover  of  the  authority  and  majesty  of 
his  laws ;  tliat  were  there  but  a  spark  of  anger  in  him,  it  is  a  wonder 
it  doth  not  show  itself.  When  he  is  invaded  in  all  his  attributes,  it 
is  astonishing  that  this  single  one  of  patience  and  meekness  should 
withstand  the  assault  of  all  the  rest  of  his  perfections ;  his  being, 
which  is  attacked  by  sin,  speaks  for  vengeance;  his  justice  cannot 
be  imagined  to  stand  silent  without  charging  the  sinner.  His  holi- 
ness cannot  but  encourage  his  justice  to  urge  its  pleas,  and  be  an  ad- 
vocate for  it.  His  omniscience  proves  the  truth  of  all  the  charge, 
and  his  abused  mercy  hath  little  encouragement  to  make  opposition 
to  the  indictment ;  nothing  but  patience  stands  in  the  gap  to  keep 
off  the  arrest  of  judgment  from  the  sinner. 

(2.)  His  patience  is  manifest,  if  you  consider  the  multitudes  of  these 
provocations.  Every  man  hath  sin  enough  in  a  day  to  make  him 
stand  amazed  at  Divine  patience,  and  to  call  it,  as  well  as  the  apostle 
did,  "  all  long-suffering"  (1  Tim.  i.  16).  How  few  duties  of  a  per- 
fectly right  stamp  are  performed  !  "What  unworthy  considerations 
mix  themselves,  like  dross,  with  our  purest  and  sincerest  gold  !  How 
more  numerous  are  the  respects  of  the  worshippers  of  him  to  them- 
selves, than  unto  him  !  How  many  services  are  paid  him,  not  out 
of  love  to  him,  but  because  he  should  do  us  no  hurt,  and  some  ser- 
vice ;  when  we  do  not  so  much  design  to  please  him,  as  to  please 
ourselves  by  expectations  of  a  reward  from  him !  What  master 
v/ould  endure  a  servant  that  endeavored  to  please  him,  only  because 
he  should  not  kill  him  ?  Is  that  former  charge  of  God  upon  the  old 
world  yet  out  of  date,  "  That  the  imagination  of  the  thoughts  of 
the  heart  of  man  was  only  evil,  and  that  continually  ?"  (Gen.  vi.  5.) 
Was  not  the  new  world  as  chargeable  with  it  as  the  old  ?  Certainly 
it  was  (Gen.  viii.  21) ;  and  is  of  as  much  force  this  very  minute  as 
it  was  then.  How  many  are  the  sins  against  knowledge,  as  well  as 
those  of  ignorance  ;  presumptuous  sins,  as  well  as  those  of  infirmity  ! 
How  numerous  those  of  omission  and  commission  !  It  is  above  the 
reach  of  any  man's  understanding  to  conceive  all  the  blasphemies, 
oaths,  thefts,  adulteries,  murders,  oppressions,  contempt  of  religion, 
the  open  idolatries  of  Turks  and  heathens,  the  more  spiritual  and 
refined  idolatries  of  others.''  Add  to  those,  the  ingratitude  of  those 
that  profess  his  name,  their  pride,  earthliness,  carelessness,  sluggish- 
ness to  Divine  duties,  and  in  every  one  of  those  a  multitude  of 
provocations  ;  the  whole  man  being  engaged  in  every  sin,  the  under- 
standing contriving  it,  the  will  embracing  it,  the  affections  comply- 
ing with  it,  and  all  the  members  of  the  body  instruments  in  the 
acting  the  unrighteousness  of  it ;  every  one  of  these  faculties  be- 
stowed upon  men  by  him,  are  armed  against  him  in  every  act :  and 
in  every  employment  of  them  there  is  a  distinct  provocation,  though 
centred  in  one  sinful  end  and  object.     What  are  the  offences  all  the 

••  Lessius,  p.  152. 


ON"  god;?  patience,  499 

men  of  the  world  receive  from  their  fellow-creatures,  to  the  injuries 
God  receives  from  men,  but  as  a  small  dust  of  earth  to  the  whole 
mass  of  earth  and  heaven  too  ?  What  multitudes  of  sins  is  one 
profane  wretch  guilty  of  in  the  space  of  twenty,  forty,  fifty  years  ? 
Who  can  compute  the  vast  number  of  his  transgressions,  from  the 
first  use  of  reason  to  the  time  of  the  separation  of  his  soul  from  his 
body,  from  his  entrance  into  the  world  to  his  exit?  What  are 
those,  to  those  of  a  whole  village  of  the  like  inhabitants  ?  What 
are  those,  to  those  of  a  great  city  ?  Who  can  number  up  all  the 
foul-mouthed  oaths,  the  beastly  excess,  the  goatish  uncleanness,  com- 
mitted in  the  space  of  a  day,  year,  twenty  years  in  this  city,  much 
less  in  the  whole  nation,  least  of  all,  in  the  whole  world  ?  Were  it 
no  more  than  the  common  idolatry  of  former  ages,  when  the  whole 
world  turned  their  backs  upon  their  Creator,  and  passed  him  by  to 
sue  to  a  creature,  a  stock  or  stone,  or  a  degraded  spirit  ?  How  pro- 
voking would  it  be  to  a  prince  to  see  a  whole  city  under  his  domin- 
ion deny  him  a  respect,  and  pay  it  to  his  scullion,  or  the  common 
executioner  he  employs  !  Add  to  this  the  unjust  invasion  of  kings, 
the  oppressions  exercised  upon  men,  all  the  private  and  public  sins 
that  have  been  in  the  world  ever  since  it  began.  The  Gentiles  were 
described  by  the  apostle  (Rom.  i.  29 — 31),  in  a  black  character, 
"  They  were  haters  of  God ;"  yet  how  did  the  "  riches  of  his  pa- 
tience" preserve  multitudes  of  such  disingenuous  persons,  and  how 
"  many  millions  of  such  haters  of  him"  breathe  every  day  in  his 
air,  and  are  maintained  by  his  bounty,  have  their  tables  spread,  and 
their  cups  filled  to  the  brim,  and  that,  too,  in  the  midst  of  reiterated 
belchings  of  their  enmity  against  him?  All  are  under  sufficient 
provocations  of  him  to  the  highest  indignation.  The  presiding 
angels  over  nations  could  not  forbear,  in  love  and  honor  to  their 
governor,  to  arm  themselves  to  the  destruction  of  their  several 
charges,  if  Divine  patience  did  not  set  them  a  pattern,  and  their 
obedience  incline  them  to  expect  his  orders,  before  they  act  what 
their  zeal  would  prompt  them  to.  The  devils  would  be  glad  of  a 
commission  to  destroy  the  world,  but  that  his  patience  puts  a  stop 
to  their  fury,  as  well  as  his  own  justice. 

(3.)  Consider  the  long  time  of  this  patience.  He  spread  out  his 
hands  "  all  the  day"  to  a  rebelhous  world  (Isa.  Ixv.  2).  All  men's 
day,  all  God's  day,  which  is  a  "  thousand  years,"  he  hath  borne 
with  the  gross  of  mankind,  with  all  the  nations  of  the  world  in  a 
long  succession  of  ages,  for  five  tliousand  years  and  upwards  already, 
and  will  bear  with  them  till  the  time  comes  for  the  world's  dissolu- 
tion. He  hath  suffered  the  monstrous  acts  of  men,  and  endured  the 
contradictions  of  a  sinful  world  against  himself,  from  the  first  sin  of 
Adam,  to  the  last  committed  this  minute.  The  line  of  his  patience 
hath  run  along  with  the  duration  of  the  world  to  this  day ;  and  there 
is  not  any  one  of  Adam's  posterity  but  hath  been  expensive  to  him, 
and  partaken  of  the  riches  of  it. 

(4.)  All  these  he  bears  when  he  hath  a  sense  of  them.  He  sees 
every  day  the  roll  and  catalogue  of  sin  increasing ;  he  hath  a  distinct 
view  of  every  one,  from  the  sin  of  Adam  to  the  last  filled  up  in  his 
omniscience  ;  and  yet  gives  no  order  for  tlie  arrest  of  the  world.    He 


500  CHARNOCK   ON   THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

knows  men  fitted  for  destruction  ;  all  the  instants  he  exerciseth  long- 
suffering  towards  them,  which  makes  the  apostle  call  it  not  simply 
long-suffering,  without  the  addition  of  7toU\  "  much  long-suffering" 
(Rom.  ix.  23).  There  is  not  a  grain  in  the  whole  mass  of  sin,  that 
he  hath  not  a  distinct  knowledge  of,  and  of  the  quality  of  it.  He 
perfectly  understands  the  greatness  of  his  own  majesty  that  is  vili- 
fied, and  the  nature  of  the  offence  that  doth  disparage  him.  He  is 
solicited  by  his  justice,  directed  by  his  omniscience,  and  armed  with 
judgments  to  vindicate  himself,  but  his  arm  is  restrained  by  patience. 
To  conclude :  no  indignity  is  hid  from  him,  no  iniquity  is  beloved  by 
him  ;  the  hatred  of  their  sinfulness  is  infinite,  and  the  knowledge  of 
the  malice  is  exact.  The  subsisting  of  the  world  imder  such  weighty 
provocations,  so  numerous,  so  long  time,  and  with  his  full  sense 
of  every  one  of  them,  is  an  evidence  of  such  a  "forbearance  and 
long-suffering,"  that  the  addition  of  riches  which  the  apostle  puts 
to  it  (Rom.  ii,  4),  labors  with  an  insufficiency  clearly  to  display  it. 

III.  Why  God  doth  exercise  so  much  patience. 

1.  To  show  himself  appeasable.  God  did  not  declare  by  his  pa- 
tience to  former  ages,  or  any  age,  that  he  was  appeased  with  them, 
or  that  they  were  in  his  favor ;  but  that  he  was  appeasable,  that 
he  was  not  an  implacable  enemy,  but  that  they  might  find  him 
favorable  to  them,  if  they  did  seek  after  him.  The  continuance 
of  the  world  by  patience,  and  the  bestowing  many  mercies  by 
goodness,  were  not  a  natural  revelation  of  the  manner  how  he 
would  be  appeased :  that  was  made  known  only  by  the  prophets, 
and  after  the  coming  of  Christ  by  the  apostles ;  and  had  indeed 
been  intelligible  in  some  sort  to  the  whole  world,  had  there  been 
a  faithfulness  in  Adam's  posterity,  to  transmit  the  tradition  of  the 
first  promise  to  succeeding  generations.  Had  not  the  knowledge 
of  that  died  by  their  carelessness  and  neglect,  it  had  been  easy 
to  tell  the  reason  of  God's  patience  to  be  in  order  to  the  exhibition 
of  the  "  Seed  of  the  woman  to  bruise  the  serpent's  head."  They 
could  not  but  naturally  know  themselves  sinners,  and  worthy  of 
death  ;  they  might,  by  easy  reflections  upon  themselves,  collect  that 
they  were  not  in  that  comely  and  harmonious  posture  now,  as  they 
were  when  God  first  wrought  them  with  his  own  finger,  and  placed 
them  as  his  lieutenants  in  the  world ;  they  knew  they  did  grievously 
offend  him ;  this  they  were  taught  by  the  sprinklings  of  his  judg- 
ments among  them  sometimes.  And  since  he  did  not  utterly  root 
up  mankind,  his  sparing  patience  was  a  prologue  of  some  further 
favors,  or  pardoning  grace  to  be  displayed  to  the  world  by  some 
methods  of  God  yet  unknown  to  them.  Though  the  earth  was 
something  impaired  by  the  curse  after  the  fall,  yet  the  main  pillars 
of  it  stood ;  the  state  of  the  natural  motions  of  the  creature  was  not 
changed ;  the  heavens  remained  in  the  same  posture  wherein  they 
were  created ;  the  sun,  and  moon,  and  other  heavenly  bodies,  con- 
tinued their  usefulness  and  refreshing  influences  to  man. 

The  heavens  did  still  "  declare  the  glory  of  God,  day  unto  day" 
did  "  utter  speech  ;  their  line  is  gone  throughout  all  the  earth,  and 
their  words  to  the  end  of  the  world"  (Ps.  xix.  1 — 4) :  which  declared 
God  to  be  willing  to  do  good  to  his  creatures,  and  were  as  so  many 


OlSr  GOD'S   PATIENCE.  501 

legible  letters  or  rudiments,  whereby  they  might  read  his  patience, 
and  that  a  farther  design  of  favor  to  the  world  lay  hid  in  that  pa- 
tience, Paul  applies  this  to  the  preaching  of  the  gospel  (Rom.  x. 
18) :  "  Have  they  not  heard  the  word  of  God  ?  yes,  verily,  their 
sound  went  into  all  the  earth,  and  their  words  unto  the  end  of  the 
world."  Redeeming  grace  could  not  be  spelled  out  by  them  in  a 
clear  notion,  but  yet  they  did  declare  that  Avhich  is  the  foundation 
of  gospel  mercy.  Were  not  God  patient,  there  were  no  room  for  a 
gospel  mercy,  so  that  the  heavens  declare  the  gospel,  not  formally, 
but  fundamentall}^,  in  declaring  the  long-suffering  of  God,  without 
which  no  gospel  had  been  framed,  or  could  have  been  expected. 
They  could  not  but  read  in  those  things  favorable  inclinations  to- 
wards them :  and  though  they  could  not  be  ignorant  that  they  de- 
served a  mark  of  justice,  yet  seeing  themselves  supported  by  God, 
and  beholding  the  regular  motions  of  the  heavens  from  day  to  day, 
and  the  revolutions  of  the  seasons  of  the  year,  the  natural  conclu- 
sions they  might  draw  from  thence  was,  that  God  was  placable ; 
since  he  behaved  himself  more  as  a  tender  friend,  that  had  no  mind 
to  be  at  war  with  them,  than  an  enraged  enemy.  The  good  things 
which  he  gave  them,  and  the  patience  whereby  he  spared  them, 
were  no  arguments  of  an  implacable  disposition  ;  and,  therefore,  of 
a  disposition  willing  to  be  appeased.  This  is  clearly  the  design  of 
the  apostle's  arguing  with  the  Lystrians,  when  they  would  have  of- 
fered sacrifices  to  Paul  (Acts,  xiv.  17).  When  God  "  suffered  all  na- 
tions to  walk  in  their  own  ways,  he  did  not  leave  himself  without 
witness,  giving  rain  from  heaven,  and  fruitful  seasons."  What  were 
those  witnesses  of?  not  only  of  the  being  of  a  God,  by  their  readi- 
ness to  sacrifice  to  those  that  were  not  gods,  only  supposed  to  be  so 
in  their  false  imaginations  ;  but  witnesses  to  the  tenderness  of  God, 
that  he  had  no  mind  to  be  severe  with  his  creatures,  but  would 
allure  them  by  ways  of  goodness.  Had  not  God's  patience  tended 
to  this  end,  to  bring  the  world  under  another  dispensation,  the 
apostle's  arguing  from  it  had  not  been  suitable  to  his  design,  which 
seems  to  be  a  hindering  the  sacrifices  they  intended  for  them,  and  a 
drawing  them  to  embrace  the  gospel,  and  therefore  preparing  the 
way  to  it,  by  speaking  of  the  patience  and  goodness  of  God  to  them, 
as  an  unquestionable  testimony  of  the  reconcilableness  of  good  to 
them,  by  some  sacrifice  Avhich  was  represented  under  the  common 
notion  of  sacrifices.?  These  things  were  not  witnesses  of  Christ,  or 
syllables  whereby  they  could  spell  out  the  redeeming  person ;  but 
witnesses  that  God  was  placable  in  his  own  nature.  When  man 
abused  those  noble  faculties  God  had  given  him,  and  diverted  them 
from  the  use  and  service  God  intended  them  for,  God  might  have 
stripped  man  of  them  the  first  time  that  he  misemployed  them ;  and 
it  would  have  seemed  most  agreeable  to  his  wisdom  and  justice,  not 
to  suffer  himself  to  be  abused,  and  the  world  to  go  contrary  to  its 
natural  end.  But  since  he  did  not  level  the  world  with  its  first 
nothing,  but  healed  the  world  so  favorably,  it  was  evident  that  his 
patience  pointed  the  world  to  a  further  design  of  mercy  and  good- 
ness in  him.     To  imagine  that  God  had  no  other  design  in  his  long- 

P  Amyrald,  Dissert,  pp.  191,  192. 


502  CHAENOCK   ON  THE   ATTKIBUTES. 

suffering  "but  tliat  of  vengeance,  liad  been  a  notion  unsuitable  to  the 
goodness  and  wisdom  of  God.  He  would  never  have  pretended 
himself  to  be  a  friend,  if  he  had  harbored  nothing  but  enmity  in  his 
heart  against  them.  It  had  been  far  from  his  goodness  to  give  them 
a  cause  to  suspect  such  a  design  in  him,  as  his  patience  certainly  did, 
had  he  not  intended  it.  Had  he  preserved  men  only  for  punishment, 
it  is  more  like  he  would  have  treated  men  as  princes  do  those  they 
reserve  for  the  axe  or  halter,  give  them  only  things  necessary  to  up- 
hold their  lives  till  the  day  of  execution,  and  not  have  bestowed 
upon  them  so  many  good  things  to  make  their  lives  delightful  to 
them,  nor  have  furnished  them  with  so  many  excellent  means  to 
please  their  senses,  and  recreate  their  minds ;  it  had  been  a  mocking 
of  them  to  treat  them  at  that  rate,  if  nothing  but  punishment  had 
been  intended  towards  them,  K  the  end  of  it,  to  lead  men  to  re- 
pentance, were  easily  intelligible  by  them,  as  the  apostle  intimates 
(Rom.  ii.  4) — which  is  to  be  linked  with  the  former  chapter,  a  dis- 
course of  the  Gentiles:  "Not  knowing,"  saith  he,  "that  the  riches 
of  his  forbearance  and  goodness  leads  thee  to  repentance" — it  also 
gives  them  some  ground  to  hope  for  pardon.  For  what  other  argu- 
ment can  more  induce  to  repentance  than  an  ex2:)ectation  of  mercy 
upon  a  relenting,  and  acknowledging  the  crime  ?  Without  a  design 
of  pardoning  grace,  his  patience  would  have  been  in  a  great  mea- 
sure exercised  in  vain  :  for  by  mere  patience  God  is  not  reconciled 
to  a  sinner,  no  more  than  a  prince  to  a  rebel,  by  bearing  with  him. 
Nor  can  a  sinner  conclude  himself  in  the  favor  of  God,  no  more  than 
a  rebel  can  conclude  himself  in  the  favor  of  his  prince ;  only,  this 
he  may  conclude,  that  there  is  some  hopes  he  may  have  the  grant 
of  a  pardon,  since  he  hath  time  to  sue  it  out.  And  so  much  did  the 
patience  of  God  naturally  signify  that  he  was  of  a  reconcilable  tem- 
per, and  was  willing  men  should  sue  out  their  pardon  upon  repent- 
ance; otherwise,  he  might  have  magnified  his  justice,  and  con- 
demned men  by  the  law  of  works. 

(2.)  He  therefore  exercised  so  much  patience  to  wait  for  men's 
repentance.  All  the  notices  and  warnings  that  God  gives  men,  of 
either  public  or  personal  calamities,  is  a  continual  invitation  to  re- 
pentance. This  was  the  common  interpretation  the  heathens  made 
of  extraordinary  presages  and  prodigies,  which  showed  as  well  the 
delays  as  the  approaches  of  judgments.  What  other  notion  but  this, 
that  those  warnings  of  judgments  witness  a  slowness  to  anger,  and  a 
willingness  to  turn  his  arrows  another  way,  should  move  them  to 
multiply  sacrifices,  go  weeping  to  their  temples,  sound  out  prayers 
to  their  gods,  and  show  all  those  other  testimonies  of  a  repentance 
which  their  blind  understandings  hit  upon  ?  If  a  prince  should 
sometmies  in  a  light  and  gentle  manner  punish  a  criminal,  and  then 
relax  it,  and  show  him  much  kindness,  and  afterwards  inflict  upon 
him  another  kind  of  punishment  as  light  as  the  former,  and  less  than 
was  due  to  his  crime,  what  could  the  malefactor  suspect  by  such  a 
way  of  proceeding,  but  that  the  prince,  by  those  gently-repeated 
chastisements,  had  a  mind  to  move  him  to  a  regret  for  his  crime?'! 
And  what  other  thoughts  could  men  naturally  have  of  G  od's  con- 

1  Amyraldus,  Moral.  Tom.  II.  p.  186. 


ON   GOD'S  PATIENCE.  503 

duct,  that  he  should  warn  them  of  great  judgments,  send  light 
afflictions,  which  are  testimonies  rather  of  a  patience  than  of  a  severe 
wrath,  but  that  it  was  intended  to  move  them  to  a  relenting,  and  a 
breaking  off  their  sins  by  working  righteousness  ?  Though  Divine 
patience  does  not,  in  the  event,  induce  men  to  repentance,  yet  the 
natural  tendency  of  such  a  treatment  is  to  mollify  men's  hearts,  to 
overcome  their  obstinacy ;  and  no  man  hath  any  reason  to  judge 
otherwise  of  such  a  proceeding.  The  "  long-suffering  of  God  is  sal- 
vation," saith  Peter  (2  Pet.  iii.  15),  i.  e.  hath  a  tendency  to  salvation, 
in  its  being  a  solicitation  of  men  to  the  means  of  it ;  for  the  apostle 
cites  Paul  for  the  confirmation  of  it, — "  Even  as  our  beloved  brother, 
Paul,  hath  written  unto  you,"  which  must  refer  to  Eom,  ii.  4 :  "it 
leads  to  repentance,"  «V^'j  it  conducts,  which  is  more  than  barely  to 
invite ;  it  doth,  as  it  were,  take  us  by  the  hand,  and  point  us  to  the 
way  wherein  we  should  go ;  and  for  this  end  it  was  exercised,  not 
only  towards  the  Jews,  but  towards  the  Gentiles,  not  only  towards 
those  that  are  within  the  pale  of  the  church,  and  under  the  dews  of 
the  gospel,  but  to  those  that  are  in  darkness,  and  in  the  shadow  of 
death  ;  for  this  discourse  of  the  apostle  was  but  an  inference  from 
what  he  had  treated  of  in  the  first  chapter  concerning  the  idolatry 
and  ingratitude  of  the  Gentiles ;  since  the  Gentiles  were  to  be  pun- 
ished for  the  abuse  of  it  as  well  as  the  Jews,  as  he  intimates,  ver.  9. 
It  is  plain  that  his  i3atience,  which  is  exercised  towards  the  idol- 
atrous Gentiles,  was  to  allure  them  to  repentance  as  Avell  as  others ; 
and  it  was  a  sufficient  motive  in  itself  to  persuade  them  to  a  change 
of  their  vile  and  gross  acts,  to  such  as  were  morally  good  :  and  there 
was  enough  in  God's  dealing  with  them,  and  in  that  light  they  had 
to  engage  them  to  a  better  course  than  what  they  usually  walked  in ; 
and  though  men  do  abuse  God's  long-suffering,  to  encourage  their 
impenitence,  and  persisting  in  their  crimes,  yet  that  they  cannot 
reasonably  imagine  that  to  be  the  end  of  God  is  evident ;  their  own 
gripes  of  conscience  would  acquaint  them  that  it  is  otherwise.  They 
know  that  conscience  is  a  principle  that  God  hath  given  them,  as  well 
as  understanding,  and  will,  and  other  faculties ;  that  God  doth  not 
approve  of  that  which  the  voice  of  their  own  consciences,  and  of 
the  consciences  of  all  men  under  natural  light,  are  utterly  against : 
and  if  there  were  really,  in  this  forbearance  of  God,  an  approbation 
of  men's  crimes,  conscience  could  not,  frequently  and  universally  in 
all  men,  check  them  for  them.  What  authority  could  conscience 
have  to  do  it  ?  But  this  it  doth  in  all  men :  as  the  apostle  (Rom.  i. 
22),  "  They  know  the  judgment  of  God,  that  those  that  do  such 
things,"  which  he  had  mentioned  before,  "are  worthy  of  death." 
In  this  thing  the  consciences  of  all  men  cannot  err :  they  could  not, 
therefore,  conclude  from  hence  God's  approbation  of  their  iniqui- 
ties, but  his  desire  that  their  hearts  should  be  touched  with  a  repent- 
ance for  them.  The  "sin  of  Ephraim  is  hid"  (Hos.  xiii.  12,  13) ;  i.  e. 
God  doth  not  presently  take  notice  of  it,  to  order  punishment ;  he 
lays  it  in  a  secret  place  from  the  eye  of  his  justice,  that  Ephraim 
might  not  be  his  unwise  son,  and  "  stay  long  in  the  place  of  the 
breaking  forth  of  children ;"  i.  e.  that  he  should  speedily  reclaim 
himself,  and  not  continue  in  the  way  of  destruction.     God  hath  no 


504  CHARNOCK  ON  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

need  to  abuse  any ;  he  doth  not  he  to  the  sons  of  men ;  if  he  would 
have  men  perish,  he  could  easily  destroy  them,  and  have  done  it 
long  ago :  he  did  not  leave  the  woman  Jezebel  in  being,  nor  length- 
ened out  her  time,  but  as  a  space  to  repent  (Rev.  ii.  21),  that  she 
might  reflect  upon  her  ways,  and  devote  herself  seriously  to  his  ser- 
vice, and  her  own  happiness.  His  patience  stands  between  the 
offending  creature  and  eternal  misery  a  long  time,  that  men  might 
not  foolishly  throw  away  their  souls,  and  be  damned  for  their  im- 
penitency ;  by  this  he  shows  himself  ready  to  receive  men  to  mercy 
upon  their  return.  To  what  purpose  doth  he  invite  men  to  repent- 
ance, if  he  intended  to  deceive  them,  and  damn  them  after  they 
repent  ? 

3.  He  doth  exercise  patience  for  the  propagation  of  mankind.  If 
God  punished  every  sin  presently,  there  would  not  only  be  a  period 
put  to  churches,  but  to  the  world ;  without  patience,  Adam  had  sunk 
into  eternal  anguish  the  first  moment  of  his  provocation,  and  the 
whole  world  of  mankind,  in  his  loins,  had  perished  with  him,  and 
never  seen  the  light.  If  this  perfection  had  not  interposed  after  the 
first  sin,  God  had  lost  his  end  in  the  creation  of  the  world,  which  he 
"  created  not  in  vain,  but  formed  it  to  be  inhabited"  (Isa.  xlv.  18). 
It  had  been  inconsistent  with  the  wisdom  of  God  to  make  a  world 
to  be  inhabited,  and  destroy  it  upon  sin,  when  it  had  but  two  prin- 
cipal inhabitants  in  it ;  the  reason  of  his  making  this  earth  had  been 
insignificant ;  he  had  not  had  any  upon  earth  to  glorify  him,  without 
erecting  another  world,  which  might  have  proved  as  sinful  and  as 
quickly  wicked  as  this ;  God  should  have  always  been  pulling  down 
down  and  rearing  up,  creating  and  annihilating ;  one  world  would 
have  come  after  another,  as  wave  after  wave  in  the  sea.  His  patience 
stepped  in  to  support  the  honor  of  God,  and  the  continuance  of  men, 
without  which  one  had  been  in  part  impaired,  and  the  other  totally 
lost. 

4.  He  doth  exercise  patience  for  the  continuance  of  the  church. 
If  he  be  not  patient  toward  sinners,  what  stock  would  there  be  for 
believers  to  spring  up  from  ?  He  bears  with  the  provoking  carriage 
of  men,  evil  men,  because  out  of  their  loins  he  intends  to  extract 
others,  which  he  will  form  for  the  glory  of  his  grace.  He  hath  some 
unborn  that  belong  to  the  election  of  grace,  which  are  to  be  the  seed 
of  the  worst  of  men ;  Jeroboam,  the  chief  incendiary  of  the  Israelites 
to  idolatry,  had  an  Abijah,  in  whom  was  found  "  some  good  thing 
towards  the  Lord  God  of  Israel"  (1  Kings,  xiv.  13).  Had  Ahaz  been 
snapped  in  the  first  act  of  his  wickedness,  the  Israelites  had  wanted 
so  good  a  prince  and  so  good  a  man  as  Hezekiah,  a  branch  of  that 
wicked  predecessor.  What  gardener  cuts  off  the  thorns  from  the 
rose-brush  till  he  hath  gathered  the  roses  ?  and  men  do  not  use  to 
burn  all  the  crab-tree,  but  preserve  a  stock  to  engraft  some  sweet 
fruit  upon.  There  could  not  have  been  a  saint  in  the  earth,  nor, 
consequently,  in  heaven,  had  it  not  been  for  this  perfection :  he  did 
not  destroy  the  Israelites  in  the  wilderness,  that  he  might  keep  up  a 
church  among  them,  and  not  extinguish  the  whole  seed  that  were 
heirs  of  the  promises  and  covenant  made  with  Abraham.  Had  God 
punished  men  for  their  sins  as  soon  as  they  had  been  committed, 


ON"  GOD'S  PATIENCE.  505 

none  would  have  lived  to  have  been  better,  none  could  have  con- 
tinued in  the  world  to  honor  him  by  their  virtues.  Manasseh  had 
never  been  a  convert,  and  many  brutish  men  had  never  been  changed 
from  beasts  to  angels,  to  praise  and  acknowledge  their  Creator.  Had 
Peter  received  his  due  recompense  upon  the  denial  of  his  Master,  he 
had  never  been  a  martyr  for  him ;  nor  had  Paul  been  a  preaclier  of 
the  gospel ;  nor  any  else  :  and  so  the  gospel  had  not  shined  in  any 
part  of  the  world.  No  seed  would  have  been  brought  into  Christ ; 
Christ  is  beholding  immediately  to  this  attribute  for  all  the  seed  he 
hath  in  the  world :  it  is  for  his  name's  sake  that  he  doth  defer  his 
anger ;  and  for  his  praise  that  he  doth  refrain  from  "  cutting  us  off" 
(Isa.  xlviii.  9) :  and  in  the  next  chapter  follows  a  prophecy  of  Christ. 
To  overthrow  mankind  for  sin,  were  to  prevent  the  spreading  a 
church  in  the  world :  a  woman  that  is  guilty  of  a  capital  crime,  and 
lies  under  a  condemning  sentence,  is  reprieved  from  execution  for 
her  being  with  child ;  it  is  for  the  child's  sake  the  woman  is  respited, 
not  for  her  own :  it  is  for  the  elect's  sake,  in  the  loins  of  transgressors, 
that  they  are  a  long  time  spared,  and  not  for  their  own  (Isa.  Ixv. 
8):  "As  the  new  wine  is  found  in  a  cluster,  and  one  saith.  De- 
stroy it  not,  for  a  blessing  is  in  it,  so  will  I  do  for  my  servants'  sakes, 
that  I  may  not  destroy  them  all ;"  as  a  husbandman  spares  a  vine  for 
some  good  clusters  in  it.  He  had  spoke  of  vengeance  before,  yet 
he  would  reserve  some  from  whom  he  would  bring  forth  those  that 
should  be  "  inheritors  of  his  mountains,"  that  he  might  make  up  his 
church  of  Judea ;  Jerusalem  being  a  mountainous  place,  and  the  type 
of  the  church  in  all  ages.  What  is  the  reason  he  doth  not  level  his 
thunder  at  the  heads  of  those  for  whose  destruction  he  receives  so 
many  petitions  from  the  "souls  under  the  altar?"  (Rev.  vi.  9,  10). 
Because  God  had  others  to  write  a  testimony  for  him  in  their  own 
blood,  and  perhaps  out  of  the  loins  of  those  for  whom  vengeance 
was  so  earnestly  supplicated ;  and  God,  as  the  master  of  a  vessel, 
lies  patiently  at  anchor,  till  the  last  passenger  he  expects  be  taken  in."" 
6.  For  the  sake  of  his  church  he  is  patient  to  wicked  men.  The 
tares  are  patiently  endured  till  the  harvest,  for  fear  in  the  plucking 
up  the  one,  there  might  be  some  prejudice  done  to  the  other.  Upon 
this  account  he  spares  some,  who  are  worse  than  others  whom  he 
crusheth  by  signal  judgments :  the  Jews  had  committed  sins  worse 
than  Sodom,  for  the  confirmation  of  which  we  have  God's  oath 
(Ezek.  xvi.  48);  and  more  by  half  than  Samaria,  or  the  ten  tribes 
had  done  (ver  51) :  yet  God  spared  the  Jews,  though  he  destroyed 
the  Sodomites.  What  was  the  reason,  but  a  larger  remnant  of  right- 
eous persons,  more  clusters  of  good  grapes,  were  found  among  them 
than  grew  in  Sodom  ?  (Isa.  i.  9).  A  fiew  more  righteous  in  Sodom  had 
damped  the  fire  and  brimstone  designed  for  that  place,  and  a  "rem- 
nant of  such  in  Judea"  was  a  bar  to  that  fierceness  of  anger,  which 
otherwise  would  have  quickly  consumed  them.  Had  there  been  but 
"  ten  righteous  in  Sodom,"  Divine  patience  had  still  bound  the  arms 
of  Justice,  that  it  should  not  have  prepared  its  brimstone,  notwith- 
standing the  clamor  of  the  sins  of  the  multitude.  Judea  was  ripe 
for  the  sickle,  but  God  would  put  a  lock  upon  the  torrent  of  his 

"■  Siiiltli  on  the  Creed,  p.  404. 


506  CHARNOCK  ON  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

judgments,  tliat  tliey  slioulcl  not  flow  down  upon  that  wicked  place, 
to  make  them  a  desolation  and  a  curse,  as  long  as  tender-hearted 
Josiah  lived,  "  who  had  humbled  himself"  at  the  threatening,  and 
wept  before  the  Lord  (1  Kings,  xxii.  19,  20).  Sometimes  he  bears 
with  wicked  men,  that  they  might  exercise  the  patience  of  the  saints 
(Rev.  xiv.  12):  the  whole  time  of  the  "forbearance  of  antichrist"  in 
all  his  intrusions  into  the  temple  of  God,  invasions  of  the  rights  of 
God,  usurpations  of  the  office  of  Clirist,  and  besmearing  himself  with 
the  blood  of  the  saints,  was  to  give  them  an  opportunity  of  patience. 
God  is  patient  towards  the  wicked,  that  by  their  means  he  might  try 
the  righteous.  He  burns  not  the  wisp  till  he  hath  scoured  his  ves- 
sels ;  nor  lays  by  the  hammer,  till  he  hath  formed  some  of  his  matter 
into  an  excellent  fashion.  He  useth  the  worst  men  as  rods  to  correct 
his  people,  before  he  sweeps  the  twigs  out  of  his  house.  God  some- 
times uses  the  thorns  of  the  world,  as  a  hedge  to  secure  his  church, 
sometimes  as  instruments  to  try  and  exercise  it.  Howsoever  he  useth 
them,  whether  for  security  or  trial,  he  is  patient  to  them  for  his 
church's  advantage. 

6.  When  men  are  not  brought  to  repentance  by  his  patience,  he 
doth  longer  exercise  it,  to  manifest  the  equity  of  his  future  justice 
upon  them.  As  wisdom  is  justified  by  her  obedient  children,  so  is 
justice  justified  by  the  rebels  against  patience ;  the  contempt  of  the 
latter  is  the  justiiication  of  the  former.  The  "  apostles  were  unto 
God  a  sweet  savor  of  Christ  in  them  that  perish,"  as  well  as  in 
them  that  were  saved  by  the  acceptation  of  their  message  (2  Cor.  ii. 
15).  Both  are  fragrant  to  God ;  his  mercy  is  glorified  by  the  one's 
acceptance  of  it,  and  his  justice  freed  from  any  charge  against  it  by 
the  other's  refusal.  The  cause  of  men's  ruin  cannot  be  laid  upon 
God,  who  provided  means  for  their  salvation,  and  solicited  their 
compliance  with  him.  What  reason  can  they  have  to  charge  the 
Judge  with  any  wrong  to  them,  who  reject  the  tenders  he  makes, 
and  who  hath  forborne  them  with  so  much  patience,  when  he  might 
have  censured  them  by  his  righteous  justice,  upon  the  first  crime 
they  committed,  or  the  first  refusal  of  his  gracious  offers?  "  Quanto 
Dei  mag  is  judicium  tardum  est  tanto  magis  justumr^  After  the  despis- 
ing of  patience,  there  can  be  no  suspicion  of  an  irregularity  in  the 
acts  of  justice.  Man  hath  no  reason  to  fall  foul  in  his  charge  upon 
God,  if  he  were  punished  for  his  own  sin,  considering  the  dignity 
of  the  injured  person,  and  the  meanness  of  himself,  the  offender;  but 
his  wrath  is  more  justified  when  it  is  poured  out  upon  those  whom 
he  hath  endured  with  much  long-suffering.  There  is  no  plea  against 
the  shooting  of  his  arrows  into  those,  for  whom  this  voice  hath  been 
loud,  and  his  arms  open  for  their  return.  As  patience,  while  it  is 
exercised,  is  the  silence  of  his  justice,  so  when  it  is  abused,  it  silenc- 
eth  men's  complaints  against  his  justice.  The  "  riches  of  his  forbear- 
ance" made  way  for  the  manifesting  the  "  treasures  of  his  wrath." 
If  God  did  but  a  little  bear  with  the  insolencies  of  men,  and  cut  them 
off  after  two  or  three  sins,  he  would  not  have  opportunity  to  show 
either  the  power  of  his  patience,  or  that  of  his  wrath ;  but  when  he 
hath  a  right  to  punish  for  one  sin,  and  yet  bears  with  them  for  many, 

'  Miiiuc.  Felix,  p.  41. 


ON  GOD'S  PATIENCE.  607 

and  tliey  will  not  be  reclaimed,  the  sinner  is  more  inexcusable, 
Divine  justice  less  chargeable,  and  bis  wrath  more  powerful.  (Eom. 
ix.  22),  "  What  if  God,  willing  to  show  his  wrath,  and  to  make  his 
power  known,  endured  with  much  long-suffering  the  vessels  of  wrath 
fitted  for  destruction?"  The  proper  and  immediate  end  of  his  long- 
suffering  is  to  lead  men  to  repentance ;  but  after  they  have  by  their 
obstinacy  fitted  themselves  for  destruction,  he  bears  longer  with 
them,  to  "  magnify  his  wrath"  more  upon  them  ;  and  if  it  is  not  the 
finis  operaniis,  it  is  at  least  the  finis  opens,  where  patience  is  abused. 
Men  are  apt  to  complain  of  God,  that  he  deals  hardly  with  them ; 
the  Israelites  seem  to  charge  God  with  too  much  severity,  to  cast 
them  off,  when  so  many  promises  were  made  to  the  fathers  for  their 
perpetuity  and  preservation,  which  is  intimated,  Hos.  ii.  2.  "  Plead 
with  your  mother,  plead :"  by  the  double  repetition  of  the  word 
"plead;"  do  not  accuse  me  of  being  false  or  too  rigorous,  but  accuse 
your  mother,  your  church,  your  magistracy,  your  ministry,  for  their 
spiritual  fornications  which  have  provoked  me;  for  their  rr^EitN:, 
intimating  the  greatness  of  their  sins  by  the  reduplication  of  the 
word,  "  lest  I  strip  her  naked."  I  have  borne  with  her  under  many 
provocations,  and  I  have  not  yet  taken  away  all  her  ornaments,  or 
said  to  her,  according  to  the  rule  of  divorce,  Jies  tuas  iihi  kabeio.  God 
answers  their  impudent  charge :  "  She  is  not  my  wife,  nor  am  I  her 
husband ;"  he  doth  not  say  first,  I  am  not  her  husband,  but  she  is 
not  my  wife ;  she  first  withdrew  from  her  duty  by  breaking  the 
marriage  covenant,  and  then  I  ceased  to  be  her  husband.  No  man 
shall  be  condemned,  but  he  shall  be  convinced  of  the  due  desert  of 
his  sin,  and  the  justice  of  God's  proceeding.  God  will  lay  open 
men's  guilt,  and  repeat  the  measures  of  his  patience  to  justify  the 
severity  of  his  wrath  (Hos.  vii.  10),  "  Sins  will  testify  to  their  face." 
What  is  in  its  own  nature  a  preparation  for  glory,  men  by  their  ob- 
stinacy make  a  preparation  for  a  more  indisputable  punishment. 
We  see  many  evidences  of  God's  forbearance  here,  in  sparing  men 
under  those  blasphemies  which  are  audible,  and  those  profane  car- 
riages which  are  visible,  which  would  sufficiently  justify  an  act  of 
severity ;  yet  when  men's  secret  sins,  both  in  heart  and  action,  and  the 
vast  multitude  of  them,  far  surmounting  what  can  arrive  to  our  knowl- 
edge here,  shall  be  discovered,  how  great  a  lustre  will  it  add  to  God's 
bearing  with  them,  and  make  his  justice  triumph  without  any  rea- 
sonable demur  from  the  sinner  himself!  He  is  long-suffering  here, 
that  his  justice  may  be  more  public  hereafter. 

Use  IV.  For  instruction.  How  is  this  patience  of  God  abused ! 
The  Gentiles  abused  those  testimonies  of  it,  which  were  written  in 
showers  and  fruitful  seasons.  No  nation  was  ever  stripped  of  it, 
under  the  most  provoking  idolatries,  till  after  multiplied  spurns  at  it : 
not  a  person  among  us  but  hath  been  guilty  of  the  abuse  of  it.  How 
have  we  contemned  that  which  demands  a  reverence  from  us !  How 
have  we  requited  God's  waitings  with  rebellions,  while  he  hath  con- 
tinued urging  and  expecting  our  return !  Saul  relented  at  David's 
forbearing  to  revenge  himself,  when  he  had  his  prosecuting  and  in- 
dustrious enemy  in  his  power.  (1  Sam.  xxiv.  17),  "  Thou  art  more 
righteous  than  I ;  thou  hast  rewarded  me  good,  whereas  I  have  re- 


508  CHARNOCK  ON   THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

warded  thee  evil :"  and  sliall  we  not  relent  at  God's  wonderful  long- 
suffering,  and  silencing  his  anger  so  much  ?  He  could  puff  away 
our  lives,  but  he  will  not,  and  yet  we  endeavor  to  strip  him  of  his 
being,  though  we  cannot. 

1.  Let  us  consider  the  ways,  how  slowness  to  anger  is  abused. 

(1.)  It  is  abused  by  misinterpretations  of  it,  when  men  slander  his 
patience  to  be  only  a  carelessness  and  neglect  of  his  providence  ;  as 
Averroes  argued  from  his  slowness  to  anger,  a  total  neglect  of  the 
government  of  the  lower  world :  or  when  men  from  his  long-suffer- 
ing charge  him  with  impurity,  as  if  his  patience  were  a  consent  to 
their  crimes  ;  and  because  he  suffered  them,  without  calling  them  to 
account,  he  were  one  of  their  partisans,  and  as  wicked  as  themselves 
(Ps.  I.  21) :  "  Because  I  kept  silence,  thou  thoughtest  I  was  altogether 
such  a  one  as  thyself"  His  silence  makes  them  conclude  him  to  be 
an  abettor  of,  and  a  consort  in  their  sins ;  and  think  him  more 
pleased  with  their  iniquity  than  their  obedience.  Or  when  they  will 
infer  from  his  forbearance  a  want  of  his  omniscience ;  because  he 
suffers  their  sins,  they  imagine  he  forgets  them  (Ps.  x.  11) :  "  He 
hath  said  in  his  heart,  God  hath  forgotten :"  thinking  his  patience 
proceeds  not  from  the  sweetness  of  his  nature,  but  a  weakness  of  his 
mind.  Hoav  base  is  it,  instead  of  admitting  him,  to  disparage  him 
for  it ;  and  because  he  stands  in  so  advantageous  a  posture  towards 
us,  not  to  own  the  choicest  prerogatives  of  his  Deity !  This  is  to 
make  a  perfection,  so  useful  to  us,  to  shadow  and  extinguish  those 
others,  which  are  the  prime  flowers  of  his  crown. 

(2.)  His  patience  is  abused  by  continuing  in  a  course  of  sin  under 
the  influences  of  it.  How  much  is  it  the  practical  language  of  men, 
Come,  let  us  commit  this  or  that  iniquity ;  since  Divine  patience 
hath  suffered  worse  than  this  at  our  hands  !  Nothing  is  remitted  to 
their  sensual  pleasures,  and  eagerness  in  them.  How  often  did  the 
Israelites  repeat  their  murmurings  against  him,  as  if  they  would  put 
his  patience  to  the  utmost  proof,  and  see  how  far  the  line  of  it  could 
extend!  They  were  no  sooner  satisfied  in  one  thing,  but  they  quar- 
relled with  him  about  another,  as  if  he  had  no  other  attribute  to  put 
in  motion  against  them.  They  tempted  him  as  often  as  he  relieved 
them,  as  though  the  declaration  of  his  name  to  Moses  (Exod.  xxxiv.), 
"  to  be  a  God  gracious,  and  long-suffering,"  had  been  intended  for  no 
other  purpose  but  a  protection  of  them  in  their  rebellions.  Such  a 
sort  of  men  the  prophet  speaks  of,  that  were  "  settled  in  their  lees," 
or  dregs  (Zeph.  i.  12) :  they  were  congealed,  and  frozen  in  their  suc- 
cessful wickedness.  Such  an  abuse  of  Divine  patience  is  the  very 
dregs  of  sin ;  God  chargeth  it  highly  upon  the  Jews  (Isa.  Ivii.  11) : 
"  I  have  held  my  peace,  even  of  old,  and  thou  fearest  me  not;"  my 
silence  made  thee  confident,  yea,  impudent  in  thy  sin. 

(3.)  His  patience  is  abused  by  repeating  sin,  after  God  hath,  by  an 
act  of  his  patience,  taken  off  some  affliction  from  men.  As  metals 
melted  in  the  fire  remain  fluid  under  the  operations  of  the  flames,  yet 
when  removed  from  the  fire,  they  quickly  return  to  their  former 
hardness,  and  sometimes  grow  harder  than  they  were  before ;  so  men 
who,  in  their  afflictions,  seem  to  be  melted,  like  Ahab  confess  their 
sins,  lie  prostrate  before  God,  and  seek  him  early ;  yet,  if  they  be 


ON  GOD'S   PATIENCE.  509 

brouglit  from  under  the  power  of  their  afflictions,  thej  return  to 
their  old  nature,  and  are  as  stiff  against  God,  and  resist  the  blows  of 
the  Spirit  as  much  as  they  did  before.  They  think  they  have  a  new 
stock  of  patience  to  sin  upon.  Pharaoh  was  somewhat  thaAved  un- 
der judgments,  and  frozen  again  under  forbearance  (Exod.  ix.  27,  34). 
Many  will  howl  when  God  strikes  them,  and  laugh  at  him  when  he 
forbears  them.  Thus  that  patience  which  should  melt  us,  doth  often 
harden  us,  which  is  not  an  effect  natural  to  his  patience,  but  natural 
to  our  abusing  corruption. 

(4.)  His  patience  is  abused,  by  taking  encouragement  from  it  to 
mount  to  greater  degrees  of  sin.  Because  God  is  slow  to  anger,  men 
are  more  fierce  in  sin,  and  not  only  continue  in  their  old  rebellions, 
but  heap  new  upon  them.  If  he  spare  them  for  three  transgressions, 
they  will  commit  four,  as  is  intimated  in  the  first  and  second  of 
Amos ;  "  Men's  hearts  are  fully  set  in  them  to  do  evil,  because  sen- 
tence against  an  evil  work  is  not  speedily  executed"  (Eccles.  viii.  11). 
Their  hearts  are  more  desperately  bent;  before  they  had  some 
waverings,  and  pull-backs,  but  after  a  fair  sunshine  of  Divine  pa- 
tience, they  entertain  more  unbridled  resolutions,  and  pass  forward 
with  more  liberty  and  licentiousness.  They  make  his  long-suffering 
subservient  to  turn  out  all  those  little  relentings  and  regrets  they 
had  before,  and  banish  all  thoughts  of  barring  out  a  temptation.  No 
encouragement  is  given  to  men  by  God's  patience,  but  they  force  it 
by  their  presumption.  They  invert  God's  order,  and  bind  themselves 
stronger  to  iniquity  by  that  which  should  bind  them  faster  to  their 
duty.  A  happy  escape  at  sea  makes  men  go  more  confidently  into 
the  deeps  afterward.  Thus  we  deal  with  God  as  debtors  do  with 
good-natured  creditors  :  because  they  do  not  dun  them  for  what  they 
owe,  they  take  encouragement  to  run  more  upon  the  score,  till  the 
sum  amounts  above  their  ability  of  payment. 

But  let  it  be  considered,  1st.  That  this  abuse  of  patience  is  a  high 
sin.  As  every  act  of  forbearance  obligeth  us  to  duty,  so  every  act 
of  it  abused,  increaseth  our  guilt.  The  more  frequent  its  solicita- 
tions of  us  have  been,  the  deeper  aggravations  our  sin  receives  by  it. 
Every  sin,  after  an  act  of  Divine  patience,  contracts  a  blacker  guilt. 
The  sparing  us  after  the  last  sin  we  committed,  was  a  suj^eradded  act 
of  long-suffering,  and  a  lajdng  oiit  more  of  his  riches  upon  us  :  and, 
therefore,  every  new  act  committed  is  a  despite  against  greater  riches 
expended,  and  greater  cost  upon  us,  and  against  his  preserving  us 
from  the  hand  of  justice  for  the  last  transgression.  It  is  disingenuous 
not  to  have  a  due  resentment  of  so  much  goodness,  and  base  to  in- 
jure him  the  more,  because  he  doth  not  right  himself  Shall  he  re- 
ceive the  more  wrongs  from  us,  by  how  much  the  sweeter  he  is  to 
us  ?  No  man's  conscience  but  will  tell  him  it  is  vile  to  prefer  the 
satisfaction  of  a  sordid  lust,  before  the  counsel  of  a  God  of  so  gra- 
cious a  disposition.  The  sweeter  the  nature,  the  fouler  is  the  injury 
that  is  done  unto  it.  2d.  It  is  dangerous  to  abuse  his  patience. 
Contempt  of  kindness  is  most  irksome  to  an  ingenuous  spirit ;  and 
he  is  worthy  to  have  the  arrows  of  God's  indignation  lodged  in  his 
heart,  who  despiseth  the  riches  of  his  long-suffering.     For, 

[1.]  The  time  of  patience  will  have  an  end.     Though  his  Spirit 


510  CHARNOCK  ON   THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

strives  with  man,  yet  it  shall  "  not  always  strive"  (Gen.  vi.  3).  Though 
there  be  a  time  wherein  Jerusalem  might  "know  the  things  that  con- 
cerned her  peace,"  yet  there  is  another  period  wherein  they  should 
be  "  hid  from  her  eyes"  (Luke  xix.  43) :  •'  O  that  thou  hadst  known 
in  this  thy  day!"  Nations  have  their  day,  and  persons  have  their 
day ;  and  the  day  of  most  persons  is  shorter  than  the  day  of  nations. 
Jerusalem  had  her  day  of  forty  years ;  but  how  many  particular 
persons  were  taken  off"  before  the  last  or  middle  hours  of  that  day 
were  arrived !  "  Forty  years  was  God  grieved"  with  the  generation 
of  the  Israelites  (Heb.  iii.  11).  One  carcass  dropped  after  another  in 
that  limited  time,  and  at  the  end  not  a  man  but  fell  under  the  judi- 
cial stroke,  except  Caleb  and  Joshua.  One  hundred  and  twenty 
years  was  the  term  set  to  the  mass  of  the  old  world,  but  not  to  every 
man  in  the  old  world  ;  some  fell  while  the  ark  was  preparing,  as  well 
as  the  whole  stock  when  the  ark  was  completed.  Though  he  be  pa- 
tient with  most,  yet  he  is  not  in  the  same  degree  with  all ;  every  sin- 
ner hath  his  time  of  sinning,  beyond  which  he  shall  proceed  no  fur- 
ther, be  his  lusts  never  so  impetuous,  and  his  affections  never  so  im- 
perious. The  time  of  his  patience  is,  in  Scripture,  set  forth  some- 
times by  years ;  three  years  he  came  to  find  fruit  on  the  fig-tree : 
sometimes  by  days  ;  some  men's  sins  are  sooner  ripe,  and  fall.  There 
is  a  measure  of  sin  (Jer.  ii.  13),  which  is  set  forth  by  the  ephah 
(Zech,  V.  8),  which,  when  it  is  filled,  is  sealed  up,  and  a  weight  of 
lead  cast  upon  the  mouth  of  it.  When  judgments  are  preparing, 
once  and  twice  the  Lord  is  prevailed  with  by  the  intercession  of  the 
prophet :  the  prepared  grass-hoppers  are  not  sent  to  devour,  and  the 
kindled  fire  is  not  blown  up  to  consume  (Amos,  vii.  1 — 8).  But  at 
last  God  takes  the  plumb-line,  to  suit  and  measure  punishment  to 
their  sin,  and  would  not  pass  by  them  any  more ;  and  when  their 
sin  was  ripe,  represented  by  a  "basket  of  summer-fruit,"  God  would 
withhold  his  hand  no  longer,  but  brought  such  a  day  upon  them, 
wherein  "  the  songs  of  the  Temple  should  be  bowlings,  and  dead 
bodies  be  in  every  place"  (Amos,  viii.  2,  3).  He  lays  by  any  further 
thoughts  of  patience  to  speed  their  ruin.  God  had  borne  long  with 
the  Israelites,  and  long  it  was  before  he  gave  them  up.  He  would 
first  brake  the  "bow  in  Jezreel"  (Hos.  i.  5) ;  take  away  the  strength 
of  the  nation  by  the  death  of  Zechariah,  the  last  of  Jehu's  race,  which 
introduced  civil  dissentions  and  ambitious  murders,  for  the  throne, 
whereby  in  weakening  one  part  they  weakened  the  whole ;  or,  as 
some  think,  alluding  to  Tiglah  Pilezar,  who  carried  captive  two 
tribes  and  a  half  If  this  would  not  reclaim  them,  then  follows 
"Lo-ruhamah,  I  will  not  have  mercy,"  I  will  sweep  them  out  of  the 
land  (ver.  6).  If  they  did  not  repent,  they  should  be  "Lo-ammi" 
(ver.  9),  "  You  are  not  my  people,"  and  "  I  will  not  be  your  God." 
They  should  be  discovenanted,  and  stripped  of  all  federal  relation. 
Here  patience  forever  withdrew  from  them,  and  wrathful  anger  took 
its  place.  And,  for  particular  persons,  the  time  of  life,  whether 
shorter  or  longer,  is  the  only  time  of  long-suffering.  It  hath  no  other 
stage  than  the  present  state  of  things  to  act  upon  ;  there  is  none  else 
to  be  expected  after  but  giving  account  of  what  hath  been  done  in 
the  body,  not  of  anything  done  after  the  soul  is  fled  from  the  body ; 


ON  GOD'S  PATIENCE.  611 

tlie  time  of  patience  ends  witli  tlie  first  moment  of  tlie  soul's  depar- 
ture from  the  body.  Tliis  time  only  is  the  "  day  of  salvation  ;"  i.  e. 
the  day  wherein  God  offers  it,  and  the  day  wherein  God  waits  for 
our  acceptance  of  it :  it  is  at  his  pleasure  to  shorten  or  lengtlien  our 
day,  not  at  ours ;  it  is  not  our  long-suffering,  but  his ;  he  hath  the 
command  of  it. 

[2.]  God  hath  ■\^a•atll  to  punish,  as  well  as  patience  to  bear.  He 
hath  a  fury  to  revenge  the  outrages  done  to  his  meekness :  when  his 
messages  of  peace,  sent  to  reclaim  men,  are  slighted,  his  sword  shall 
be  whetted,  and  his  instruments  of  war  prepared  (Hos.  v.  3) :  "Blow 
ye  the  cornet  in  Gibeah,  and  the  trumpet  in  Eamah."  As  he  deals 
gently,  like  a  father,  so  he  can  punish  capitally  as  a  judge :  though 
he  holds  his  peace  for  a  long  time,  yet  at  last  he  will  go  forth  like  a 
mighty  man,  and  stir  up  jealousy,  as  a  man  of  war,  to  cut  in  pieces 
his  enemies.  It  is  not  said  he  hath  no  anger,  but  that  he  is  "  slow  to 
anger,"  but  sharp  in  it :  he  hath  a  sword  to  cut,  and  a  bow  to  shoot, 
and  arrows  to  pierce  (Ps.  xii.  13) :  though  he  be  long  drawing  the 
one  out  of  its  scabbard,  and  long  fitting  the  other  to  his  bow,  yet, 
when  they  are  ready,  he  strikes  home,  and  hits  the  mark  :  though  he 
hath  a  time  of  patience,  yet  he  hath  also  a  "day  of  rebuke"  (Hos. 
V.  9) ;  though  patience  overrules  justice,  by  suspending  it,  yet  justice 
will  at  last  overrule  patience,  by  an  utter  silencing  it.  God  is  Judge 
of  the  whole  earth  to  right  men,  yet  he  is  no  less  Judge  of  the  inju- 
ries he  receives  to  right  himself.  Though  God  awhile  was  pressed 
with  the  murmurings  of  the  Israelites,  after  their  coming  out  of  Egypt, 
and  seemed  desirous  to  give  them  all  satisfaction  upon  their  unwor- 
thy complaints,  yet,  when  they  came  to  open  hostility,  in  setting  a 
golden  calf  in  his  throne,  he  commissions  the  "  Levites  to  kill  every 
man  his  brother  and  companion  in  the  camp"  (Exod.  xxxii.  27) :  and 
liow  desirous  soever  he  was  to  content  them  before,  they  never  mur- 
mured afterwards  but  they  severely  smarted  for  it.  When  once  he 
hath  begun  to  use  his  sword,  he  sticks  it  up  naked,  that  it  might  be 
ready  for  use  upon  every  occasion.  Though  he  hath  feet  of  lead,  yet 
he  hath  hands  of  iron.  It  was  long  that  he  supported  the  peevish- 
ness of  the  Jews,  but  at  last  he  captived  them  by  the  arms  of  the 
Babylonians,  and  laid  them  waste  by  the  jiower  of  the  Romans.  He 
planted,  by  the  apostles,  churches  in  the  east ;  and  when  his  good- 
ness and  long-suffering  prevailed  not  with  them,  he  tore  them  up  by 
the  roots.  What  Christians  are  to  be  found  in  those  once  famous  parts 
of  Asia  but  what  are  overgrown  with  much  error  and  ignorance  ? 

[3.]  The  more  his  patience  is  abused,  the  sharper  will  be  the  wrath 
he  inflicts.  As  his  wrath  restrained  makes  his  patience  long,  so  his 
compassions  restrained  will  make  his  wrath  severe  ;  as  he  doth  tran- 
scend all  creatures  in  the  measures  of  the  one,  so  he  doth  transcend 
all  creatures  in  the  sharpness  of  the  other.  Christ  is  described  with 
"feet  of  brass,"  as  if  they  burned  in  a  furnace  (Eev.  i.  15),  slow  to  move, 
but  heavy  to  crush,  and  hot  to  burn.  His  wrath  loseth  nothing 
by  delay  ;  it  grows  the  fresher  by  sleeping,  and  strikes  with  greater 
strength  when  it  awakes  :  all  the  time  men  are  abusing  his  patience, 
God  is  whetting  his  sword,  and  the  longer  it  is  whetting  the  shar])er 
will  be  the  edge ;  the  longer  he  is  fetching  his  blow,  the  smarter  it 


512  CHARNOCK   ON  THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

will  be.  The  heavier  the  cannons  are,  the  more  difficultly  are  they 
drawn  to  the  besieged  town ;  but,  when  arrived,  they  recompense 
the  slowness  of  their  march  by  the  fierceness  of  their  battery.  "  Be- 
cause I  have  purged  thee,"  i.  e.  used  means  for  thy  reformation,  and 
waited  for  it,  "  and  thou  wast  not  purged,  thou  shalt  not  be  purged 
from  thy  filthiness  any  more,  till  I  have  caused  my  fury  to  rest  upon 
thee  :  I  will  not  go  back,  neither  will  I  spare  ;  according  to  thy  ways, 
and  according  to  thy  doings,  shall  they  judge  thee"  (Ezek.  xxiv.  13, 
14).  God  will  spare  as  little  then  as  he  spared  much  before ;  his 
wrath  shall  be  as  raging  upon  them  as  the  sea  of  their  wickedness 
was  within  them.  When  there  is  a  bank  to  forbid  the  irruption  of 
the  streams,  the  waters  swell ;  but  when  the  bank  is  broke,  or  the 
lock  taken  away,  they  rush  with  the  greater  violence,  and  ravage 
more  than  they  would  have  done  had  they  not  met  with  a  stop  :  the 
longer  a  stone  is  in  falling,  the  more  it  bruiseth  and  grinds  to  pow- 
der. There  is  a  greater  treasure  of  wrath  laid  up  by  the  abuses  of 
patience  :  every  sin  must  have  a  just  recompense  of  reward  ;  and 
therefore  every  sin,  in  regard  of  its  aggravations,  must  be  more  pun- 
ished than  a  sin  in  the  singleness  and  simplicity  of  its  own  nature. 
As  treasures  of  mercy  are  kept  by  God  for  us,  "  he  keeps  mercy  for 
thousands  ;"  so  are  treasures  of  wrath  kept  by  him  to  be  expended, 
and  a  time  of  expense  there  must  be  :  patience  will  account  to  jus- 
tice all  the  good  offices  it  hath  done  the  sinner,  and  demand  to  be 
righted  by  justice  ;  justice  will  take  the  account  from  the  hands  of 
patience,  and  exact  a  recompense  for  every  disingenuous  injury  of- 
fered to  it.  When  justice  comes  to  arrest  men  for  their  debts,  pa- 
tience, mercy,  and  goodness,  Avill  step  in  as  creditors,  and  clap  their 
actions  upon  them,  which  will  make  the  condition  so  much  more 
deplorable. 

[4.]  When  he  puts  an  end  to  his  abused  patience,  his  wrath  will 
make  quick  and  sure  work.  He  that  is  "  slow  to  anger"  will  be 
swift  in  the  execution  of  it.  The  departure  of  God  from  Jerusalem 
is  described  with  "  wings  and  wheels"  (Ezek.  xi.  23).  One  stroke  of 
his  hand  is  irresistible ;  he  that  hath  spent  so  much  time  in  waiting 
needs  but  one  minute  to  ruin  ;  though  it  be  long  ere  he  draws  his 
sword  out  of  his  scabbard,  yet,  when  once  he  doth  it,  he  despatcheth 
men  at  a  blow.  Ephraim,  or  the  ten  tribes,  had  a  long  time  of  pa- 
tience and  prosperity,  but  now  shall  a  "  month  devour  him  with  his 
portion"  (Hos.  v.  7).  One  fatal  month  puts  a  period  to  the  many 
years'  peace  and  security  of  a  sinful  nation  ;  his  arrows  wound  sud- 
denly (Ps.  Ixiv.  7) ;  and  while  men  are  about  to  fill  their  bellies,  he 
casts  the  fruits  of  his  wrath  upon  them  (Job,  xx.  23),  like  thunder 
out  of  a  cloud,  or  a  bullet  out  of  a  cannon,  that  strikes  dead  before  it 
is  heard.  God  deals  with  sinners  as  enemies  do  with  a  town,  batter 
it  not  by  planted  guns,  but  secretly  undermines  and  blows  up  the 
walls,  whereby  they  involve  the  garrison  in  a  sudden  ruin,  and  carry 
the  town.  God  spared  the  Amalekites  a  long  time  after  the  injury 
committed  against  the  Israelites,  in  their  passage  out  of  Egypt  to  Ca- 
naan ;  but  when  he  came  to  reckon  with  them,  he  would  waste  them 
in  a  trice,  and  make  an  utter  consumption  of  them  (1  Sam.  xv.  2,  3). 
He  describes  himself  by  a  "  travailing  woman"  (Isa.  xxiv.  14),  that 


ON  GOD'S   PATIENCE,  513 

hath  borne  long  in  her  womb,  and  at  last  sends  forth  her  birth  with 
strong  cries.  Though  he  hath  held  his  peace,  been  still,  and  refrained 
himself,  yet,  at  last,  he  will  destroy  and  devour  at  once  :  the  Nine- 
vites,  spared  in  the  time  of  Jonah  for  their  repentance,  are,  in  nature, 
threatened  with  a  certain  and  total  ruin,  when  God  should  come  to 
bring  them  to  an  account  for  his  length  and  patience,  so  much  abused 
by  them.  Though  God  endured  the  murmuring  Israelites  so  long  in 
the  wilderness,  yet  he  paid  them  off  at  last,  and  took  away  the  reb- 
els in  his  wrath :  he  uttered  their  sentence  with  an  irreversible  oath, 
that  "  none  of  them  should  enter  into  his  rest;"  and  he  did  as  surely 
execute  it  as  he  had  solemnly  sworn  it. 

[5.]  Though  he  doth  defer  his  visible  wrath,  yet  that  very  delay 
may  be  more  dreadful  than  a  quick  punishment.  He  may  forbear 
striking,  and  give  the  reins  to  the  hardness  and  corruption  of  men's 
hearts ;  he  may  suffer  them  to  walk  in  their  own  counsels,  without 
any  more  striving  with  them,  whereby  they  make  themselves  fitter 
fuel  for  his  vengeance.  This  was  the  fate  of  Israel  when  they  would 
not  hearken  to  his  voice ;  he  "  gave  them  up  to  their  own  hearts' 
lusts,  and  they  walked  in  their  own  counsels"  (Ps.  Ixxxi.  12). 
Though  his  sparing  them  had  the  outward  aspect  of  patience,  it  was 
a  wrathful  one,  and  attended  with  spiritual  judgments  ;  thus  many 
abusers  of  patience  may  still  have  their  line  leng-thened,  and  the 
candle  of  prosperity  to  shine  upon  their  heads,  that  they  may  in- 
crease their  sins,  and  be  the  fitter  mark  at  last  for  his  arrows ;  they 
swim  down  the  stream  of  their  own  sensuality  with  a  deplorable  se- 
curity, till  they  fall  into  an  unavoidable  gulf,  where,  at  last,  it  will 
be  a  great  part  of  their  hell  to  reflect  on  the  length  of  Divine  pa- 
tience on  earth,  and  their  inexcusable  abuse  of  it. 

2.  It  informs  us  of  the  reason  why  he  lets  the  enemies  of  his 
church  oppress  it,  and  defers  his  promise  of  the  deliverance  of  it. 
If  he  did  punish  them  presently,  his  holiness  and  justice  would  be 
glorified,  but  his  poAver  over  himself  in  his  patience  would  be  ob- 
scured. Well  may  the  church  be  content  to  have  a  perfection  of 
God  glorified,  that  is  not  like  to  receive  any  honor  in  another  world 
by  any  exercise  of  itself.  If  it  were  not  for  this  patience,  he  were 
incapable  to  be  the  Governor  of  a  sinful  world ;  he  might,  without 
it,  be  the  Governor  of  an  innocent  world,  but  not  of  a  criminal  one ; 
he  would  be  the  destroyer  of  the  world,  but  not  the  orderer  and  dis- 
poser of  the  extravagancies  and  sinfulness  of  the  world.  The  in- 
terest of  his  wisdom,  in  drawing  good  out  of  evil,  would  not  be 
served,  if  he  were  not  clothed  with  this  perfection  as  well  as  with 
others.  If  he  did  presently  destroy  the  enemies  of  his  church  upon 
the  first  oppression,  his  wisdom  in  contriving,  and  his  power  in 
accomplishing  deliverance  against  the  united  powers  of  hell  and 
earth,  would  not  be  visible,  no,  nor  that  power  in  preserving  his 
people  unconsumed  in  the  furnace  of  affliction.  He  had  not  got  so 
great  a  name  in  the  rescue  of  his  Israel  from  Pharaoh,  had  he  thun- 
dered the  tyrant  into  destruction  upon  his  first  edicts  against  the 
innocent.  If  he  were  not  patient  to  the  most  violent  of  men,  he 
might  seem  to  be  cruel.  But  when  he  offers  peace  to  them  un- 
der their  rebellions,  waits  that  they  may  be  members  of  his  church, 

VOL.  II. — 33 


514  CHARNOCK   ON  THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

rather  than  enemies  to  it,  he  frees  himself  from  any  such  impu- 
tation, even  in  the  judgment  of  those  that  shall  feel  most  of  his 
wrath ;  it  is  this  renders  the  equity  of  his  justice  unquestionable, 
and  the  deliverance  of  his  people  righteous  in  the  judgment  of 
those  from  whose  fetters  they  are  delivered,  Christ  reigns  in  the 
midst  of  his  enemies,  to  show  his  power  over  himself,  as  well  as 
over  the  heads  of  his  enemies,  to  show  his  power  over  his  re- 
bels. And  though  he  retards  his  promise,  and  suffers  a  great  in- 
terval of  time  between  the  publication  and  performance,  sometimes 
years,  sometimes  ages  to  pass  away,  and  little  appearance  of  any 
preparation,  to  show  himself  a  God  of  truth ;  it  is  not  that  he  hath 
forgotten  his  word,  or  repents  that  ever  he  passed  it,  or  sleeps  in  a 
supine  neglect  of  it :  but  that  men  might  not  perish,  but  bethink 
themselves,  and  come  as  friends  into  his  bosom,  rather  than  be 
crushed  as  enemies  under  his  feet  (2  Pet.  iii.  9) :  "  The  Lord  is  not 
slack  concerning  his  promise,  but  is  long-suffering  to  us-ward,  not 
willing  that  any  should  perish,  but  that  all  should  come  to  repent- 
ance." Hereby  he  shows,  that  he  would  be  rather  pleased  with  the 
conversion,  than  the  destruction,  of  men. 

3.  We  see  the  reason  why  sin  is  suffered  to  remain  in  the  regene- 
rate ;  to  show  his  patience  towards  his  own ;  for  since  this  attribute 
hath  no  other  place  of  appearance  but  in  this  world,  God  takes  op- 
portunity to  manifest  it ;  because,  at  the  close  of  the  world,  it  will 
remain  closed  up  in  the  Deity,  without  any  further  operation.  As 
God  suffers  a  multitude  of  sins  in  the  world,  to  evidence  his  pa- 
tience to  the  wicked,  so  he  suffers  great  remainders  of  sin  in  his 
people,  to  show  his  patience  to  the  godly.  His  sparing  mercy  is  ad- 
mirable, before  their  conversion,  but  more  admirable  in  bearing  with 
them  after  so  high  an  obligation  as  the  conferring  upon  them  special 
converting  grace. 

Use  2.  Of  comfort.  It  is  a  vast  comfort  to  any  when  God  is  paci- 
fied towards  them ;  but  it  is  some  comfort  to  all,  that  God  is  yet  pa- 
tient towards  them,  though  but  very  little  to  a  refractory  sinner. 
His  continued  patience  to  all,  speaks  a  possibility  of  the  care  of  all, 
would  they  not  stand  against  the  way  of  their  recovery.  It  is  a 
terror  that  God  hath  anger,  but  it  is  a  mitigation  of  that  terror  that 
God  is  slow  to  it ;  while  his  sword  is  in  his  sheath  there  is  some 
hopes  to  prevent  the  drawing  of  it :  alas !  if  he  were  all  fire  and 
sword  upon  sin,  what  would  become  of  us  ?  We  should  find  no- 
thing else  but  overflowing  deluges,  or  sweeping  pestilences,  or  per- 
petual flashes  of  Sodom's  fire  and  brimstone  from  heaven.  He  dooms 
us  not  presently  to  execution,  but  gives  us  a  long  breathing  time 
after  the  crime,  that  by  retiring  from  our  iniquities,  and  having  re- 
course to  his  mercy,  he  may  be  withheld  forever  from  signing  a  war- 
rant against  us,  and  change  his  legal  sentence  into  an  evangelical 
pardon.  It  is  a  special  comfort  to  his  people,  that  he  is  a  "  sanc- 
tuary to  them"  (Ezek.  xi.  16) ;  a  place  of  refuge,  a  place  of  spiritual 
communications ;  but  it  is  some  refreshment  to  all  in  this  life,  that 
he  is  a  defence  to  them :  for  so  is  his  patience  called  (Numb.  xiv. 
9) :  "  Their  defence  is  departed  from  them ;"  speaking  to  the 
Israelites,  that  they  should   not  be   afraid   of  the  Canaanites,  for 


ON  GOD'S  PATIENCE.  515 

their  defence  is  departed  from  tliem.  God  is  no  longer  patient  to 
tliem,  since  their  sins  be  full  and  ripe.  Patience,  as  long  as  it  lasts, 
is  a  temporary  defence  to  those  that  are  under  the  wing  of  it ;  but 
to  the  believer  it  is  a  singular  comfort ;  and  God  is  called  the  "  God 
of  patience  and  consolation"  in  one  breath  (Rom.  xv.  5) :  "  The  God 
of  patience  and  consolation  grant  you  to  be  like-minded ;"  all  interpre- 
ters understand  it  effectively.  The  God  that  inspires  you  with  pa- 
tience, and  cheers  you  with  comfort,  grant  this  to  you.  Why  may 
it  not  be  understood  formally,  of  the  j)atience  belonging  to  the  na- 
ture of  God  ?  and  though  it  be  expressed  in  the  way  of  petition, 
yet  it  might  also  be  proposed  as  a  pattern  for  imitation,  and  so 
suits  very  well  to  the  exhortation  laid  down  (ver.  1),  which  was 
to  "bear  with  the  infirmities  of  the  weak,"  which  he  presseth 
them  to  (ver.  3)  by  the  example  of  Christ ;  and  (ver.  5)  by  the  pa- 
tience of  God  to  them,  and  so  they  are  very  well  linked  together. 
"God  of  patience  and  consolation"  may  well  be  joined,  since  pa- 
tience is  the  first  step  of  comfort  to  the  poor  creature.  If  it  did 
not  administer  some  comfortable  hopes  to  Adam,  in  the  interval 
between  his  fall  and  God's  coming  to  examine  him,  I  am  sure  it 
was  the  first  discovery  of  any  comfort  to  the  creature,  after  the 
sweeping  the  destroying  deluge  out  of  the  world  (Gen.  ix.  21) ; 
after  the  "savor  of  Noah's  sacrifice,"  representing  the  great  Sac- 
rifice which  was  to  be  in  the  world,  had  ascended  up  to  God, 
the  return  from  him  is  a  publication  of  his  forbearing  to  punish 
any  more  in  such  a  manner :  and  though  he  found  man  no  bet- 
ter than  he  was  before,  and  the  imaginations  of  men's  hearts  as 
evil  as  before  the  deluge,  that  he  would  not  again  smite  every 
living  thing,  as  he  had  done.  This  was  the  first  expression  of 
comfort  to  Noah,  after  his  exit  from  the  ark ;  and  declares  no- 
thing else  but  the  continuance  of  patience  to  the  new  world 
above  what  he  had  shown  to  the  old. 

1.  It  is  a  comfort,  in  that  it  is  an  argument  of  his  grace  to  his  peo- 
ple. If  he  hath  so  rich  a  patience  to  exercise  towards  his  enemies, 
he  hath  a  greater  treasure  to  bestow  upon  his  friends.  Patience  is 
the  first  attribute  which  steps  in  for  our  salvation,  and  therefore 
called  "  salvation"  (2  Pet.  iii.  15).  Something  else  is  therefore  built 
upon  it,  and  intended  by  it,  to  those  that  believe.  Those  two  letters 
of  his  name,  "  a  God  keeping  mercy  for  thousands,  and  forgiving 
iniquity,  transgressions  and  sin,"  follow  the  other  letter  of  his  long- 
suffering  in  the  proclamation  (Exod.  xxxiv.  6,  7).  He  is  "  slow  to 
anger,"  tliat  he  may  be  merciful,  that  men  may  seek,  and  receive 
their  pardon.  If  he  be  long-suffering,  in  order  to  be  a  pardoning 
God,  he  will  not  be  wanting  in  pardoning  those  who  answer  the  de- 
sign of  his  forbearance  of  them.  You  would  not  have  had  sparing 
mercy  to  improve,  if  God  would  have  denied  you  saving  mercy  upon 
the  improvement  of  his  sparing  goodness.  If  he  hath  so  much  re- 
spect to  his  enemies  that  provoke  him,  as  to  endure  them  with  much 
long-suffering,  he  will  surely  be  very  kind  to  those  that  obey  him, 
and  conform  to  his  Avill.  If  he  hath  much  long-suffering  to  those 
that  are  "  fitted  for  destruction"  (Rom.  ix.  22),  he  will  have  a  much- 
ness of  mercy  for  those  that  are  prepared  for  glory  by  faith  and  re- 


516  CHARNOCK  ON  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

pentance.  It  is  but  a  natural  conclusion  a  gracious  soul  may  make, 
— If  God  liad  not  a  mind  to  be  appeased  towards  me,  he  would  not 
have  had  a  mind  to  forbear  me ;  but  since  he  hath  forborne  me,  and 
given  me  a  heart  to  see,  and  answer  the  true  end  of  that  forbearance, 
I  need  not  question,  but  that  sparing  mercy  will  end  in  saving,  since 
it  finds  that  repentance  springing  up  in  me,  which  that  patience  con- 
ducted me  to. 

2.  His  patience  is  a  ground  to  trust  in  his  promise.  If  his  slow- 
ness to  anger  be  so  great  when  his  precept  is  slighted,  his  readiness 
to  give  what  he  hath  promised  will  be  as  great  when  his  promise  is 
believed.  If  the  provocations  of  them  meet  with  such  an  unwill- 
ingness to  punish  them,  faith  in  him  will  meet  with  the  choicest 
embraces  from  him.  He  was  more  ready  to  make  the  promise  of 
redemption  after  man's  apostasy,  than  to  execute  the  threatening  of 
the  law.  He  doth  still  witness  a  greater  willingness  to  give  forth  the 
fruits  of  the  promise,  than  to  pour  out  the  vials  of  his  curses.  His 
slowness  to  anger  is  an  evidence  still,  that  he  hath  the  same  disposi- 
tion, which  is  no  slight  cordial  to  faith  in  his  word. 

3.  It  is  a  comfort  in  infirmities.  If  he  were  not  patient,  he  could 
not  bear  with  so  many  peevishnesses  and  weaknesses  in  the  hearts 
of  his  own.  If  he  be  patient  to  the  grosser  sins  of  his  enemies,  he 
will  be  no  less  to  the  lighter  infirmities  of  his  people.  When  the 
soul  is  a  bruised  reed,  that  can  emit  no  sound  at  all,  or  one  very 
harsh  and  ungrateful,  he  doth  not  break  it  in  pieces,  and  fling  it 
away  in  disdain,  but  waits  to  see  whether  it  will  fully  answer  his 
pains,  and  be  brought  to  a  better  frame  and  sweeter  note.  He  brings 
them  not  to  account  for  every  slip,  but,  "  as  a  father,  spares  his  son 
that  serves  him"  (Mai.  iii.  17).  It  is  a  comfort  to  us  in  our  distracted 
services ;  for  were  it  not  for  this  slowness  to  anger,  he  would  stifle  us 
in  the  midst  of  our  prayers,  wherein  there  are  as  many  foolish  thoughts 
to  disgust  him,  as  there  are  petitions  to  implore  him.  The  patientest 
angels  would  hardly  be  able  to  bear  with  the  foUies  of  good  men  in 
acts  of  worship. 

Use  3.  For  exhortation, 

1.  Meditate  often  on  the  patience  of  God.  The  devil  labors  for 
nothing  more  than  to  deface  in  us  the  consideration  and  memory  of 
this  perfection.  He  is  an  envious  creature ;  and  since  it  hath  reached 
out  itself  to  us  and  not  to  him,  he  envies  God  the  glory  of  it,  and 
man  the  advantage  of  it :  but  God  loves  to  have  the  volumes  of  it 
studied,  and  daily  turned  over  by  us.  We  cannot  without  an  inex- 
cusable wilfulness  miss  the  thoughts  of  it,  since  it  is  visible  in  every 
bit  of  bread,  and  breath  of  air  in  ourselves,  and  all  about  us. 

(1.)  The  frequent  consideration  of  his  patience  would  render  God 
highly  amiable  to  us.  It  is  a  more  endearing  argument  than  his  mere 
goodness ;  his  goodness  to  us  as  creatures,  endowing  us  with  such  ex- 
cellent faculties,  furnishing  us  with  such  a  commodious  world,  and 
bestowing  upon  us  so  many  attendants  for  our  pleasure  and  service, 
and  giving  us  a  lordship  over  his  other  works,  deserves  our  affection : 
but  his  patience  to  us  as  sinners,  after  we  have  merited  the  greatest 
wrath,  shows  him  to  be  of  a  sweeter  disposition  than  creating  good- 
ness to  unoffending  creatures ;  and,  consequently,  S23eaks  a  greater 


ON  GOD'S  PATIENCE.  617 

love  in  liim,  and  bespeaks  a  greater  affection  from  ns.  His  creating 
goodness  discovered  the  majesty  of  liis  Being,  and  the  greatness  of 
his  mind,  but  this  the  sweetness  and  tenderness  of  his  nature.  In 
this  patience  he  exceeds  the  mildness  of  all  creatures  to  us ;  and 
therefore  should  be  enthroned  in  our  affections  above  all  other  crea- 
tures. The  consideration  of  this  would  make  us  affect  him  for  his 
nature  as  well  as  for  his  benefits. 

(2.)  The  consideration  of  his  patience  would  make  us  frequent  and 
serious  in  the  exercise  of  repentance.  In  its  nature  it  leads  to  it,  and 
the  consideration  of  it  would  engage  us  to  it,  and  melt  us  in  the  ex- 
ercise of  it.  Could  we  deeply  think  of  it  without  being  touched  with 
a  sense  of  the  kindness  of  our  forbearing  Creditor  and  Governor  ? 
Could  we  gaze  upon  it,  nay,  could  we  glance  upon  it,  without  relent- 
ing at  our  offending  one  of  so  mild  a  nature,  without  being  sensibly 
affected,  that  he  hath  preserved  us  so  long  from  being  loaded  with 
those  chains  of  darkness,  under  which  the  devils  groan  ?  This  for- 
bearance hath  good  reason  to  make  sin  and  sinners  ashamed.  That 
you  are  in  being,  is  not  for  want  of  advantages  enough  in  his  hand 
against  you ;  many  a  forfeiture  you  have  made,  and  many  an  en- 
gagement you  have  broke  ;  he  hath  scarce  met  with  any  other  deal- 
ing from  us,  than  what  had  treachery  in  it.  Whatsoever  our  sincerity 
is,  we  have  no  reason  to  boast  of  it,  when  we  consider  what  mixtures 
there  are  in  it,  and  what  swarms  of  base  motions  taint  it.  Hath  he 
not  lain  pressed  and  groaning  under  our  sins,  as  a  "cart  is  pressed 
with  sheaves"  (Amos,  ii.  13),  when  one  shake  of  himself,  as  Sampson, 
might  have  rid  him  of  the  burden,  and  dismissed  us  in  his  fury  into 
hell?  If  we  should  often  ask  our  consciences  why  have  we  done 
thus  and  thus  against  so  mild  a  God,  would  not  the  reflection  on  it 
put  us  to  the  blush  ?  If  men  would  consider,  that  such  a  time  they 
provoked  God  to  his  face,  and  yet  not  have  felt  his  sword  ;  such  a 
time  they  blasphemed  him,  and  made  a  reproach  of  his  name,  and 
his  thunder  did  not  stop  their  motion ;  such  a  time  they  fell  into  an 
abominable  brutishness,  yet  he  kept  the  punishment  of  devils,  the 
unclean  spirits,  from  reaching  them ;  such  a  time  he  bore  an  open 
affront  from  them,  when  they  scoffed  at  his  word,  and  he  did  not 
send  a  destruction,  and  laugh  at  it:  would  not  such  a  meditation 
work  some  strange  kind  of  relentings  in  men?  What  if  we  should 
consider,  that  we  cannot  do  a  sinful  act  without  the  support  of  his 
concurring  Providence  ?  We  cannot  see,  hear,  move,  without  his 
concourse.  All  creatures  we  use  for  our  necessity  or  pleasure,  are 
supported  by  him  in  the  very  act  of  assisting  to  pleasure  us ;  and 
when  we  abuse  those  creatures  against  him,  which  he  supports  for  our 
use,  how  great  is  his  patience  to  bear  with  us,  that  he  doth  not  anni- 
hilate those  creatures,  or  at  least  embitter  their  use !  What  issue 
could  reasonably  be  expected  from  this  consideration,  but,  "  0 
wretched  man  that  I  am,  to  serve  myself  of  God's  power  to  affront 
him,  and  of  his  long-suffering  to  abuse  him  ?"  O  infinite  patience 
to  employ  that  power  to  preserve  me,  that  might  have  been  used 
to  punish  me  !  He  is  my  Creator,  I  could  not  have  a  being  with- 
out him,  and  yet  I  offend  him !  He  is  my  Preserver,  I  cannot  main- 
tain  my  being  without  him,    and  yet  I  affront  him!     Is  this  a 


518  CHARNOCK  ON  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

worthy  requital  of  God  (Deut.  xxxii.  6),  "  Do  you  thus  requite  the 
Lord?"  would  be  the  heart-breaking  reflection.  How  would  it 
give  men  a  fuller  prospect  of  the  depravation  of  their  nature  than 
anything  else ;  that  their  corruption  should  be  so  deep  and  strong, 
that  so  much  patience  could  not  overcome  it !  It  would  certainly 
make  a  man  ashamed  of  his  nature  as  well  as  his  actions. 

(3.)  The  consideration  of  his  patience  would  make  us  resent  more 
the  injuries  done  by  others  to  God.  A  patient  sufferer,  though  a 
deserving  sufferer,  attracts  the  pity  of  men,  that  have  a  value  for  any 
virtue,  though  clouded  with  a  heap  of  vice.  How  much  more  should 
we  have  a  concern  of  God,  who  suffers  so  many  abuses  from  others ! 
and  be  grieved,  that  so  admirable  a  patience  should  be  slighted  by 
men,  who  solely  live  by  and  under  the  daily  influence  of  it !  The 
impression  of  this  would  make  us  take  God's  part,  as  it  is  usual  with 
men  to  take  the  part  of  good  dispositions  that  lie  under  oppression. 

(4.)  It  would  make  us  patient  under  God's  hand.  His  slowness  to 
anger  and  his  forbearance  is  visible,  in  the  very  strokes  we  feel  in 
this  life.  "We  have  no  reason  to  murmur  against  him,  who  gives  us 
so  little  cause,  and  in  the  greatest  afflictions  gives  us  more  occasion 
of  thankfulness  than  of  repining.  Did  not  slowness  to  the  extremest 
anger  moderate  every  affliction,  it  had  been  a  scorpion  instead  of  a 
rod.  We  have  reason  to  bless  Him,  who,  from  his  long-suffering, 
sends  temporal  sufferings,  where  eternal  are  justly  due.  (Ezra,  ix. 
13),  "  Thou  hast  punished  us  less  than  our  iniquities  do  deserve." 
His  indulgences  towards  us  have  been  more  than  our  corrections,  and 
the  length  of  his  patience  hath  exceeded  the  sharpness  of  his  rod. 
Upon  the  account  of  his  long-suffering,  our  mutinies  against  God 
have  as  little  to  excuse  them,  as  our  sins  against  him  have  to  deserve 
his  forbearance.  The  consideration  of  this  would  show  us  more  rea- 
son to  repine  at  our  own  repinings,  than  at  any  of  his  smarter  deal- 
ings ;  and  the  consideration  of  this  would  make  us  submissive  under 
the  judgments  we  expect.  His  undeserved  patience  hath  been  more 
than  our  merited  judgments  can  possibly  be  thought  to  be.  If  we 
fear  the  removal  of  the  gospel  for  a  season,  as  we  have  reason  to  do, 
we  should  rather  bless  him,  that  by  his  waiting  patience,  he  hath 
continued  it  so  long,  than  murmur,  that  he  threatens  to  take  it  away 
so  late.  He  hath  borne  with  us  many  a  year,  since  the  light  of  it 
was  rekindled,  when  our  ancestors  had  but  six  years'  of  patience 
between  the  rise  of  Edward  the  Sixth,  and  the  ascent  of  Queen 
Mary,  to  the  crown. 

2.  Exhortation  is  to  admire  and  stand  astonished  at  his  patience, 
"  and  bless  him  for  it."  If  you  should  have  defiled  your  neighbor's 
bed,  or  sullied  his  reputation,  or  rifled  his  goods,  would  he  have 
withheld  his  vengeance,  unless  he  had  been  too  weak  to  execute  it  ? 
We  have  done  worse  to  God  than  we  can  do  to  man,  and  yet  he 
draws  not  that  sword  of  wrath  out  of  the  scabbard  of  his  patience, 
to  sheath  it  in  our  hearts.  It  is  not  so  much  a  wonder  that  any 
judgments  are  sent,  as  that  there  are  no  more,  and  sharper.  That 
the  world  shall  be  fired  at  last,  is  not  a  thing  so  strange,  as  that 
fire  doth  not  come  down  every  day  upon  some  part  of  it.  Had  the 
disciples,  that  saw  such  excellent  patterns  of  mildness  from  their 


ON   GOD'S   PATIENCE.  519 

Master,  and  were  so  often  urged  to  learn  of  him  that  was  lowly 
and  meek,  the  government  of  the  world,  it  had  been  long  since 
turned  into  ashes,  since  they  were  too  forward  to  desire  him  to  open 
his  magazine  of  judgments,  and  kindle  a  fire  to  consume  a  Samaritan 
village,  for  a  slight  affront  in  comparison  of  what  he  received  from 
others,  and  afterwards  from  themselves  in  their  forsaking  of  him 
(Luke,  ix.  52 — 54).  We  should  admire  and  praise  that  here  which 
shall  be  praised  in  heaven ;  though  patience  shall  cease  as  to  its 
exercise  after  the  consummation  of  the  world,  it  shall  not  cease  from 
receiving  the  acknowledgments  of  what  it  did,  when  it  traversed 
the  stage  of  this  earth.  If  the  name  of  God  be  glorified,  and  ac- 
knowledged in  heaven,  no  question  but  this  will  also ;  since  long- 
suffering  is  one  of  his  Divine  titles,  a  letter  in  his  name,  as  well  as 
"merciful,  and  gracious,  abundant  in  goodness  and  truth."  And 
there  is  good  reason  to  think  that  the  patience  exercised  towards 
some,  before  converting  grace  was  ordered  to  seize  upon  them,  will 
bear  a  great  part  in  the  anthems  of  heaven.  The  greater  his  long- 
suffering  hath  been  to  men,  that  lay  covered  with  their  own  dung, 
a  long  time  before  they  were  freed  by  grace  from  their  filth ;  the 
more  admiringly  and  loudly  they  will  cry  up  his  mercy  to  them, 
after  they  have  passed  the  gulf,  and  see  a  deserved  hell  at  a  distance 
from  them,  and  many  in  that  place  of  torment  who  never  had  the 
tastes  of  so  much  forbearance.  If  mercy  will  be  23raised  there,  that 
which  began  the  alphabet  of  it,  cannot  be  forgot.  If  Paul  speak  so 
highly  of  it  in  a  damping  world,  and  under  the  pull-backs  of  a 
"  body  of  death,"  as  he  doth  1  Tim.  i.  16,  17 :  "  For  this  cause  I  ob- 
tained mercy ;  that  Christ  might  show  forth  all  long-suffering.  Now 
unto  the  King  eternal,  immortal,  invisible,  the  only  wise  God,  be 
honor,  and  glory,  for  ever  and  ever.  Amen."  No  doubt,  but  he 
will  have  a  higher  note  for  it,  when  he  is  surrounded  with  a  hea- 
venly flame,  and  freed  from  all  remains  of  dulness.  Shall  it  be 
praised  above,  and  have  we  no  notes  for  it  here  below  ?  Admire 
Christ,  too,  who  sued  out  your  reprieve  upon  the  account  of  his  merit. 
As  mercy  acts  not  upon  any  but  in  Christ,  so  neither  had  patience 
borne  with  any  but  in  Christ.  The  pronouncing  the  arrest  of 
judgment  (Gen.  viii.  21)  was  when  "  God  smelled  a  sweet  savor 
from  Noah's  sacrifice,"  not  from  the  beasts  offered,  but  the  anti- 
typical  sacrifice  represented.  That  we  may  be  raised  to  bless  God 
for  it,  let  us  consider, 

(1.)  The  multitude  of  our  provocations.  Though  some  have 
blacker  guilt  than  others,  and  deeper  stains,  yet  let  none  wipe  his 
mouth,  but  rather  imagine  himself  to  have  but  little  reason  to  bless 
it.  Are  not  all  our  offences  as  many  as  there  have  been  minutes  in 
our  lives  ?  All  the  moments  of  our  continuance  in  the  world  have 
been  moments  of  his  patience  and  our  ingratitude.  Adam  was 
punished  for  one  sin,  Moses  excluded  Canaan  for  a  passionate  un- 
believing word.  Ananias  and  Sapphira  lost  their  lives  for  one  sin 
against  the  Holy  Ghost.  One  sin  sullied  the  beauty  of  the  world, 
defaced  the  works  of  God,  and  cracked  heaven  and  earth  in  pieces, 
had  not  infinite  satisfaction  been  proposed  to  the  provoked  Justice 
by  the  Redeemer ;  and  not  one  sin  committed,  but  is  of  the  same 


520  CHAENOCK  ON  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

venomous  nature.  How  many  of  those  contradictions  against  him- 
self hath  he  borne  with  !  Had  we  been  only  unprofitable  to  him, 
his  forbearance  of  us  had  been  miraculous  ;  but  how  much  doth  it 
exceed  a  miracle,  and  lift  itself  above  the  meanness  of  a  conjunction 
Avith  such  an  epithet,  since  we  have  been  provoking !  Had  there 
been  no  more  than  our  impudent  or  careless  rushings  into  his  pres- 
ence in  worship  ;  had  they  been  only  sins  of  omission,  and  sins  of 
ignorance,  it  had  been  enough  to  have  put  a  stand  to  any  farther 
operations  of  this  perfection  towards  us.  But  add  to  those,  sins  of 
commission,  sins  against  knowledge,  sins  against  spiritual  motions, 
sins  against  repeated  resolutions,  and  pressing  admonitions,  the 
neglects  of  all  the  opportunities  of  repentance ;  put  them  all  toge- 
ther, and  we  can  as  little  recount  them,  as  the  sands  on  the  sea-shore. 
But  what,  do  I  only  speak  of  particular  men  ?  View  the  whole 
world,  and  if  our  own  iniquities  render  it  an  amazing  patience,  what  a 
mighty  supply  will  be  made  to  it  in  all  the  numerous  and  weighty 
provocations,  under  which  he  hath  continued  the  world  for  so  many 
revolutions  of  years  and  ages!  Have  not  all  those  pressed  into 
his  presence  with  a  loud  cry,  and  demanded  a  sentence  from  justice? 
yet  hath  not  the  Judge  been  overcome  by  the  importunity  of  our 
sins  ?  Were  the  devils  punished  for  one  sin,  a  proud  thought,  and 
that  not  committed  against  the  blood  of  Christ,  as  we  have  done 
numberless  times ;  yet  hath  not  God  made  us  partakers  in  their 
punishment,  though  we  have  exceeded  them  in  the  quality  of  their 
sin.  O  admirable  patience!  that  would  bear  with  me  under  so 
many,  while  he  would  not  bear  with  the  sinning  angels  for  one.* 

(2.)  Consider  how  mean  things  we  are,  who  have  provoked  him. 
What  is  man  but  a  vile  thing,  that  a  God,  abounding  with  all 
riches,  should  take  care  of  so  abject  a  thing,  much  more  to  bear  so 
many  affronts  from  such  a  drop  of  matter,  such  a  nothing  creature  ! 
That  he  that  hath  anger  at  his  command,  as  well  as  pity,  should  endure 
such  a  detestable,  deformed  creature  by  sin,  to  fly  in  his'  face  1 
"  What  is  man,  that  thou  art  mindful  of  him  ?"  (Ps.  viii.)  ^isx, 
miserable,  incurable  man,  derived  from  a  word,  that  signifies  to  be 
incurably  sick.  Man  is  "Adam,"  earth  from  his  earthly  original, 
and  "  Enoch,"  incurable  from  his  corruption.  Is  it  not  worthy  to 
be  admired,  that  a  God  of  infinite  glory  should  wait  on  such  Adams, 
worms  of  earth,  and  be,  as  it  were,  a  servant,  and  attendant  to  such 
Enochs,  sickly  and  peevish  creatures  ? 

(3.)  Consider  who  it  is  that  is  thus  patient.  He  it  is  that,  with 
one  breath,  could  turn  heaven  and  earth,  and  all  the  inhabitants  of 
both,  into  nothing ;  that  could,  by  one  thunderbolt,  have  razed  up 
the  foundations  of  a  cursed  world.  He  that  wants  not  instruments 
without  to  ruin  us,  that  can  arm  our  own  consciences  against  us,  and 
can  drown  us  in  our  own  phlegm ;  and,  by  taking  out  one  pin  from 
our  bodies,  cause  the  whole  frame  to  fall  asunder.  Besides,  it  is  a  God 
that,  while  he  suffers  the  sinner,  hates  the  sin  more  than  all  the  holy 
men  upon  earth,  or  angels  in  heaven,  can  do ;  so  that  his  patience 
for  a  minute  transcends  the  patience  of  all  creatures,  from  the  crea- 
tion to  the  dissolution  of  the  world :  because  it  is  the  patience  of  a 

'  Pont.  Part  I.  p.  42. 


ON"  GOD'S  PATIENCE.  521 

God,  infinitely  more  sensible  to  the  cursed  quality  of  sin,  and  infi- 
nitely more  detesting  it. 

(4.)  Consider  how  long  he  hath  forborne  his  anger.  A  reprieve 
for  a  week  or  a  month  is  accounted  a  great  favor  in  civil  states ;  the 
civil  law  enacts,  "  That  if  the  emperor  commanded  a  man  to  be  con- 
demned, the  execution  was  to  be  deferred  thirty  days :  because  in 
that  time  the  prince's  anger  might  be  appeased.""  But  how  great  a 
favor  is  it  to  be  reprieved  thirty  years  for  many  offences,  every  one 
of  which  deserves  death  more  at  the  hands  of  God  than  any  offence 
can  at  the  hands  of  man  !  Paul  was,  according  to  the  common 
account,  but  about  thirty  years  old  at  his  conversion ;  and  how 
much  doth  he  elevate  Divine  long-suffering !  Certainly  there  are 
many  who  have  more  reason,  as  having  larger  quantities  of  patience 
cut  out  to  them,  who  have  lived  to  see  their  own  gray  hairs  in  a 
rebellious  posture  against  God,  before  grace  brought  them  to  a  sur- 
render. We  were  all  condemned  in  the  womb ;  our  lives  were 
forfeited  the  first  moment  of  our  breath,  but  patience  hath  stopped 
the  arrest ;  the  merciful  Creditor  deserves  to  have  acknowledgment 
from  us,  who  hath  laid  by  his  bond  so  many  years  without  putting 
it  in  suit  against  us.  Many  of  your  companions  in  sin  have  perhaps 
been  surprised  long  ago,  and  haled  to  an  eternal  prison  ;  nothing  is 
remaining  of  them  but  their  dust,  and  the  time  is  not  3^et  come  for 
your  funeral.  Let  it  be  considered,  that  that  God  that  would  not 
wait  upon  the  fallen  angels  one  instant  after  their  sin,  nor  give  them 
a  moment's  space  of  repentance,  hath  prolonged  the  life  of  many  a 
sinner  in  the  world  to  innumerable  moments,  to  420,000  minutes  in 
the  space  of  a  year,  to  8,400,000  minutes  in  the  space  of  twenty 
years.  The  damned  in  hell  would  think  it  a  great  kindness  to  have 
but  a  year's,  month's,  nay,  day's  respite,  as  a  space  to  repent  in. 

(5.)  Consider  also,  how  many  have  been  taken  away  under 
shorter  measures  of  jjatience  :  some  have  been  struck  into  a  hell  of 
misery,  while  thou  remainest  upon  an  earth  of  forbearance.  In  a 
plague,  the  destroying  angel  hath  hewed  down  others,  and  passed 
by  us ;  the  arrows  have  flew  about  our  heads,  passed  over  us,  and 
stuck  in  the  heart  of  a  neighbor.  How  many  rich  men,  how  many 
of  our  friends  and  familiars,  have  been  seized  by  death  since  the  be- 
ginning of  the  year,  when  they  least  thought  of  it,  and  imagined  it 
far  from  them !  Have  you  not  known  some  of  your  acquaintance 
snatched  away  in  the  height  of  a  crime  ?  Was  not  the  same  wrath 
due  to  you  as  well  as  to  them  !  And  had  it  not  been  as  dreadful 
for  you  to  be  so  surprised  by  Him  as  it  was  for  them  ?  Why  should 
he  take  a  less  sturdy  sinner  out  of  thy  company,  and  let  thee  re- 
main still  upon  the  earth  ?  If  God  had  dealt  so  with  you,  how  had 
you  been  cut  off,  not  only  from  the  enjoyment  of  this  life,  but  the 
hopes  of  a  better  !  And  if  God  had  made  such  a  providence  bene- 
ficial for  reclaiming  you,  how  much  reason  have  you  to  acknowledge 
him !  He  that  hath  had  least  patience,  hath  cause  to  admire  ;  but 
those  that  have  more,  ought  to  exceed  others  in  blessing  him  for  it. 
If  God  had  put  an  end  to  your  natural  life  before  you  had  made  pro- 
vision for  eternal,  how  deplorable  would  your  condition  have  been  ! 

"  Cod.  lib.  ix.  Titul.  476,  p.  20. 


522  CHARNOCK  ON  THE   ATTRIBUTES. 

Consider  also,  whoever  have  been  sinners  formerly  of  a  deeper  note ; 
might  not  God  have  struck  a  man  in  the  embraces  of  his  harlots, 
and  choked  him  in  the  moment  of  his  excessive  and  intemperate 
healths,  or  on  the  sudden  have  spurted  fire  and  brimstone  into  a 
blasphemer's  mouth  ?  What  if  God  had  snatched  you  away,  when 
you  had  been  sleeping  in  some  great  iniquity,  or  sent  you  while 
burning  in  lust  to  the  fire  it  merited  ?  Might  he  not  have  cracked 
the  string  that  linked  your  souls  to  your  bodies,  in  the  last  sickness 
you  had  ?  And  what  then  had  become  of  you  ?  What  could  have 
been  expected  to  succeed  your  impenitent  state  in  this  world,  but 
bowlings  in  another  ?  but  he  reprieved  you  upon  your  petitions,  or 
the  solicitations  of  your  friends  ;  and  have  you  not  broke  your  word 
with  him  ?  Have  your  hearts  been  steadfast ;  hath  he  not  yet 
waited,  expecting  when  you  would  put  your  vows  and  resolutions 
into  execution  ?  What  need  had  he  to  cry  out  to  any  so  loud  and  so 
long,  O  you  fools,  "  how  long  will  you  love  foolishness  ?"  (Pro v.  i. 
22),  when  he  might  have  ceased  his  crying  to  you,  and  have  by  your 
death  prevented  your  many  neglects  of  him  ?  Did  he  do  all  this 
that  any  of  us  might  add  new  sins  to  our  old ;  or  rather,  that  we 
should  bless  him  for  his  forbearance,  comply  with  the  end  of  it  in 
reforming  our  lives,  and  having  recourse  to  his  mercy  ? 

3.  Exhortion ;  therefore  presume  not  upon  his  patience.  The  ex- 
ercise of  it  is  not  eternal ;  you  are  at  present  under  his  patience ; 
yet,  while  you  are  unconverted,  you  are  also  under  his  anger  (Ps, 
vii.  11),  "  God  is  angry  with  the  wicked  every  day."  You  know 
not  how  soon  his  anger  may  turn  his  patience  aside,  and  step  before 
it.  It  may  be  his  sword  is  drawn  out  of  his  scabbard,  his  arrows 
may  be  settled  in  his  bow  ;  and  perhaps  there  is  but  a  little  time  be- 
fore you  may  feel  the  edge  of  the  one  or  the  point  of  the  other :  and 
then  there  will  be  no  more  time  for  patience  in  God  to  us,  or  petition 
from  us  to  him.  If  we  repent  here  he  will  pardon  us.  If  we  defer 
repentance,  and  die  without  it,  he  will  have  no  longer  mercy  to  par- 
don, nor  patience  to  bear.  What  is  there  in  our  power  but  the 
present  ?  the  future  time  we  cannot  command,  the  past  time  we  can- 
not recall ;  squander  not  then  the  present  away.  The  time  will  come 
when  "  time  shall  be  no  more,"  and  then  long-suffering  shall  be  no 
more.  Will  you  neglect  the  time,  wherein  patience  acts,  and  vainly 
hope  for  a  time  beyond  the  resolves  of  patience  ?  Will  you  spend 
that  in  vain,  which  goodness  hath  allotted  you  for  other  purposes  ? 
What  an  estimate  will  you  make  of  a  little  forbearance  to  respite 
death,  when  you  are  gasping  under  the  stroke  of  its  arrows  !  How 
much  would  you  value  some  few  days  of  those  many  years  you  now 
trifle  away !  Can  any  think  God  will  be  always  at  an  expense 
with  them  in  vain,  that  he  will  have  such  riches  trampled  under 
their  feet,  and  so  many  editions  of  his  patience  be  made  waste 
paper  ?  Do  you  know  how  few  sands  are  yet  to  run  in  your  glass  ? 
Are  you  sure  that  He  that  waits  to-day,  will  wait  as  well  to-morrow  ? 
How  can  you  tell,  but  that  God  that  is  slow  to  anger  to-day,  may  be 
swift  to  it  the  next  ?  Jerusalem  had  but  a  day  of  peace,  and  the 
most  careless  sinner  hath  no  more.  When  their  day  was  done,  they 
were  destroyed  by  famine,  pestilence,  or  sword,  or  led  into  a  doleful 


ON"  GOD'S  PATIENCE.  523 

captivity.  Did  God  make  our  lives  so  uncertain,  and  the  duration 
of  his  forbearance  unknown  to  us,  that  we  should  live  in  a  lazy 
neglect  of  his  glory,  and  our  own  happiness  ?  If  you  should  have 
more  patience  in  regard  of  your  lives,  do  you  know  whether  you 
shall  have  the  effectual  offers  of  grace  ?  As  your  hves  depend  upon 
his  will,  so  your  conversion  depends  solely  upon  his  grace.  There 
have  been  many  examples  of  those  miserable  wretches,  that  have 
been  left  to  a  reprobate  sense,  after  they  have  a  long  time  abused 
Divine  forbearance.  Though  he  waits,  yet  he  "binds  up  sin."  (Hos. 
xiii.  12),  "  The  sin  of  Ephraim  is  bound  up,"  as  bonds  are  bound 
up  by  a  creditor  till  a  fit  opportunity :  when  God  comes  to  put  the 
bond  in  suit,  it  will  be  too  late  to  wish  for  that  patience  we  have  so 
scornfully  despised.  Consider  therefore  the  end  of  patience.  The 
patience  of  God  considered  in  itself,  without  that  which  it  tends  to, 
affords  very  little  comfort ;  it  is  but  a  step  to  pardoning  mercy,  and 
it  may  be  without  it,  and  often  is.  Many  have  been  reprieved  that 
were  never  forgiven  ;  hell  is  full  of  those  that  had  patience  as  well 
as  we,  but  not  one  that  accepted  pardoning  grace  went  within  the 
gates  of  it.  Patience  leaves  men,  when  their  sins  have  ripened  them 
for  hell ;  but  pardoning  grace  never  leaves  men  till  it  hath  con- 
ducted them  to  heaven.  His  patience  speaks  him  placable,  but  doth 
not  assure  us  that  he  is  actually  appeased.  Men  may  hope  that  a 
long-suffering  tends  to  a  pardon,  but  cannot  be  assured  of  a  pardon, 
but  by  something  else  above  mere  long-suffering.  Best  not  then 
upon  bare  patience,  but  consider  the  end  of  it ;  it  is  not  that  any 
should  sin  more  freely,  but  repent  more  meltingly ;  it  is  not  to  spirit 
rebellion,  but  give  a  merciful  stop  to  it.  Why  should  any  be  so 
ambitious  of  their  ruin,  as  to  constrain  God  to  ruin  them  against  the 
inclinations  of  his  sweet  disposition  ? 

4.  The  fourth  exhortation  is,  Let  us  imitate  God's  patience  in  our 
own  to  others.  He  is  unlike  God  that  is  hurried,  with  an  unruly 
impetus,  to  punish  others  for  wronging  him.  The  consideration  of 
Divine  patience  should  make  us  square  ourselves  according  to  that 
pattern.  God  hath  exercised  a  long-suffering  from  the  fall  of  Adam 
to  this  minute  on  innumerable  subjects,  and  shall  we  be  transported 
with  desire  of  revenge  upon  a  single  injury  ?  K  God  were  not 
"  slow  to  wrath,"  a  sinful  world  had  been  long  ago  torn  up  from  the 
foundation.  And  if  revenge  should  be  exercised  by  all  men  against 
their  enemies,  what  man  should  have  been  alive,  since  there  is  not  a 
man  without  an  enemy  ?  If  every  man  were  like  Saul,  breathing 
out  threatenings,  the  world  would  not  only  be  an  aceldema,  but  a 
desert.  How  distant  are  they  from  the  nature  of  God,  who  are  in  a 
flame  upon  every  slight  provocation  from  a  sense  of  some  feeble  and 
imaginary  honor,  that  must  bloody  their  sword  for  a  trifle,  and  write 
their  revenge  in  wounds  and  death !  When  God  hath  his  glory 
every  day  bespattered,  yet  he  keeps  his  sword  in  his  sheath  ;  what  a 
woe  would  it  be  to  the  world,  if  he  drew  it  upon  every  affront ! 
This  is  to  be  like  brutes,  dogs,  or  tigers,  that  snarl,  bite,  and  devour, 
upon  every  slight  occasion :  but  to  be  patient  is  to  be  divine,  and  to 
show  ourselves  acquainted  with  the  disposition  of  God.  "Be  you 
therefore  perfect,  as  your  heavenly  Father  is  perfect"  (Matt.  v.  48)  : 


524  CHARNOCK  ON  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

i.  e.  Be  you  perfect  and  good ;  for  lie  had  been  exTiorting  tliem  to 
bless  them  that  cursed  them,  and  to  do  good  to  them  that  hated 
them,  and  that  from  the  example  God  had  set  them,  in  causing 
his  sun  to  rise  upon  the  evil  as  well  as  the  good.  "Be  you  there- 
fore perfect."  To  conclude :  as  patience  is  God's  perfection,  so  it  is 
the  accomplishment  of  the  soul :  and  as  his  "  slowness  to  anger" 
argues  the  greatness  of  his  power  over  himself,  so  an  unwillingness 
to  revenge  is  a  sign  of  a  power  over  ourselves  which  is  more  noble 
than  to  be  a  monarch  over  others. 


INDEX. 


Acquaintance  with  God,  men  are  unwilling 
to  have  any,  i.  158. — fe^ee  Conummion. 

Actions  a  greater  proof  of  principles  than 
words,  i.  92.  All  are  known  by  God,  i. 
424. 

Activiti/  required  in  spiritual  worship,  i. 
227   228. 

Adam,  the  greatness  of  his  sin,  ii.  269,  429. 
— See  Man,  and  Fall  of  Man. 

Additions  in  matters  of  religion  an  inva- 
sion of  God's  sovereignty,  ii.  432,  433. — 
See  Worship,  and  Ceremonies. 

Admiration  ought  to  be  exercised  in  spir- 
itual worship,  i.  233. 

Affections,  human,  in  what  sense  ascribed 
'to  God,  i.  340—343. 

Afflictions,  sharp,  make  Atheists  fear  there 
is  a  God,  i.  81.  Make  us  impatient  (See 
Impatience).  We  should  be  patient  un- 
der them  (see  Patience).  Many  call  on 
God  only  under  them,  i.  151.  Fill  us 
with  distraction  in  the  worship  of  God, 
i.  258.  The  presence  of  God  a  comfort 
in  them,  i.  399  ;  and  his  knowledge,  i. 
488.  The  wisdom  of  God  apparent  in 
them,  i.  547 — 550.  The  wisdom  of  God  a 
comfort  in  them,  i.  593 ;  and  his  power, 
ii.  98,  99 ;  and  his  sovereignty,  ii.  451. 
Do  not  impeach  his  goodness,  ii.  243, 
244.  The  goodness  of  God  seen  in  them, 
ii.  309 — 311.  His  goodness  a  comfort  in 
them,  ii.  342.  Acts  of  God's  sovereignty, 
ii.  373 — 376;  the  consideration  of  which 
would  make  us  entertain  them  as  we 
ought,  ii.  456. 

Age,  many  neglect  the  serving  of  God  till 
old,  i.  113. 

Air,  how  useful  a  creature,  i.  54. 

Almighty,  how  often  God  is  so  called  in 
Scripture,  ii.  10.  How  often  in  Job,  ii. 
36. 

Angels,  good,  what  benefit  they  have  by 
Christ,  i.  536,  ii.  263,  264,  Not  instru- 
ments in  the  creation  of  man,  ii.  41. 
Evil,  not  redeemed,  ii.  263,  264. 

Angels,  not  governors  of  the  world,  ii.  328,   | 
329.     Subject  to  God,  ii.  381,  382.  j 


Apostasy.  Men  apostatize  from  God  when 
his  will  crosses  theirs,  i.  135.  In  times 
of  persecution,  i.  149,  150.  By  reason  of 
practical  atheism,  i.  167. 

Apostles,  the  first  preachers  of  the  gospel, 
mean  and  worthless  men,  ii.  69 — 71. 
Spirited  by  Divine  power  for  spreading 
of  it,  ii.  72—74.  The  wisdom  of  God 
seen  in  using  such  instruments,  i.  578, 
579. 

Applaiiding  ourselves. — See  Pride. 

Atheism  opens  a  door  to  all  manner  of 
wickedness,  i.  24.  Some  spice  of  it  in  aU 
men,  i.  25—27.  The  greatest  folly,  i.  24 
— 77.     Common  in  our  days,  i.  26,  79, 

80.  Strikes  at  the  foundation  of  all  re- 
ligion, i.  26.  We  should  establish  our- 
selves against  it,  ib.  It  is  against  the 
light  of  natural  reason,  i.  2.  Against  the 
universal  consent  of  all  nations,  i.  29,  30. 
But  few,  if  any,  professed  it  in  former 
ages,  i.  32—34,  80.  Would  root  up  the 
foundations  of  all  government,  i.  77.  In- 
troduce all  evil  into  the  world,  i.  78. 
Pernicious  to  the  atheist  himself,  i.  79. 
The  cause  of  public  judgments,  i.  80. 
Men's  lusts  the  cause  of  it,  i.  82.  Pro- 
moted by  the  devil  most  since  the  de- 
struction of  idolatry,  i.  84.  Uncomfort- 
able, i.  85.  Directions  against  it,  i.  87. 
All  sin  founded  in  a  secret  atheism,  i. 
93. 

Atheism,  practical,  natural  to  man,  i.  89. 
Natural  since  the  fall,  i.  90.  To  all  men, 
ib.  Proved  by  arguments,  i.  99 — 161.  We 
ought  to  be  humbled  for  it,  both  in  our- 
selves and  others,  i.  167.  How  great  a 
sin  it  is,  i.  169 — 171.  Misery  will  at- 
tend it,  i.  171,  172.  We  should  watch 
against  it,  ib.  Directions  against  it,  i. 
172,  173. 

Atheist  can  never  prove  there  is  no  God,  i. 

81.  All  the  creatures  fight  against  him, 
ib.  In  afilictions,  suspects  and  fears 
there  is  a  God,  i.  82.  How  much  pains 
he  takes  to  blot  out  the  notion,  ib.  Sup- 
pose it  were  an  even  lay  that  there  were 
no  God,  yet  he  is  very  imprudent,  i.  83. 
Uses  not  means  to  inform  himself,  ib. 


526 


INDEX. 


Atoms,  the  world  not  made  by  a  casual 
concourse  of  theui,  i.  50. 

Attributes  of  God  bear  a  comfortable  re- 
spect to  believers,  i.  513. 

Author  if  I/,  how  distiuguished  from  power, 
ii.  364. 

B. 

Best  we  have,  ought  to  be  given  to  God,  i. 
242—244. 

Blessings,  spiritual,  God  only  the  author 
of,  ii.  357.  Temporal,  God  uses  a  sover- 
eignty in  bestowing  them,  ii.  412,  413. — 
See  RicJies. 

Body  of  man,  how  curiously  wrought,  i. 
63 — 67,  523.  Every  human  one  hath 
different  features,  i.  66.  God  hath  none 
(See  Spirit).  We  must  worship  God 
with  our  bodies,  i.  219 — 222  ;  yet  not 
with  our  bodies  only. — See  Soul,  and 
Worship. 

Bodily  shape,  we  must  not  conceive  of  God 
under  a,  i.  197,  198. 

Bodily  members  ascribed  to  him. — See 
Members. 

Brain,  how  curious  a  workmanship,  i.  65. 

C. 

Calf,  golden,  the  Israelites  worshipped  the 
true  God  under,  i.  195. 

Callings,  God  fits  and  inclines  men  to  seve- 
ral, i.  531,  532  ;  ii.598.     Appoints  every  i 
man's  calling,  ii.  421. 

Cause,  a  first,  of  all  things,  i.  50,  51  ;  which 
doth  necessarily  exist,  and  is  infinitely 
perfect,  i.  51. 

Censure.  God  not  to  be  censured  in  his 
counsels,  actions,  or  revelations,  i.  295. 
Or  in  his  ways,  i.  605,  606. 

Censuring  the  hearts  of  others  is  an  injury 
to  God's  omniscience,  i.  478.  Men,  is  a 
contempt  of  God's  sovereignty,  ii.  441. 

Ceremonial  Lam  abolished  to  promote  spir- 
itual worship,  i.  213.  Called  flesh,  ib. 
Not  a  fit  means  to  bring  the  heart  into  a 
spiritual  frame,  i.  214.  Rather  hindered 
than  furthered  spiritual  worship,  i.  215, 
216.  God  never  testified  himself  well- 
pleased  with  it,  nor  intended  it  should 
always  last,  i.  216 — 218.  The  abroga- 
tion of  it  doth  not  argue  any  change  in 
God,  i.  346.  The  holiness  of  God  ap- 
pears in  it,  ii.  131,  132. 

Ceremonies,  men  are  prone  to  bring  their 
own  into  God's  worship,  i.  133,  134. — 
See  Worship,  and  Adxlitions,  <fec. 

Chance,  the  world  not  made  nor  governed 
by  it,  i.  59. 

Charity,  meu  have  bad  ends  in  it,  i.  153.  We 
should  exercise  it,  ii.  853,  354.  The 
consideration  of  God's  sovereignty  would 
promote  it,  ii.  456. 

Cheerful,  in  God's  worship  we  should  be,  i. 
235. 

Christ,  his  Godhead  proved  from  his  eter- 


nity, i.  291 — 293  ;  from  his  omnipresence, 
i.  392,  393  ;  from  his  immutability,  i.  346 
— 348 ;  from  his  knowledge  of  God,  all 
creatures,  the   hearts  of  men,  and    his 
prescience  of  their  inclinations,  i.  465 — 
469 ;  from  his   omnipotence,  manifest  in 
creation,  preservation  and  resurrection, 
ii.    80 — 86;  from   his   holiness,    ii.    190; 
from  his  wisdom,  i.  558. 
Christ  is  God  man.  ii.  62.     Spiritual  wor- 
ship offered  to  God  through  him,  i.  241, 
242.     The  imperfectness  of  our  services 
should  make  us  prize  his  medtation,   i. 
261.     The  only  fit  Person  in  the  Ti-inity 
to  assume  our  nature,  i.  558 — 560.     Fit- 
ted to  be  our  Medtator  and  Saviour  by 
his  two  natures,  i.  563 — 565.     Should  be 
imitated  in  his  holiness,  and  often  viewed 
by  us  to  that  end,  ii.   200 — 207.     The 
greatest  gift,   ii.  266—269.      Appointed 
by  the  Father  to  be  our  Redeemer,  iL 
424—426. 
Christian  religion,   its   excellency,  i.    167. 
Of  Divine  extraction,  i.   580.     Most  op- 
posed in  the  world,  i.  111. — See  Gospel. 
Church,  God's  eternity  a  comfort  to  her  in 
all  her  distresses  and  threatenings  of  her 
enemies,  i.  299,  300.     Under   God's  spe- 
cial   providence,    i.    406.      His    infinite 
knowledge  a  comfort  in  all  subtile  con- 
trivances of  men  against  her,  i.  483,  484. 
Troublers  of  her  peace  by  corrupt  doc- 
trines no  better  than  devils,  i.  498.    God's 
wisdom  a  comfort  to  her  in  her  greatest 
dangers,  i.  694.     Hath  shown  his  power 
in  her  deliverance  in  all  ages,  i.  277,  ii. 
55  ;  and  in  the  destruction  of  her  ene- 
mies, il  66 — 59.     Ought  to  take  comfort 
in  his  power  in  her  lowest  estate,  ii.  101. 
Should  not  fear  her  enemies  (see  Jf'ear). 
His  goodness  a  comfort  in  dangers,  ii. 
344.     How  great  is  God's  love  to  her,  ii. 
449 — 515.     His  sovereignty  a  comfort  to 
her,  ii.  452,  463.     He  will  comfort  her  in 
her   fears,  and  destroy  her   enemies,  iL 
472,    473.     God   exercises    patience    to- 
wards her,  ii.  504,  505 ;  for  her  sake  to 
the  wicked  also,  ii.  506.     Why  her  ene- 
mies are  not  immediately  destroyed,  ii. 
513,  513. 
Commands  of  God. — See  Laws. 
Comfort,  the  holiness  of  God  to  be  relied 

on  for,  ii.  190,  191. 
Comfort  us,  creatures  cannot,  if  God  be  an- 
gry, il  448. 
Comforts,    God   gives   great,    in   or    after 

temptations,  ii.  311 — 313. 
Communion  with  God,  man  naturally  no 
desire  of,  i.  161.  The  advantage  of,  i. 
172.  Can  only  be  in  our  spirits,  i.  202. 
We  should  desire  it,  i.  308.  Cannot  be 
between  God  and  sinners,  ii.  183.  Holi- 
ness only  fits  us  for  it,  ii.  204,  205. 
Conceptions,  we  cannot  have  adequate  ones 
of  God,  i.  196,  197.  We  ought  to  labor  af- 
ter as  high  ones  as  we  can,  ib.   They  must 


INDEX. 


527 


not  be  of  him  ia  a  corporeal  shape,  i. 
197,  198.  There  will  be  iu  them  a  sim- 
iltude  of  some  corporeal  thing  iu  our 
fancy,  i.  198,  199.  We  ought  to  refine 
and  spiritualize  them,  i.  200. 
Conceptions,  right,  of  him,  a  great  help  to 

spiritual  worship,  i.  27'2,  273. 
Concurreiice  of  God  to  all  the  actions  of  his 

creatures,  ii.  156,  157. 
Concurring  to  sinful  actions  no  blemish  to 

God's  holiness,  ii.  157—163. 
Conditions,  various,  of  men,  a  fruit  of  Di- 
vine wisdom,  i.  531,  532. 
Conditions  of  the  covenant. — See  Covenant, 

Faith,  and  Repentance. 
Confession  of  sin,  men  may  have  bad  ends 
iu  it,  i.  153.  Partial  ones  a  practical  de- 
nial of  God's  omniscience,  i.  480,  481. 
Co7iscience  proves  a  Deity,  i.  69 — 73.  Fears 
and  stings  of  it  in  all  men  upon  the  com- 
mission of  sin,  i.  70 — 72;  though  never 
so  secret,  i.  71,  72.  Cannot  be  totally 
shaken  off,  i.  72.  Comforts  a  man  in 
well-doing,  i.  72,  73.  Necessary  for  the 
good  of  the  world,  i.  73.  Terrified  ones 
wish  there  were  no  God,  i.  97.  Men 
naturally  displeased  with  it,  when  it 
contradicts  the  desires  of  self,  i.  123. 
Obey  carnal  self  against  the  light  of  it, 
i.  140,  141.  Accusations  of  it  evidence 
God's  knowledge  of  all  things,  i.  463. 
God,  and  he  only,  can  speak  peace  to  it 
when  troubled,  ii.  79,  386.  His  laws 
only  reach  it,  ii.  390,  391,  432,  433. 
Constancy  in  that  which  is  good,  we  should 

labor  after,  and  why,  i.  360,  361. 
Content  the  soul,  nothing  but  an   infinite 
good  can,  i.  73,  74. — See  Satisfaction,  and 
Soul. 
Contingents  all  foreknown  by  God. — See 

Knowledge  of  God. 
Contradictions  cannot  be  made  true  by 
God,  ii.  26 — 30 ;  yet  this  doth  not  over- 
throw God's  omnipotence,  ib.  It  is  an 
abuse  of  God's  power  to  endeavor  to 
justify  them  by  it,  ii.  95. 
Contrary  qualities  linked  together  in  the 

creatures,  i.  52,  53,  524. 
Conversion,  carnal  self-love  a  great  hin- 
drance to  it,  1.  137.  There  may  be  a 
conversion  from  sin  which  is  not  good,  i. 
150.  Men  are  enemies  to  it,  i.  160,  161. 
The  necessity  of  it,  i.  163,  164.  God 
only  can  be  the  Author  of  it,  i.  165,  166, 
ii.  396.  The  wisdom  of  God  appears  in  it, 
in  the  subjects,  seasons,  and  manner  of 
it,  i.  544 — 547  ;  and  his  power,  ii.  72 — 
78;  and  his  holiness,  ii.  139;  and  his 
goodness,  ii.  306,  307  ;  and  his  sovereign- 
ty, ii.  396 — 104.  He  could  convert  all, 
ii.  399.  Not  bound  to  convert  any,  ii. 
401,  402.  The  various  means  and  occa- 
sions of  it,  ii.  421. 
Convictions,  genuine,  would  be  promoted 
by  right  and  strong  apprehensions  of 
God's  holiness,  ii.  191. 


Corruptions,  the  knowledge  of  God  a  com- 
fort under  fears  of  them  lurking  in  the 
heart,  i.  489,  490.  The  power  of  God  a 
comfoi't  when  they  are  strong  and  stir- 
ring, ii.  99  In  God's  people  shall  be 
subdued,  ii.  450,  451 ;  tbe  remainders  of 
them  God  orders  for  their  good,  i.  538, 
544. 

Covenant  of  God  with  his  people  eternal, 
i.  297,  298 ;  and  unchangeable,  i.  354. 

Covenant,  God  in,  an  eternal  good  to  his 
people,  i.  297. 

Covenant  of  grace,  conditions  of,  evidence 
the  wisdom  of  God,  i.  571.  Suited  to 
man's  lapsed  state,  and  God's  glory,  ib. 
Opposite  to  that  which  was  the  cause  of 
the  fall,  i.  572.  Suited  to  the  common 
sentiments  and  customs  of  the  world  and 
consciences  of  men,  i.  572,  573.  Only 
likely  to  attain  the  end,  i.  573.  Evidence 
God's  holiness,  ii.  138.  The  wisdom  of 
God  made  over  to  believers  iu  it,  i.  593 
594;  and  power,  ii.  98  ;  and  holiness,  ii. 
190,  191.  A  promise  of  life  implied  in 
the  covenant  of  woi'ks,  ii.  253,  254  ;  why 
not  expressed,  ii.  527.  The  goodness  of 
God  manifest  in  making  a  covenant  of 
grace  after  nian  had  broken  the  first,  ii. 
274,  275.  In  the  nature  and  tenor  of 
it,  ii.  275 — 277.  In  the  choice  gift  of 
himself  made  over  in  it,  ii.  277,  278.  In 
its  confirmation,  ii.  278,  279.  Its  condi- 
tions easy,  reasonable,  necessary,  ii.  279 
— 284.  It  promises  a  more  excellent  re- 
ward than  the  life  in  paradise,  iL  291 — 
293. 

Covctousness. — See  Riches,  and  World. 

Creation,  the  wisdom  of  God  appears  in  it, 
i.  518 — 525;  and  should  be  meditated 
upon,  i.  525  ;  motives  to  it,  ii.  5 — 9  ;  his 
power,  ii.  35 — 44;  his  holiness,  ii.  126, 
127;  his  goodness,  244 — 258.  Goodness 
the  end  and  motive  of  it,  ii.  228,  229. 
Ascribed  to  Christ,  ii.  81 — 85.  The 
foundation  of  God's  dominion,  ii.  368 — 
370. 

Creatures  evidence  the  being  of  God,  i.  28, 
42 — 64 ;  in  their  production,  i.  43 — 51 ;  in 
their  harmony,  i.  52 — 60 ;  in  pursuing 
their  several  ends,  i.  60 — 62 ;  iu  their 
preservation,  i.  62,  63.  Were  not,  and 
cannot  be,  from  eternity,  i.  45,  46,  292. 
None  of  them  can  make  themselves,  i.  47 
— 49  ;  or  the  world,  i.  49,  50.  Subservi- 
ent to  one  another,  i.  53,  378.  Regular, 
uniform,  and  constant  in  it,  i.  56,  57. 
Are  various,  i.  58,  519,  520.  Have  seve- 
ral natures,  i.  60.  All  fight  against  the 
atheist,  i.  82.  God  ought  to  be  studied 
in  them,  i.  86.  All  manifest  something 
of  God's  perfections,  ib.  Setting  them 
up  as  our  end  (see  End).  Must  not  be 
worshipped  (see  Idolatry).  Used  by  nian 
to  a  contrary  end  than  God  appuiuted, 
L  148.  All  are  changeable,  i.  356. 
Therefore  an  immutable  God  to  be  pre- 


528 


INDEX. 


ferred  before  them,  i.  358.  Are  nothing 
to  God,  31)5.  Are  all  known  by  God,  i. 
422,  423.  Shall  be  restored  to  their 
primitive  end,  i.  313,  ii.  293.  Their  beau- 
tiful order  and  situation,  i.  520,  521.  Are 
fitted  for  their  several  ends,  i  522 — 524. 
None  of  them  can  be  omnipresent,  i. 
378;  or  omnipotent,  ii.  18;  or  infinitely 
perfect,  ii.  24;  God  could  have  made 
moi-e  than  he  hath,  ii.  21,  22.  Made 
them  all  moie  perfect  than  they  are,  ii. 
23,  24.  Yet  all  are  made  in  the  best 
manner,  ii.  24,  25.  The  power  that  is  in 
them  demonstrates  a  greater  to  be  in 
God,  ii.  31.  Ordered  by  God  as  he 
pleases,  ii.  57.  The  meanest  of  them 
can  destroy  us  by  God's  order,  ii.  107, 
448.  Making  dift'erent  ranks  of  them, 
doth  not  impeach  God's  goodness,  ii.  232 
— 235.  Cursed  for  the  sin  of  man,  ii. 
250,  293.  What  benefit  they  have  by 
the  redemption  of  man,  ii.  293,  294. 
Cannot  comfort  us  if  God  be  angry,  ii. 
448.  All  subject  to  God,  ii.  381—387. 
All  obey  God,  ii.,465,  466. 
Curiosity  in  inquiries  about  God's  counsels 
and  actions,  a  great  folly,  i.  295.  It  is 
an  injuring  God's  knowledge,  475 — 477. 
It  is  a  contempt  of  Divine  wisdom,  i.  590. 
Should  not  be  employed  about  what  God 
hath  not  revealed,  i.  603,  604.  The 
consideration  of  God's  sovereignty  would 
check  it,  ii.  457. 

D. 

Day,  how  necessary,  i,  523. 

Death  of  Christ,  its  value  is  from  his  Di- 
vine Nature,  i.  564.  Vindicated  the 
honor  of  the  law,  both  as  to  precept  and 
penalty,  i.  566.  Overturned  the  Devil's 
empire,  i.  568.  He  sufl'ered  to  rescue  us 
by  it,  ii.  268.  By  the  command  of  the 
Father,  ii.  425,  426. 

Debauched  persons  wish  there  were  no 
God,  i.  97. 

Decrees  of  God,  no  succession  in  them,  i. 
285.  Unchangeable,  i.  582,  583,  ii.  451, 
452. — See  Immutability. 

Defilement,  God  not  capable  of  it  from  any 
corporeal  thing,  i.  201,  390,  392. 

Delight,  holy  duties  should  be  performed 
with,  i.  234—236.  All  delight  in  wor- 
ship doth  not  prove  it  to  be  spiritual,  i. 
235.  We  should  examine  ourselves  after 
worship,  what  delight  we  had  in  it,  i. 
252. 

Deliverances  chiefly  to  be  ascribed  to  God, 
i.  406.  The  wisdom  of  God  seen  in  them, 
i.  550—552. 

Desires,  of  man,  naturally  after  an  infinite 
good,  i.  73,  74 ;  which  evidences  the  be- 
ing of  a  God,  i.  74.  Men  naturally  have 
no  desire  of  remembrance  of  God,  con- 
verse with  him,  thorough  return  to  him, 
or  imitation  of  him,  i.  159 — 161. 


Devil,  man  naturally  under  his  dominion, 
i.  118,  119.  God's  restraining  him,  how 
great  a  mercy  (see  Restraint).  Shall  be 
totally  subdued  by  God,  i.  498.  Out- 
witted by  God,  i.  568.  His  first  sin, 
what  it  was,  ii.  427 — 429. — See  Angel. 

Direction,  men  neglect  to  ask  it  of  God 
(see  Trusting  in  oiir selves).  Should  seek 
it  of  him,  i.  585.  Not  to  do  it,  how  sin- 
ful, i.  589,  590.  Should  not  presume  to 
give  it  to  him,  i.  591. 

Disappointments  make  many  cast  off  their 
obedience  to  God,  i.  115,  116.  God  dis- 
appoints the  devices  of  men,  ii.  418 — 
420. 

Dispensations  of  God  with  his  own  law,  ii. 
391—393. 

Distance  from  God  naturally  affected  by 
men,  i.  158,  159.     How  great  it  is,  ii.  180. 

Distractions  in  the  service  of  God,  how 
natural,  i.  114,  256.  Will  be  so  while 
we  have  natural  corruption  within,  i.  256, 
257  ;  while  we  are  in  the  Devil's  precinct, 
i.  257.  Most  frequent  in  time  of  afflic- 
tion, i.  258.  May  be  improved  to  make 
us  more  spiritual,  i.  258 — 261 ;  when  we 
are  humbled  for  them  in  worship,  i,  258, 
259 ;  and  for  the  baseness  of  our  natures, 
the  cause  of  them,  i.  259.  Make  us  prize 
duties  of  worship  the  more,  ib.  Fill  us 
with  admirations  of  the  graciousness  of 
God,  i.  260.  Prize  the  meditation  of 
Christ,  i.  261.  They  should  not  discou- 
rage us,  if  we  resist  them,  ib ;  and  if  we 
narrowly  watch  against  them,  i.  262. 
Should  be  speedily  cast  out,  i.  274. 
Thoughts  of  God's  presence  a  remedy 
against  them,  i.  404. 

Distresses. — See  Afflictions. 

Distrust  of  God,  a  contempt  of  God"s  wis- 
dom, i.  593  ;  and  his  power,  ii.  93  ;  and 
of  his  goodness,  ii.  319,  320.  Too  great 
fear  of  man  arises  from  it,  ii.  94. — See 
Trusting  in  God,  and  iri  ourselves. 

Dhmiity  of  Christ. — See  Christ.  Of  the 
Holy  Ghost — See  Holy  Ghost. 

Doctrines  that  are  self-pleasing  desired  by 
men,  i.  139. — See  Truths. 

Dominion  of  God  distinguished  from  his 
power,  ii.  364  All  his  other  attributes 
tit  him  for  it,  ii  364,  365.  Acknowledged 
by  all,  ib.  Inseparable  from  the  notion 
of  God,  ii.  365,  366.  We  cannot  suppose 
God  a  creator  without  it,  ii.  366.  Can- 
not be  renounced  by  God  himself,  ib.; 
nor  communicated  to  any  creature,  ii.  366, 
367.  Its  foundation,  ii.  367—372.  It  is 
independent,  ii.  372,  373 ;  absolute,  ii. 
373 — 377  ;  yet  not  tyrannical,  ii.  377, 
378;  managed  with  wisdom,  righteous- 
ness, and  goodness,  ii.  378 — 380.  It  is 
eternal,  ii.  386,  387.  It  is  manifested  as 
he  is  a  lawgiver,  ii.  387 — 394 ;  as  a  pro- 
prietor, ii.  394 — 413 ;  as  a  governor,  ii. 
413 — 422;  as  a  redeemer,  ii.  422 — 426. 
The  contempt  of  it,  how  great,  ii.   426, 


INDEX. 


529 


42*7.  All  sin  is  a  contempt  of  it,  ii.  427, 
428.  The  first  thing  the  devil  aimed 
against,  ii.  428,  429 ;  and  Adam,  ii.  429. 
Invaded  by  the  usurpations  of  men,  ii. 
430,  431.  Wherein  it  is  contemned  at 
as  he  is  a  lawgiver,  ii.  431 — 435;  as  a 
proprietor,  ii.  435,  436 ;  as  a  governor, 
li.  436 — 441.  It  is  terrible  to  the  wick- 
ed, ii.  446 — 448.  Comfortable  to  the 
righteous,  ii.  449 — 453.  Should  be  often 
meditated  upon  by  us,  ii.  453,  454.  The 
advantages  of  so  doing,  ii.  454 — 457.  It 
should  teach  us  humility,  ii.  458.  Calls 
for  our  praise  and  thanks,  ii.  459,  460. 
Should  make  us  promote  his  honor,  ii. 
461,  462.  Calls  for  fear,  prayer,  and 
obedience,  ii.  462,  463.  Affords  motives 
to  obedience,  ii.  463 — 466  ;  and  shows  the 
manner  of  it,  ii.  466—469.  Calls  for 
patience,  ii.  469.  Affords  motives  to  it, 
li.  469 — 471.  Shows  us  the  true  nature 
of  it,  ii.  471. 

Duties  of  religion  performed  often  merely 
for  self-interest,  i.  150 — 154.  Men  un- 
wieldy to  them,  i.  151.  Perforin  them 
only  m  affliction,  i.  151,  152. — See  Ser- 
vice of  God,  and  Worship. 

Dwelling  in  heaven,  and  in  the  ark,  how  to 
be  understood  of  God,  i.  385,  386, 

E. 

Sar  of  man,  how  curious  an  organ,  i.  65. 

Earth,  how  useful,  i.  54,  55.  'J'he  wisdom 
of  God  seen  in  it,  i.  522. 

Earthly  things. — See  World. 

Ejaculations,  how  useful,  i.  272. 

Elect,  God  knows  all  their  persons,  i.  485, 
486. 

Election  evidenced  by  holiness,  ii.  205.  The 
sovereignty  of  God  appears  in  it,  ii.  394 
— 396.  Not  grounded  on  merit  in  the 
creature,  ii.  396.  Nor  on  foresight  of 
faith  and  good  works,  ii.  396 — 399. 

Elements,  though  contrary,  yet  linked  to- 
gether, i.  62,  53. 

End.  All  creatures  conspire  to  one  com- 
mon end,  i.  53 — 60  ;  pursue  their  several 
ends,  though  they  know  them  not,  i.  60 
— 62.  Men  have  corrupt  ends  in  reli- 
gious duties,  i.  132,  150 — 154;  for  evil 
ends,  i.  105,  106 ;  desire  the  knoAvledge 
of  God's  law,  for  by  ends,  i.  104.  Man 
naturally  would  make  himself  his  own 
end,  i.  135 — 141  ;  how  sinful  this  is,  i. 
141,  142  ;  would  make  anything  his  end 
rather  than  God,  i.  142 — 144 ;  a  creature, 
or  a  lust,  i.  144 — 146 ;  how  siuful  this  is, 
ib. ;  would  make  himself  the  end  of  all 
creatures,  i.  147,  149 ;  how  sinful  this 
is,  i.  149 ;  would  make  himself  the  end 
of  God,  i.  148 — 164;  how  sinful  this  is,  i. 
154,  155 ;  cannot  make  God  his  end,  till 
converted,  i.  163.  164.  Spiritual  ones 
required  in  spiritual  worship,  i.  239 — 
241 ;  many  have  other  ends  in  it,  ib. 
VOL.   II. — 34 


God  orders  the  hearts  of  all  men  to  his 
own,  ii.  54.  God  hath  one,  and  man 
another  in  sin,  i.  161,  162.  We  should 
make  God  our  end,  ii.  206.  God  makes 
himself  his  own  end,  how  to  be  under- 
stood, ii.  228—230.  His  being  the  end 
of  all  things  is  one  foundation  of  his  do- 
minion, ii.  S70,  371.  Not  using  God's 
gifts  for  the  end  for  which  he  gave 
them,  how  great  a  sin,  ii.  435,  436. 

Enemies  of  the  church  (see  Church).  We 
should  be  kind  to  our  worst  enemies,  ii. 
354,  355. 

Enjoyment  of  God  in  heaven  always  fresh 
and  glorious,  i.  298,  299.  We  should  en- 
deavor after  it  here,  ii.  344 — 346. 

Envy.  Men  envy  the  gifts  and  prosperi- 
ties of  others,  i.  131,  132.  An  imitation 
of  the  devil,  ib.  A  sense  of  God's  good- 
ness would  check  it,  ii.  351.  A  contempt 
of  God's  dominion,  ii.  435. 

Essence  of  God  cannot  be  seen,  i.  184,  186. 
Is  unchangeable,  i.  319. 

Eternity  a  property  of  God  and  Christ,  i. 
278,  279,  293,  294.  What  it  is,  L  280. 
In  what  respects  God  is  eternal,  i.  280 — 
286.  That  he  is  so,  proved,  i.  286—291. 
God's  incommunicable  property,  i.  44 — 
46,  291—293.  Dreadful  to  sinners,  i. 
295,  296.  Comfortable  to  the  righteous, 
i.  297—301.  The  thoughts  of  it  should 
abate  our  pride,  i.  302 — 304 ;  take  off  our 
love  and  confidence  from  the  world,  i.  304 
— 306.  We  should  provide  for  a  happy 
interest  in  it,  i.  306 ;  often  meditate  on 
it,  i.  307,  308.  Renders  him  worthy  of 
our  choicest  affections,  i.  308 ;  and  our 
best  service,  i.  308,  309. 

Exaltation  of  Christ,  the  holiness  of  God 
appears  in  it,  ii.  136,  137.  His  goodness 
to  us  as  well  as  to  Christ,  ii.  268,  269 ; 
and  his  sovereignty,  ii.  426. 

Examination  of  ourselves  before  and  after 
worship,  and  wherein  our  duty,  i.  252 — 
266,  275. 

Experience  of  God's  goodness  a  preserva- 
tive against  atheism,  i.  86,  87. 

Extremity,  then  God  usually  delivers  his 
church,  101. 


Faith,  the  same  thing  may  be  the  object 
of  it,  and  of  reason  too,  i.  27 — 29,  Must 
be  exercised  in  spiritual  worship,  i.  230^ 
231.  The  wisdom,  holiness,  and  good- 
ness of  God  in  prescribing  it  as  a  condi- 
tion of  the  covenant  of  grace  (see  Cove- 
nant). Must  look  back  as  far  as  the 
foundation  promise,  i.  499.  Only  the 
obedience  flowing  from  it  acceptable  to 
God,  i.  504,  506.  Distinct,  but  insepara- 
ble from  obedience,  i.  505,  606.  Fore- 
sight of  it  not  the  ground  of  election,  iL 
396—399. 

Fall  of  man,  God  no  way  the  author  of  it, 


530 


INDEX. 


il  123—125,  142,  143.  How  great  it  is, 
ii.  480,  481.  Doth  not  impeach  God's 
goodness,  ii.  -231,  232.  It  is  evident,  ii. 
325,  326  ;  brought  a  curse  on  the  crea- 
tures.— See  Creatures. 

Falls  of  God's  children  turned  to  their  good, 
i.  537—547. 

Fear,  not  the  cause  of  the  belief  of  a  God, 
i.  41.  Men  that  are  under  a  slavish  fear 
of  him  wish  there  were  no  God,  L  98,  99. 
Of  man,  a  contempt  of  God's  power,  ii. 
93,  94.  Should  be  of  God,  and  not  of 
the  pride  or  force  of  man,  il  106,  107. 
God's  sovereignty  should  cause  it,  ii.  462. 

Features  different  in  every  man,  and  how 
necessary  it  should  be  so,  i.  66,  67,  520. 

Fervency. — See  Activity. 

Flesh,  the  legal  services  so  called,  i.  213, 
214. 

Fools,  wicked  men  are  so,  i.  23,  586,  587. 

Folly,  sin  is  so. — See  Sin. 

Forgetfulness  of  God,  men  naturally  are 
prone  to  it,  i.  159,  160.  Of  his  mercies 
a  great  sin  (see  Mercies).  How  attrib- 
uted to  God,  i.  421. 

Foreknowledge  in  God  of  sin,  no  blemish  to 
his  holiness,  ii.  145, 146. — See  Knowledge 
of  God. 

Future  things,  men  desirous  to  know  them, 
i.  476,  477.  Known  by  God. — See  Know- 
ledge of  God. 


G. 


Gabriel,  on  what  messages  he  was  sent,  ii. 
75. 

Generation,  could  not  be  from  eternity,  i. 
44—46. 

Gifts,  God  can  bestow  them  on  men,  ii. 
384,  385.  His  sovereignty  seen  in  giving 
greater  measures  to  one  than  another,  ii. 
408—410. 

Glory  of  all  they  do  or  have,  men  are  apt 
to  ascribe  to  themselves,  i.  139.  Of  God 
little  minded  in  many  seemingly  good 
actions,  i.  124 — 127.  Men  are  more  con- 
cerned for  their  own  reputation  than 
God's  glory,  i.  140.  Should  be  aimed  at 
in  spiritual  worship,  i.  239 — 241.  God's 
permission  of  sin  is  in  order  to  it,  ii.  154 
— 156.  Should  be  advanced  by  us,  ii. 
461,  462. 

God,  his  existence  known  by  the  light  of 
nature,  i.  86 ;  by  the  creatures,  i.  28,  29, 
42 — 64.  Miracles  not  wrought  to  prove 
it,  i.  29.  Owned  by  the  universal  con- 
sent of  all  nations,  L  30,  31.  Never  dis- 
puted of  old,  i.  31,  32.  Denied  by  very 
few,  if  any,  i.  32,  33.  Constantly  owned 
in  all  changes  of  the  world,  i.  34  ;  under 
anxieties  of  conscience,  ib.  The  devil 
not  able  to  root  out  the  belief  of  it,  i.  35. 
Natural  and  innate,  i.  35,  36.  Not  intro- 
duced merely  by  tradition,  i.  37,  38 ;  nor 
policy,  i.  38,  39  ;  nor  fear,  i.  41.  Wit- 
nessed to  by  the  very  nature  of  man,  i. 


63 — 75  ;  and  by  extraordinary  occur- 
rences, i.  76,  77  ;  impossible  to  demon- 
strate there  is  none,  i.  81.  Motives  to 
endeavor  to  be  settled  in  the  belief  of  it, 
i.  84,  85.  Directions,  I  86,  87.  Men  wish 
there  were  none,  and  who  they  are,  i.  96 
— 99.  Two  ways  of  describing  him,  ne- 
gation and  affirmation,  i.  181,  182.  Is 
active  and  communicative,  L  201.  Pro- 
priety in  him  a  great  blessedness  (See 
Covenant).     Infinitely  happy,  ii.  86,  87. 

Good,  that  which  is  materially  so  may  be 
done,  and  not  formally,  i.  120,  124—126. 
Actions  cannot  be  performed  before  con- 
version, i.  168,  164.  The  thoughts  of 
God's  presence  a  spur  to  them,  i.  404, 
405.     God  only  is  so,  ii.  210,  211. 

Goodness,  pure  and  perfect,  the  royal  pre- 
rogative of  God  only,  ii.  214.  Owned  by 
all  nations,  ii.  215,  219.  Inseparable 
from  the  notion  of  God,  il  216,  217. 
What  is  meant  by  it,  ii.  217.  How  dis- 
tinguished from  mercy,  ii.  218,  219.  Com- 
prehends all  his  attributes,  il  219,  220. 
Is  so  by  his  essence,  ii.  221,  222.  The 
chief,  ib.  It  is  commimicative,  ii.  223, 
224 ;  necessary  to  him,  ii.  224 — 226 ; 
voluntary,  ii.  226,  227  ;  communicative 
with  the  greatest  pleasure,  ii.  227,  228 ; 
the  displaying  of  it,  the  motive  and  end  of 
all  his  works,  ii.  228 — 230.  Arguments 
to  prove  it  a  property  of  God,  ii  230, 
231 ;  vindicated  from  the  objections  made 
against  it,  il  231 — 244  ;  appears  in  crea- 
tion, ii.  244 — 258  ;  in  redemption,  il  258 
— 294  :  in  his  government,  il  295 — 313  ; 
frequently  contemned  and  abused,  il  313, 
314 ;  the  abuse  and  contempt  of  it,  base 
and  disingenuous,  il  314,  315  ;  highly  re- 
sented by  God,  ii.  315,  316.  How  it  is 
contemned  and  abused,  ii.  316 — 325.  Men 
justly  punished  for  it,  ii.  326,  327.  Fits 
God  for  the  government  of  the  world, 
and  engages  him  actually  to  govern  it,  ii. 
327,  328.  The  gi-ound  of  all  religion,  il 
329,  330.  Renders  God  amiable  to  him- 
self, ii.  331.  Should  do  so  to  us,  and 
why,  il  332—335.  Renders  him  a  fit 
object  of  trust,  with  motives  to  it,  drawn 
hence,  il  335 — 338 ;  and  worthy  to  be 
obeyed  and  honored,  ii.  338 — 341.  Com- 
fortable to  the  righteous,  and  wherein,  ii. 
341 — 344.  Should  engage  us  to  endeavor 
after  the  enjoyment  of  him,  with  mo- 
tives, il  344 — 347.  Should  be  often 
meditated  on,  and  the  advantages  of  so 
doing,  il  347 — 351.  We  should  be  thank- 
ful for  it,  il  351—353;  and  imitate  it, 
and  wherein,  ii.  353 — 355. 

Gospel,  men  greater  enemies  to,  than  to  the 
law,  i.  165.  Its  excellency,  I  167,  501, 
502.  Called  spirit,  I  213.  The  only 
means  of  establishment,  i.  501.  Of  an 
eternal  resolution,  though  of  a  tempora- 
ry revelation,  i.  502.  Mysterious,  ib. 
The  fii-st  preachers  of  it  (see  Apostles). 


INDEX. 


531 


Its  aatic^uity,  i.  503,  504.  The  goodness 
of  God  m  spreading  it  among  the  Gen- 
tiles, i.  504.  Gives  no  encouragement  to 
licentiousness,  ib.  The  wisdom  of  God 
in  its  propagation,  i.  574 — 580 ;  and 
power,  ii.  65 — 73. — See  Christian  Reli- 
gion. 

Government  of  the  World :  God  could  not 
manage  it  without  immutability,  i.  394  ; 
and  knowledge,  i.  464,  465  ;  and  wisdom, 
i.  575, 576.  The  wisdom  of  God  appears 
in  his  government  of  man,  as  rational,  i. 
525—532  ;  as  sinful,  i.  532—544  ;  as  re- 
stored, i.  544 — 547.  The  power  of  God 
appears  in  natural  government,  ii.  44 — 
52 ;  moral,  ii.  52 — 54 ;  gracious  and  ju- 
dicial, ii.  55 — 58.  The  goodness  of  God 
in  it,  ii.  295—313.  God  only  fit  for  it, 
i.  580,  581,  544 ;  ii.  186,  327  ;  doth  actual- 
ly manage  it,  i.  580,  581 ;  ii.  328,  329.  Is 
contemned,  ii.  436 — 441. — See  Laws. 

Governor,  God's  dominion  as  such,  ii.  413 
— i22. 

Grace,  the  power  of  God  in  planting  it,  ii. 
74 — 78  (see  Conversion) ;  and  preserving 
it,  ii.  79,  80. — See  Perseverance.  God's 
withdrawing  it  no  blemish  to  his  holi- 
ness, i.  166 — 170.  Shall  be  perfected  in 
the  upright,  ii.  190,  191.  God  exercises 
a  sovereignty  in  bestowing  and  denying 
it,  ii.  400 — 404.  Means  of  grace. — See 
Means. 

Graces  must  be  acted  in  worship,  ii.  229 — ^ 
234.  We  should  examine  how  we  acted 
them  after  it,  i.  253,  254. 

Growth  in  grace  annexed  to  true  sanctifica- 
tion,  il  358.  Should  be  labored  after,  ii. 
206,  207. 

H. 

Habits,  spiritual,  to  be  acted  in  spiritual 
worship,  i.  229,  230.  The  rooting  up 
evil  ones  shows  the  power  of  God,  iL  76, 
77. 

Hand.  Christ's  sitting  at  God's  right  hand 
doth  not  prove  the  ubiquity  of  his  hu- 
man nature,  ii.  378. 

Hardness.,  how  God,  and  how  man,  is  the 
cause  of  it,  ii.  166—168. 

Harmony  of  the  creatures  show  the  being 
and  wisdom  of  God,  i.  62 — 60. 

Heart  of  man,  how  curiously  contrived,  i. 
65.  We  should  examine  ourselves,  how 
our  hearts  are  prepared  for  worship,  i. 
252,  253 ;  how  they  are  fixed  in  it,  and 
how  they  are  after  it,  i.  253 — 256.  God 
orders  all  men's  to  his  own  ends,  ii.  54. 

Heaven,  the  enjoyment  of  God  there  will 
be  always  fresh  and  glorious,  i.  298,  299. 
Why  called  God's  throne,  i.  385,  386. 

Heavenly  bodies  subservient  to  the  good 
of  the  world,  i.  53,  54. 

Hosea,  when  he  prophesied,  ii.  490. 

Holiness  a  necessary  ingredient  in  spiritual 
worship,  i.  238,  239.  A  glorious  perfec- 
tion of  God,  ii.  110,  111,     Owned  to  be 


so  both  by  heathens  and  heretics,  ii.  111. 
God  cannot  be  conceived  without  it,  iL 
111,  112.  It  hath  an  excellency  above 
all  his  other  perfections,  ii.  112.  Most 
loftily  and  frequently  sounded  forth  by 
the  angels,  ib.  He  swears  by  it,  ib.  It 
is  his  glory  and  life,  ii.  112,  113,  The 
glory  of  all  the  rest,  ii.  113,  114.  What 
it  is.  and  how  distinguished  from  right- 
eousness, ii.  114,  115.  His  essential  and 
necessary  perfection,  ii.  115,  116.  God 
only  absolutely  holj^,  ii.  116 — 118.  Causes 
him  to  abhor  all  sm  necessarily,  intense- 
ly, universally,  and  perpetually,  ii.  118 
— 122.  Inclines  him  to  love  it  in  others, 
ii.  121, 190, 191.  So  great  that  he  cannot 
positively  will  and  encourage  sin  in  oth- 
ers,or  do  it  himself,  iL  122 — 126.  Appears 
in  his  creation,  ii.  126,  127 ;  in  his  gov- 
ernment, ii.  127 — 135  ;  in  redemption,  ii, 
135 — 138;  in  justification,  iL  138;  in 
regeneration,  iL  139.  Defended  in  all  his 
acts  about  sin,  ii.  139 — 171.  How  much 
it  is  contemned  in  the  world,  and  where- 
in, ii.  171—180.  To  hate  and  scoff  at  it 
in  others,  how  great  a  sin,  iL  176.  Ne- 
cessarily obliges  him  to  punish  sin,  iL 
181 — 183  ;  and  exact  satisfaction  for  it, 
ii.  183,  184.  Fits  him  for  the  govern- 
ment of  the  world,  ii.  186,  187.  Com- 
fortable to  holy  men,  ii.  190,  191.  Shall 
be  perfected  in  the  upright,  ib.  We 
should  get,  and  preserve  right  and  strong 
apprehensions  of  it ;  and  the  advantage 
of  so  doing,  iL  191 — 196.  We  should 
glorify  God  for  it,  and  how,  ii.  196 — 199 ; 
and  labor  after  a  conformity  to  it,  and 
wherein,  ii.  199 — 201 ;  motives  to  do  so, 
iL  203—205  ;  and  directions,  iL  205—207. 
We  should  labor  to  grow  in  it,  ii.  206, 
207.  Exert  it  in  our  approaches  to  God, 
iL  207.     Seek  it  at  his  hands,  iL  207,  208. 

Holy  Ghost,  his  Deity  proved,  ii.  86. 

Humility  a  necessary  ingredient  in  spirit- 
ual worship,  i.  237,  238.  We  should  ex- 
amine ourselves  about  it  after  worship,  L 
256.  A  consideration  of  God's  eternity 
would  promote  it,  i.  302 ;  and  of  his 
knowledge,  L  496,  497  ;  and  of  his  wis- 
dom, i.  697 ;  and  of  his  power,  ii.  106 ; 
and  of  his  holiness,  iL  192,  193 ;  and  of 
his  goodness,  ii.  323 ;  and  his  sovereign- 
ty, iL  457,  458. 

Hypocrites,  their  false  pretences  a  virtual 
denial  of  God's  knowledge,  i.  481,  483  ;  it 
is  terrible  to  them,  i.  492. 


Idleness,  it  is  an  abuse  of  God's  mercies  to 
make  them  an  occasion  of  it,  ii.  323. 

Idolatry  of  the  heathens  proves  the  belief 
of  a  God  to  be  universal,  i.  30,  31.  The 
first  object  of  it  was  the  heavenly  bodies, 
L  43.  Springs  from  unworthy  imagina- 
tions of  God,  L  157.     Not  countenanced 


532 


INDEX. 


by  God's  omnipresence,  i.  389,  390. 
Springs  from  a  want  of  due  notion  of 
God's  infinite  power,  ii.  92.  A  contempt 
of  God's  dominion,  ii.  436,  437. 

Image  of  God  in  man  consists  not  in  exter- 
nal form  and  figure,  i.  192,  192.  Un- 
reasonable to  make  any  of  him,  i.  193 — 
195;  it  is  idolatry  so  to  do,  i.  195,  196. 
The  defacing  it  an  injury  to  God's  holi- 
ness, ii.  173,  174.  Man,  at  first,  made 
after  it,  ii.  248. 

Imaginations,  men  naturally  have  un- 
worthy ones  of  God,  i.  155,  156.  Vain 
ones  the  cause  of  idolatry,  and  supersti- 
tion, and  presumption,  i.  156, 157  ;  worse 
than  idolatry  or  atheism,  i.  158 ;  an  in- 
jury to  God's  holiness,  ii.  172,  173. 

Imitation  of  God,  man  naturally  hath  no 
desire  of  it,  i.  161.  We  should  strive  to 
imitate  his  immutability  in  that  which 
is  good,  i.  360,  361.  In  holiness,  wherein, 
and  why,  and  how,  ii.  199 — 207  ;  and  in 
goodness,  ii.  353 — 355. 

Immortal,  God  is  so,  i.  202. — See  Eternity 
of  God. 

Immutability  a  property  of  God,  i.  316, 
317  ;  a  perfection,  i.  317,  318 ;  a  glory 
belonging  to  all  his  attributes,  i.  318; 
necessary  to  him,  i.  318,  319.  God  is 
immutable  in  his  essence,  i.  319 — 321  ; 
in  knowledge,  i.  321 — 825  ;  in  his  will, 
though  the  things  willed  by  him  are  not, 
i  325—328.  This  doth  not  infringe  his 
liberty,  i.  328.  Immutable  in  regard  of 
place,  i.  328,  329.  Proved  by  arguments, 
i.  320—334,  582,  583;  ii.  87.  Incom- 
municable to  any  creature,  i.  334,  335, 
ii.  141.  Objections  against  it  answered,  i. 
337—346.  Ascribed  to  Christ,  i.  346— 
348.  A  ground  and  encouragement  to 
worship  him,  i.  348 — 350.  How  contra- 
ry to  God  in  it  man  is,  i.  350,  353.  Ter- 
rible to  sinners,  i.  353,  354.  Comfortable 
to  the  righteous,  and  wherein,  i.  354 — 
356.  An  argument  for  patience,  i.  359. 
Should  make  us  prefer  God  before  all 
creatures,  i.  358.  We  should  imitate 
this  his  immutability  in  goodness ;  mo- 
tives to  it,  i.  360,  361. 

Impatience  of  men  is  great  when  God 
crosses  them,  i.  130,  131.  A  contempt 
of  God's  wisdom,  i.  592  ;  and  of  his  good- 
ness, ii.  317,  318 ;  and  of  his  dominion, 
ii.  437,  438. 

Impenitence  an  abuse  of  God's  goodness,  ii. 
319.  It  will  clear  the  equity  of  God's 
justice,  ii.  506,  507.  An  abuse  of  pa- 
tience, ii,  508,  509. 

Imperfections  in  holy  duties  we  should  be 
sensible  of,  i.  232.  Should  make  us  prize 
Christ's  meditation,  i.  261. 

Impossible,  some  things  are  in  their  own 
nature,  iL  26,  27.  Some  things  so  to  the 
nature  and  being  of  God,  and  his  per- 
fections, ii.  27 — 29.  Some  things  so,  be- 
cause of  God's  ordination,  ii.  29,  30.     Do 


not  infringe  the  almightiness  of  God's 
power,  ii.  29 — 30. 

Incarnation  of  Christ,  the  power  of  God 
seen  in  it,  ii.  59 — 65. 

Incomprehensible,  God  is  so,  i.  394,  395. 

hiconstancy,  natural  to  man,  i.  350 — 353. 
In  the  knowledge  of  the  truth,  i.  350, 
351 ;  in  will  and  affections,  i.  351 ;  in 
practice,  i.  352 — 354;  is  the  root  of 
much  evil,  ib. 

Infirmities,  the  knowledge  of  God  a  com- 
fort to  his  people  under  them,  i.  488, 
489.  The  goodness  of  God  in  bearing 
with  them,  ii.  309.  His  patience  a  com- 
fort under  them,  ii.  516. 

Injuries,  men  highly  concerned  for  those 
that  are  done  to  themselves ;  little  for 
those  that  are  done  to  God,  i.  140.  God's 
patience  under  them  should  make  us  re- 
sent thera,  ii.  517,  518. 

Injustice,  a  contempt  of  God's  dominion,  ii, 
435, 

Innocent  person,  whether  God  may  inflict 
eternal  torments  upon  him,  ii.  375,  380, 
381. 

Instruynents,  men  are  apt  to  pay  a  service 
to  them  rather  than  to  God,  i.  144; 
which  is  a  contempt  of  divine  power,  ii. 
94,  95 ;  and  of  his  goodness,  ii.  324,  325. 
Deliverances  not  to  be  chiefly  ascribed 
to  them,  i.  407.  God  makes  use  of  sin- 
ful ones,  i.  534,  535.  None  in  creation, 
ii.  40 — 42.  The  power  of  God  seen  in 
effecting  his  purposes  by  weak  ones,  ii. 
58,  59. 

Inventions  of  men. — See  Addition  and 
Worship. 

J. 

Jehovah  signifies  God's  eternity,  i.  290 ;  and 
his  immutability,  i.  330.  God  called  so 
but  once  in  the  book  of  Job,  ii.  36. 

Job,  when  he  lived,  ii.  8. 

Jonah,  how  he  came  to  be  believed  by  the 
Ninevites,  i.  537. 

Joy,  a  necessary  ingredient  in  spiritual 
worship,  i.  234 — 236.  Should  accompa- 
ny all  our  duties,  ii.  468,  469. 

Judging  the  hearts  of  others,  a  great  sin,  i. 
478,  479.  Their  eternal  state  a  greater, 
ib. 

Judgment-day,  necessity  of  it,  i.  470,  471, 
583,  584. 

Judgments,  extraordinary,  prove  the  being 
of  God,  i.  74,  75.  Men  are  apt  to  put 
bold  interpretations  on  them,  i.  1 33.  God 
is  just  in  them,  i.  162,  163;  especially 
after  the  abuse  of  his  goodness  and  pa- 
tience, ii.  326,  327,  606,  507.  On  God's 
enemies,  matter  of  praise,  ii.  110.  De- 
clare God's  holiness,  ii.  132 — 135;  which 
should  be  observed  in  them,  ii.  1 97.  Not 
sent  without  warning,  ii.  241,  242,  488 — 
491.  Mercy  mixed  with  them,  ii.  242, 
243.  God  sends  them  on  whom  he 
pleases,  iL  420.    Delayed  a  long  time 


mDEX. 


533 


where  there  is  no  repentance,  ii.  491, 

492.  God  unwilling  to  pour  them  out 
when  he  cannot  delay  them  any  longer, 
ii.  492,  493.     Poured  out  with  regret,  ii, 

493,  494;  by  degrees,  ii.  494,  495; 
moderated,  il  495,  496. — See  Punish- 
ments. 

Justice  of  God,  a  motive  to  worship,  i.  207. 
Its  plea  against  man,  i.  554 — 556.  Re- 
conciled with  mercy  in  Christ,  i.  556, 
657.  Vindictive,  natural  to  God,  ii.  181 
— 183.  Requires  satisfaction,  ii.  185, 
186. 

Justification  cannot  be  by  the  best  and 
strongest  works  of  nature,  i.  166,  473, 
474;  ii.  177,  178,  185,  186.  The  holi- 
ness of  God  appears  in  that  of  the  gos- 
pel, ii.  138.  The  expectations  of  it  by 
the  outward  observance  of  the  law  can- 
not satisfy  an  inquisitive  conscience,  ii. 
2 1 2.  Men  naturally  look  for  it  by  works, 
ii.  212,  213. 

K 

Kinqdoms  are  disposed  of  by  God,  ii.  413, 
414. 

Knowledge  in  God  hath  no  succession,  i. 
284,  285.  294,  295,  454 — 456.  Immu- 
table, i.  321—324,  460.  Arguments  to 
prove  it,  i.  393—395,  461 — 465.  The 
manner  of  it  incomprehensible,  i.  324, 
325,  428,  429,  438.  God  is  infinite  in  it, 
L  409.  Owned  by  all,  i.  409,  410.  He 
hatii  a  knowledge  of  vision  and  intelli- 
gence, speculative  and  practical,  i.  411, 
412;  of  apprehension  and  approbation, 
i.  412,  413.  Hath  a  knowledge  of  him- 
self, i.  414 — 417.  Of  all  things  possible, 
i.  417 — 420  ;  of  all  things  past  and  pres- 
ent, i.  420 — 422.  Of  all  creatures,  their 
actions  and  thoughts,  i.  422—427.  Of 
all  sins,  and  how,  i.  427 — 429.  Of  all 
future  things,  he  alone,  and  how,  i.  429 
— 439.  Of  all  future  contingencies,  i. 
439 — 446.  Doth  not  necessitate  the  will 
of  man,  i.  446 — 451.  It  is  by  his  essence, 
I  452,  453.  Intuitive,  i.  453 — 456.  In- 
dependent, i.  456,  457.  Distin  t,  i.  458, 
459.  Infallible,  i.  459.  No  blemish  to 
his  holiness,  i.  461 — 465.  Infinite,  at- 
tributed to  Christ,  i.  465 — 469.  Infers 
his  providence,  i.  469,  470 ;  and  a  day 
of  judgment,  i.  470,  471 ;  and  the  resur- 
rection, i.  471,  472.  Destroys  all  hopes 
of  justification  by  anything  in  ourselves, 
i.  472,  473.  Calls  for  our  adoring 
thoughts  of  him,  I  473,  474  ;  and  humili- 
ty, i.  474,  475.  How  injured  in  the 
world,  and  wherein,  i.  475 — 483.  Com- 
fortable to  the  righteous,  and  wherein,  i. 
483—491.  Terrible  to  sinners,  i.  491, 
492.  We  should  have  a  sense  of  it  on 
our  hearts,  and  the  advantages  of  it,  i. 
492—497. 

Knowledge  of  God's  will,  men  negligent  in 


using  the  means  to  attain  it,  i.  100,  101. 
Enemies  to  it,  and  have  no  delight  in  it, 
i.  101—103.  Seek  it  for  by-ends,  i.  104. 
Admit  it  with  wavering  affections,  ib. 
Seek  it,  to  improve  some  lust  by  it,  i. 
105,  106.  A  sense  of  man's,  hath  a 
greater  influence  on  us  than  that  of 
God,  i.  144,  145,  479,  480.  Sins  against 
it  should  be  avoided,  i.  173.  Distinct 
from  wisdom,  i.  508.  Of  all  creatures, 
is  derived  from  God,  i.  462,  463.  Ours, 
how  imperfect,  i.  474,  475. 


Law  of  God,  how  opposite  man  naturally 
is  to  it — See  Man.  There  is  one  in  the 
minds  of  men,  which  is  the  rule  of  good 
and  evil,  i.  69,  70.  A  change  of  them 
doth  not  infer  a  change  in  God,  L  346. 
Vindicated,  both  as  to  the  precept  and 
penalty,  in  the  death  of  Christ,  i.  565 — 
567.  Suited  to  our  natures,  happiness, 
and  conscience,  i.  527 — 529 ;  ii.  253.  We 
should  submit  to  them,  L  603,  604.  The 
transgression  of  them  punished  by  God, 
ii.  132,  133,  393,  394.  God's  enjoining 
one  which  he  knew  man  would  not  ob- 
serve, no  blemish  to  his  holiness,  ii.  143. 
To  charge  them  with  rigidness,  how 
great  a  sin,  ii.  178,  179.  We  should 
imitate  the  holiness  of  them,  ii.  199 — 
201.  The  goodness  of  God  in  that  of  in- 
nocence, ii.  252 — 254.  Cannot  but  be 
good,  ii.  339,  340.  He  gives  laws  to  all, 
il  388,  389.  Positive  ones,  ib.  His 
only  reach  the  conscience,  ii.  390,  391. 
Dispensed  with  by  him,  but  cannot  by 
man,  ii.  391—393,  430,  431.  To  make 
any,  contrary  to  God's,  how  great  a  sin, 
iL  431,  432;  or  make  additions  to  them, 
ii.  432,  433 ;  or  obey  those  of  men  be- 
fore them,  ii.  433—435,  467,  468.— See 
Governor  and  Magistrates. 

Licentiousness,  the  gospel  no  friend  to,  i. 
504. 

Life,  eternal,  expected  by  men  from  some- 
thing of  their  own. — See  Justification. 
Assured  to  the  people  of  God,  i.  356. 

Light,  a  glorious  creature,  ii.  343,  344. 

Light  of  nature  shows  the  being  of  a  God, 
i.  27—29. 

Limiting  God,  a  contempt  of  his  dominion, 
ii.  439. 

Lives  of  men  at  God's  disposal,  ii.  421,  422. 

Love  to  God,  sometimes  arises  merely  from 
some  self-pleasing  benefits,  i.  149 — 151. 
A  necessary  ingredient  in  spiritual  wor- 
ship, i.  231,  232.  A  great  help  to  it,  i.  272. 
God  is  highly  worthy  of  it,  i.  308  ;  ii.  196, 
197,  332 — 335.  Outward  expressions  of 
it  insignificant  without  obedience,  ii.  213, 
214.  God's  gospel  name,  ii.  257,  259. 
Of  God  to  his  people,  great,  ii.  449,  450, 

Liists  of  men  make  them  atheists,  i.  24,  25. 


534 


INDEX. 


M. 


Magistracy,  the  goodaess  of  God  Iq  settling 
it,  ii.  300,  301. 

Magistrates  are  inferior  to  God  ;  to  be  obe- 
dient to  him,  W.  444,  445.  Ought  to 
govern  justly  and  righteously,  ii.  445.  To 
be  obeyed,  ii.  445,  446. 

Man  could  not  make  himself,  i.  45 — 49. 
The  world  subservient  to  him,  i.  53 — 55. 
The  abridgment  of  the  universe,  i.  64  ;  ii. 
248,  249.  Naturally  disowns  the  rule 
God  hath  set  him,  i.  99 — 117.  Owns  any 
rule  rather  than  God's,  i.  1 1 7 — 121.  "Would 
set  himself  up  as  his  own  rule,  i.  121 — 127. 
Would  give  laws  to  God,  i.  127—135. 
Would  make  himself  his  own  end. — See 
End.  His  natural  corruption  how  great, 
ii.  53,  54.  Made  holy  at  first,  ii.  126, 
127,  248,  ;  yet  mutable,  which  was  no 
blemish  to  God's  holiness,  ii.  140 — 143. 
Made  after  God's  image,  ii.  248.  The 
world  made  and  furnished  for  him,  ii. 
249 — 252.  In  his  corrupt  estate,  with- 
out any  motives  to  excite  God's  redeem- 
ing love,  ii.  268—273.  Restored  to  a 
more  excellent  state  than  his  first,  ii. 
291 — 293.  Under  God's  dominion,  ii. 
384—386. 

Means. — See  Instrument.  To  depend  on 
the  power  of  God,  and  neglect  them,  is 
an  abuse  of  it,  ii.  96.  Of  grace,  to  neg- 
lect them  an  affront  of  God's  wisdom,  i. 
589,  590.  Given  to  some,  and  not  to 
others,  ii.  403 — 407.  Have  various  in- 
fluences, ii.  407,  408. 

Meditation  on  the  law  of  God,  men  have 
no  delight  in,  i.  101,  102. 

Members,  bodily,  attributed  to  God  do  not 
prove  him  a  body,  i.  188—190.  What 
sort  of  them  attributed  to  him,  i.  189; 
with  a  respect  to  the  incarnation  of 
Christ,  i.  189,  190. 

Mercies  of  God  to  sinners,  how  wonderful, 
L  161,  162.  A  motive  to  worship,  i.  206 
— 208.  Former  ones  should  be  remem- 
bered when  we  come  to  beg  new  ones,  i. 
277,  278.  Its  plea  for  fallen  man,  i.  556, 
557.  It  and  justice  reconciled  in  Christ, 
i.  657,  558.  Holiness  of  God  in  them  to 
be  observed,  ii.  197,  198.  Contempt  and 
abuse  of  them. — See  Goodness.  One 
foundation  of  God's  dominion,  n.  371, 
372.  Call  for  our  love  of  him,  ii.  232— 
235  ;  and  obedience  to  him,  iL  338,  339. 
Given  after  great  provocations,  ii.  496, 
497. 

Merit  of  Christ,  not  the  cause  of  the  first 
resolution  of  God  to  redeem,  ii.  265,  266. 
Not  the  cause  of  election,  ii.  396.  Man 
incapable  of,  ii.  343,  344. 

Miracles  prove  the  being  of  a  God,  though 
not  wrought  to  that  end,  i.  29,  76. 
Wrought  by  God  but  seldom,  i.  550.  The 
power  of  God,  ii.  34,  35  ;  seen  no  more  in 
them  than  in  the  ordinary  works  of  na- 


ture, ii.  51,  52.  Many  •wrought  by  Christ, 
ii.  64. 

Moral  goodness  encouraged  by  God,  ii.  303, 
304. 

Moral  law,  commands  things  good  in  their 
own  nature,  i.  94,  95  ;  ii.  389.  The  holi- 
ness of  God  appears  in  it,  ii.  128.  Holy 
in  the  matter  and  manner  of  his  pre- 
cepts, ii.  128 — 130.  Reaches  the  inward 
man,  ii.  130.  Perpetual,  ii.  130,  131. — 
See  Law  of  God.  Published  with  maj- 
esty, il  390. 

Mortification,  how  difficult,  i.  164,  165. 

Motions  of  all  creatures  in  God,  ii.  49.  Va- 
riety of  them  in  a  single  creature,  ii.  50. 

Mountains,  how  useful,  i.  54.  Before  the 
deluge,  i.  278. 

Mouth,  how  curiously  contrived,  i.  65. 

N, 

Nature  of  man  must  be  sanctified  before  it 
can  perform  spiritual  worship,  i.  223, 
224.  Human,  highly  advanced  by  its 
union  Avith  the  Son  of  God,  ii.  273,  274. 
Human  and  divine  in  Christ.  —  See 
Union. 

Night,  how  necessary,  i  623. 

O. 

Obedience  to  God,  not  true  tmless  it  be 
universal,  i.  108,  109.  Due  to  him  upon 
the  account  of  his  eternity,  i.  308,  309. 
To  him  should  be  preferred  before  obe- 
dience to  men. — See  Laws.  Of  faith  only 
acceptable  to  God,  i.  505.  Distinct,  but 
inseparable  from  faith,  i.  505,  506.  Shall 
be  rewarded,  i.  629,  530.  Redemption 
a  strong  incentive  to  it,  i.  571.  Without 
it  nothing  will  avail  us,  ii.  213,  214.  The 
goodness  of  God  in  accepting  it,  though 
imperfect,  ii.  309.  Due  to  God  for  his 
goodness,  ii.  338 — 341.  Due  to  him  as  a 
sovereign,  ii.  462 — 466.  What  kind  of 
it  due  to  him,  ii.  466 — 469. 

Objects,  the  proposing  them  to  man  which 
God  knows  he  will  use  to  sin,  no  blemish 
to  God's  holiness,  ii.  161—166. 

Obsthiacy  in  sin  a  contempt  of  Divine 
power,  ii.  92,  93. 

Omissions  of  prayer  a  practical  denial  of 
God's  knowledge,  i.  481 ;  of  duty,  a  con- 
tempt of  his  goodness,  ii.  320,  321. 

Omnipresence,  an  attribute  of  God,  i.  366, 
367.  Denied  by  some  Jews  and  hea- 
thens, but  acknowledged  by  the  wisest 
amongst  them,  i.  368.  To  be  understood 
negatively,  i.  369.  Influential  on  all 
creatures,  i.  369,  370.  Limited  to  sub- 
jects capacitated  for  this  or  that  kind  of 
it,  i.  370.  Essential,  i.  371.  In  all  places,  i. 
371,  372.  With  all  creatures,  i.  373,  374  ; 
without  mixture  with  them,  or  division 
of  himself,  i.  374.  Not  by  multiplica- 
tion or  extension,  i.  375  ;  but  totally,  ib. 


INDEX. 


635 


In  imaginary  spaces  beyond  the  world, 
i.  375 — 377.  God's  incommunicable  prop- 
erty, i.  378.  Arguments  to  prove  his 
omnipresence,  i.  378 — 385.  Objections 
against  it  answered,  i.  385 — 392.  As- 
cribed to  Christ,  i.  392,  393.  Proves  God 
a  Spirit,  i.  393  ;  and  his  providence,  ib. ; 
and  omniscient  and  incomprehensible,  i. 
394,  395.  Calls  for  admiration  of  him, 
i.  395,  396.  Forgotten  and  contemned,  i. 
896,  397.  Terrible  to  sinners,  i.  397, 
398.  Comfortable  to  the  righteous,  and 
wherein,  i.  398—402.  Should  be  often 
thought  of,  and  the  advantages  of  so 
doing,  i.  402 — i05. 
Opposition  in  the  hearts  of  men  naturally 
against  the  will  of  God,  i.  102,  103. 


Pardon,  God's  infinite  knowledge  a  com- 
fort when  we  reflect  on  it,  or  seek  it,  i. 
490,  491.  The  power  of  God  in  granting 
it,  and  giving  a  sense  of  it,  ii.  78 — 80. 
The  spring  of  all  other  blessings,  ii.  357. 
Always  accompanied  with  regeneration, 
ib.  Punishment  remitted  upon  it,  ii. 
358.  It  is  perfect,  ib.  Of  God,  and  his 
alone,  gives  a  full  security,  ii.  450. 

Patience  under  afflictions  a  duty,  i.  604, 
605.  God's  immutability  should  teach  us 
it  i.  359.  A  sense  of  God's  holiness 
would  promote  it,  ii.  195,  196;  and  his 
goodness,  ii.  350.  Motives  to  it.  ii.  469, 
470,  The  true  nature  of  it,  ii.  471.  Con- 
sideration of  God's  patience  to  us  would 
promote  it,  ii.  518. 

Patience  of  God  how  admirable,  i.  161,  395, 
396 ;  ii.  497—500.  His  wisdom  the 
ground  of  it,  i.  581,  582.  Evidences  his 
power,  ii.  64,  474.  Is  a  property  of  the 
Divine  nature,  ii.  477,  478.  A  part  of 
goodness  and  mercy,  but  differs  from 
both,  ii.  478 — 480.  Not  insensible,  con- 
strained, or  faint-hearted,  ii.  480,  481. 
Flows  from  his  fulness  of  power  over 
himself,  ii.  481,  482.  Founded  in  the 
death  of  Christ,  ii.  482,  483.  His  vera- 
city, holiness,  and  justice  no  bars  to  it, 
ii,  483 — 486.  Exercised  towards  our 
first  parents.  Gentiles,  and  Israelites,  ii. 
486 — 488.  Wherein  it  is  evidenced,  ii. 
488 — 500.  The  reason  of  its  exercise,  ii. 
500 — 507.  It  is  abused,  and  how,  ii.  507 
— 509.  The  abuse  of  it  sinful  and  danger- 
ous, ii.  509 — 513.  Exercised  towards 
sinners  and  saints,  ii.  513,  514.  Com- 
fortable to  all,  ii.  514 — 516;  especially 
to  the  righteous,  ib.  Should  be  medita- 
ted on,  and  the  advantage  of  so  doing,  ii. 
516 — 518.  We  should  admire  and  bless 
God  for  it,  with  motives  so  to  do,  ii.  518 
— 622.  Should  not  be  presumed  on,  ii. 
522,  523.    Should  be  imitated,  ii.  523,  524. 

Poems,  fewer  sacred  ones  good,  than  of  any 
other  kind,  i.  143. 


Peace,  God  only  can  speak  it  to  troubled 
souls,  ii.  79. 

Permission  of  sin,  what  it  is,  and  that  it  is 
no  blemish  to  God's  holiness,  ii.  146 — 
156. 

Persecufio7is,  the  goodness  of  God  seen  in 
them,  ii.  309—311.     See  Apostasy. 

Perseverance  of  the  saints  a  gospel  doctrine, 
i.  501.  Certain,  i.  365,  356  ;  ii.  100,  189. 
Motives  to  labor  after  it,  i.  360,  361.  De- 
pends on  God's  power  and  wisdom,  i. 
500,  501  ;  ii.  79,  80. 

Pleasures,  sensual  men  strangely  addicted 
to,  i.  144.  We  ought  to  take  heed  of 
them,  i.  173. 

Poor,  the  wisdom  of  God  in  making  some 
so,  i.  531,  532. 

Power,  infinite,  belongs  to  God,  ii.  10.  The 
meaning  of  the  word,  ii.  12.  Absolute 
and  ordinate,  ii.  12,  13.  Distinct  from 
will  and  wisdom,  ii.  14,  15.  Gives  life 
and  activity  to  his  other  perfections,  iL 
15,  16.  Of  a  larger  extent  than  some 
others,  ii  16.  Originally  and  essentially, 
in  the  nature  of  God,  and  the  same  with 
his  essence,  ii.  17,  18.  Incommunicable 
to  the  creature,  il  18,  24.  Infinite  and 
eternal,  ii.  18 — 26.  Bounded  by  his  de- 
cree, ii.  25,  26.  Not  infringed  by  the 
impossibility  of  doing  some  things,  ii.  26 
— 30.  Arguments  to  prove  it  is  in  God, 
ii.  30 — 35.  Appears  in  creation,  ii.  35 — 
44  ;  in  the  government  of  the  world,  ii. 
44 — 69  ;  in  redemption,  ii.  59 — 65  ;  in 
the  publication  and  propagation  of  the 
gospel,  ii.  66 — 74 ;  in  planting  and  pre- 
serving grace,  and  pardoning  sin,  ii.  74 — 
80.  Ascribed  to  Christ,  ii.  80 — 86 ;  and 
to  the  Holy  Ghost,  ii.  86.  Infers  his 
blessedness,  immutability,  and  provi- 
dence, ii.  86 — 88.  A  ground  of  worship, 
ii.  88 — 90 ;  and  for  the  belief  of  the  re- 
surrection, ii.  90 — 92.  Contemned  and 
abused,  and  wherein,  ii.  92 — 96.  Terri- 
ble to  the  wicked,  ii.  96 — 98.  Comfortr 
able  to  the  righteous,  and  wherein,  ii. 
98—102.  Should  be  meditated  on,  ii. 
102,  103;  and  trusted  in,  and  why,  ii. 
103 — 106.  Should  teach  us  humility  and 
submission,  ii.  106  ;  and  the  fear  of  him, 
and  not  of  man,  ii.  106,  107. 

Praise,  consideration  of  God's  wisdom  and 
goodness  would  help  us  to  give  it  to  liim, 
i.  697,  698 ;  ii.  361.  Men  backward  to 
it,  ii.  366,  357.     Due  to  him,  ii.  459,  460. 

Prayer,  men  impatient  if  God  do  not  an- 
swer it,  i.  162,  163.  We  should  take 
the  most  melting  opportunities  for  secret 
prayer,  i.  275.  Not  unnecessary  because 
of  God's  immutability  and  knowledge,  i. 
348 — 350,  479.  To  creatures  a  wrong 
to  God's  omniscience,  i.  475,  476.  Omis- 
sion of  it  a  practical  denial  of  God's 
knowledge,  i.  481.  It  is  a  comfort  that 
the  most  secret  ones  are  understood  by 
God,  i.  486 — 488.     God's  wisdom  a  com- 


536 


INDEX. 


fort  in  delaying  or  denying  an  answer  to 
them,  i.  593.  For  success  on  wicked  de- 
signs how  sinful,  ii.  175,  176.  God  fit  to 
be  trusted  in  for  an  answer  of  them,  ii 
188,  189.  The  goodness  of  God  in  an- 
swering them,  iL  307 — 309.  His  good- 
ness a  comfort  in  them,  ii.  341,  342. 
God's  dominion  an  encouragement  to,  and 
ground  of  it,  ii.  451,  462,  463. 

Preparation,  we  should  examine  ourselves 
concerning  it  before  worship,  i.  252,  253. 
Consideration  of  God's  knowledge  would 
promote  it,  i.  495,  496.  How  great  a  sin 
to  come  into  God's  presence  without  it, 
ii.  176,  177. 

Presence  of  men  more  regarded  than  God's, 
i.  144.  We  should  seek  for  God's  special 
and  influential  presence,  L  405.  See  Om- 
nipresence. 

Preserve  himself,  no  creature  can,  i.  48,  49  ; 
ii.  46,  47.  God  only  can  the  world,  i.  62, 
63.  The  power  of  God  seen  in  it,  ii.  44 — 
47.  One  foundation  of  God's  dominion, 
ii.  371. 

Presumption  springs  from  vain  imagina- 
tions of  God,  1.  1 67.  A  contempt  of  God's 
dominion,  ii.  440,  441. 

Pride,  how  common,  i.  139.  An  exalting 
ourselves  above  God,  i.  147,  148.  The 
thoughts  of  God's  eternity  should  abate 
it,  i.  303.  An  aftront  to  God's  wisdom,  i. 
592.  Of  our  own  wisdom,  foolish,  i.  600, 
601.  God's  mercies  abused  to  it,  ii.  323. 
A  contempt  of  his  dominion,  ii.  439,  440. 

Principles  better  known  by  actions  than 
words,  i.  92,  93.  Some  kept  up  by  God 
to  facilitate  the  reception  of  the  gospel, 
i.  676,  577. 

Propagation  of  creatures,  the  power  of  God 
seen  in  it,  ii.  47 — 49.  Of  mankind  one 
end  of  God's  patience,  ii.  604. 

Prophesies  prove  the  being  of  God,  i.  76, 
77. 

Promises,  men  break  them  with  God,  i.  116, 
117,  351,  353.  Of  God  shall  be  per- 
formed, i.  300, 301 ;  ii.  99,  100,  516.  We 
should  believe  them,  and  leave  God  to 
his  own  season  of  accomplishing  them,  i. 
499.  Distrust  of  them  a  contempt  of 
God's  wisdom,  i.  593.  The  holiness  of 
God  in  the  performance  of  them  to  be 
observed,  ii.  197,  198. 

Providence  of  God  proved,  i.  393,  394,  469, 
470 ;  ii.  87,  88. — See  Government  of  the 
world.  Especially  to  his  church,  and  the 
meanest  in  it,  i.  406 — 408.  Extends  to 
all  creatures,  ii.  296 — 300.  Distrust  of 
it,  a  contempt  of  God's  goodness,  ii.  319, 
320. 

Punishments. — See  Judgments.  God  al- 
ways just  in  them,  i.  162,  163 ;  ii.  326, 
327.  Of  sinners  eternal,  i.  296,  297. 
The  wisdom  of  God  seen  in  them,  i.  548. 
Necessarily  follow  sins,  ii.  181 — 183.  Do 
not  impeach  God's  goodness,  ii.  236 — 244. 
Not  God's  primary  intention,  iL  240,  241. 


Inflicting  them  a  branch  of  God's  domin- 
ion, ii.  393,  394 ;  necessarily  follow  upon 
it,  ii.  447.     Of  the  wicked  unavoidable 
and  terrible,  ii.  447 — 449. 
Purgatory  held  by  the  Jews,i,  126. 

R. 

Rain,  an  instance  of  God's  wisdom  and 
power,  i.  522. 

Reason  should  not  be  the  measure  of  God's 
revelations,  i.  602,  603. 

Repentance,  how  ascribed  to  God,  i.  341, 
342.  A  reasonable  condition,  i  573. 
The  end  of  God's  patience,  ii.  502 — 504. 
The  consideration  of  God's  patience  would 
make  us  frequent  and  serious  in  the 
practice  of  it,  ii.  517,  518. 

Reprobation  consistent  with  God's  holiness 
and  justice,  ii.  146,  147. 

Reproof  may  be  for  evil  ends,  i.  1 54. 

Reputation,  men  more  concerned  for  their 
own,  than  God's  glory,  i.  140. 

Resignation  of  ourselves  would  flow  from 
consideration  of  God's  wisdom,  i.  604, 
606  ;  should  from  that  of  his  sovereignty, 
ii.  467. 

Restraint  of  men  and  devils  by  God  in 
mercy  to  man,  L  532,  533,  ii.  52 — 54, 154, 
301-,  416—418. 

Resolutions,  good,  how  soon  broken,  i.  351. 

Resurrection  of  the  body  no  incredible  doc- 
trine, i.  471,  472 ,  ii.  90—92.  The  power 
of  God  in  that  of  Christ,  ii.  65.  Of  men, 
ascribed  to  Christ,  iL  84,  86. 

Reverence  necessary  in  the  worship  of  God, 
L  236,  237. 

Revelations  of  God  are  not  to  be  censured, 
L  590,  691. 

Riches,  inordinate  desire  after  them  a  hin- 
drance to  spiritual  worship,  i.  273.  God 
exercises  a  sovereignty  in  bestowing 
them,  iL411.,  412. 

Rivers,  how  useful,  L  622,  523. 

Rome,  why  called  Babylon,  i.  39. 

S. 

Sacraments,  the  goodness  of  God  in  appoint- 
ing them.  ii.  287,  288. 

Salvation  of  men,  how  desirous  God  is  of 
it,  ii.  284—287,  500—602. 

Sanctification  deserves  our  thanks  as  much 
as  justification,  ii.  367,  358. — See  Holi- 
ness. 

Satisfaction  of  the  soul  only  in  God,  i.  74, 
202,  203,  305,  306.  Necessary  for  sin,  ii, 
183,  184. 

Sceptics  must  own  a  First  Cause,  i.  51. 

Scoffing  at  holiness  a  great  sin,  iL  170 ;  and 
at  convictions  in  others,  iL  191,  192. 

Scriptures  are  Avrested  and  abused,  i.  105, 
106,  134,  136.  Ought  to  be  prized  and 
studied,  L  173.  The  not  fulfilling  some 
predictions  in  them,  doth  not  prove  God 
to  be  changeable,  i.  342—345.     Of  the 


INDEX. 


537 


Old  Testament  give  credit  to  the  New ; 
and  of  the  New  illustrate  those  of  the 
Old,  i.  503.  All  truth  to  be  drawn  thence, 
ib.  Of  the  Old  Testament  to  be  studied, 
ib.  Something  in  them  suitable  to  all 
sorts  of  men,  i.  528 — 530.  Written  so 
as  to  prevent  foreseen  corruption?,  i.  530, 
631.  To  study  arguments  from  them  to 
defend  sin,  a  contempt  of  God's  holiness, 
ii.  175.  The  goodness  of  God  in  giving 
them  as  a  rule,  ii.  304,  305. 

Sea,  how  useful,  i.  54,  55.  The  wisdom  of 
God  seen  in  it,  i.  622 ;  and  his  power,  ii, 
7,  45,  46. 

Searching  the  hearts  of  men,  how  to  be  un- 
derstood of  God,  I  427,  428. 

Seasons,  the  variety  of  them  necessary,  i. 
623. 

Secresy,  a  poor  refuge  to  sinners,  i.  491, 
492. 

Secret  sins  cause  stings  of  conscience,  i.  71, 
72,  463  ;  known  to  God,  i.  394,  397,  398, 
490,  491 ;  shall  be  revealed  in  the  day 
of  judgment,  i.  470,  471 ;  prayers  and 
works  known  to  God,  i.  486 — 488. 

Security,  men  abuse  God's  blessings  to  it, 
ii.  323. 

Self,  man  most  opposite  to  those  truths 
that  are  most  contrary  to  it,  i.  107.  Man 
sets  up  as  his  own  rule,  i.  121.  Dissatis- 
fied with  conscience  when  it  contradicts 
its  desires,  i.  123,  124.  Merely  the 
agreeabieness  to  it  the  springs  of  many 
materially  good  actions,  i.  124 — 126,  149 
—154,  240,  241.  Would  make  it  the 
rule  of  God,  i.  127 — 135  ;  and  his  own 
end,  and  the  end  of  all  creatures,  and  of 
God. — See  End.  Applauding  thoughts 
of  it  how  common,  i.  138,  139.  Men 
ascribe  the  glory  of  what  they  have  or 
do  to  it,  i.  139,  140 ;  desire  doctrines 
pleasing  to  it,  ib  ;  highly  concerned  for 
any  injury  done  to  it,  i.  140;  obey  it 
j^ainst  the  light  of  conscience,  i.  140, 
141 ;  how  great  a  sin  this  is,  i.  141,  142. 
The  giving  mercies  pleasing  to  it,  the 
only  cause  of  many  men's  love  to  God,  i. 
149,  150.  Men  unwieldy  to  their  duty 
•where  it  is  not  concerned,  i.  151,  152  • 
how  sinful  this  is,  i.  154, 155.  The  great 
enemy  to  the  gospel  and  conversion,  i. 
165. 

Self-love  threefold,  i.  136.  The  cause  of  all 
sin,  and  hindrance  of  conversion,  i.  135 — 
138. 

Service  of  God,  how  unwilling  men  are  to 
it,  i.  112 — 114;  slight  in  the  perform- 
ance of  it,  i.  1 13, 1 14 ;  show  not  that  natu- 
ral vigor  in  it  as  they  do  in  their  world- 
ly business,  i.  113 — 115  ;  quickly  weary 
of  it,  i.  114,  115  ;  desert  it,  i.  115—117. 
The  presence  of  God  a  comfort  in  it,  i. 
401,  402.  Hypocritical  pretences  for 
avoiding  it,  a  denial  of  God's  knowledge, 
i.  481,  482.     A  sense  of  God's  goodness 


would  make  us  faithful  in  it,  ii.  339 — 341. 
Some  called  to,  and  fitted  for  more  emi- 
nent ones  in  their  generation,  ii.  410 — 
416.  Omissions  of  it  a  contempt  of  God's 
sovereignty,  ii.  441. 

Sin  founded  in  a  secret  atheism  and  self- 
love,  i.  93,  136—138.  Reflects  a  dis- 
honor on  all  the  attributes  of  God,  i.  93, 
94.  Implies  God  is  unworthy  of  a  being, 
ib.  Would  make  him  a  foohsh,  impure 
and  miserable  being,  i.  94,  95.  More 
troublesome  than  holiness,  I  111,  112. 
To  make  it  our  end,  a  great  debasing  of 
God,  i.  144 — 146.  No  excuse,  but  an  ag- 
gravation, that  we  serve  but  one,  i.  145, 
146.  Abstinence  from  it  proceeds  many 
times  from  an  evil  cause,  i.  150,  479,  480. 
God's  name,  word,  and  mercies,  made 
use  of  to  countenance  it,  I  154;  ii.  172, 
173,  321—324,  508,  509.  Spiritual  to 
be  avoided,  i.  203,  204.  It  is  folly,  i. 
295,  296.  Past  ones  we  should  be  hum- 
bled for,  i.  301,  302,  492,  493.  Hath 
brought  a  curse  on  the  creation,  i.  315. — 
See  Creatures.  Past  known  to  God,  i, 
420,  421  ;  all  known  to  him,  and  how,  i. 
427 — 131,  493,  494.  A  sense  of  God's 
knowledge  and  holiness  would  check  it, 
494,  495  ;  ii.  194.  Bounded  by  God,  I  532, 
533.  God  brings  glory  to  himself,  and 
good  to  the  creature  out  of  it,  i.  533 — 
544.  God  hath  shown  the  greatest  ha- 
tred of  it  in  redemption,  i.  567,  568.  A 
contempt  of  God's  power,  ii.  92.  Ab- 
horred by  God,  ii.  118—122,  181,  182. 
In  God's  people  more  severely  punished 
in  this  world  than  in  others,  ii.  120,  121. 
God  cannot  be  the  author  of  it  in  others, 
or  do  it  himself,  ii.  122 — 127.  God  pun- 
ishes it,  and  cannot  but  do  so,  ii.  132, 
133,  182,  183.  The  instruments  of  it 
detestable  to  God,  ii.  183,  134.  Opposite 
to  the  holiness  of  God,  ii.  171,  172.  To 
charge  it  on  God,  or  defend  it  by  his 
word,  a  great  sin,  ii.  174,  175.  Entrance 
of  it  into  the  world  doth  not  impeach 
God's  goodness,  ii.  231,  232.  Those  that 
disturb  societies  most  signally  punished 
in  this  life,  ii.  301,  302.  A  contempt  of 
God's  dominion,  iL  427 — 431.  How  much 
God  is  daily  provoked  by  it,  ii.  497 — 499. 
519,  520.  An  abuse  of  God's  patience,  ii. 
508,  509. 

Sincerity  required  in  spiritual  worship,  i 
225,  226.  Cannot  be  unknown  to  God, 
i.  486.  Consideration  of  God's  know- 
ledge would  promote  it,  i.  496. 

Sinful  times,  in  them  we  should  be  most 
holy,  ii.  198,  199. 

Sinners,  God  hath  shown  the  greatest  love 
to  them,  and  hatred  to  their  sins,  i.  567, 
668.  Everything  in  their  possession  de- 
testable to  God,  ii.  133,  134. 

Society,  the  goodness  of  God  seen  in  the 
preservation  of  it,  ii.  300—302.     Could 


538 


INDEX. 


not  exist  without  restraining  grace. — 
See  Restraint. 

Soul,  the  vastness  of  its  capacity,  and 
quickness  of  its  motion,  i.  67,  68.  Its 
union  to  the  body  wonderful,  i.  69.  God 
only  can  satisfy  it. — See  Satisfaction. 
They  only  can  converse  with  God,  i.  202. 
Should  be  the  objects  of  our  chiefest  cai-e, 
i.  203.  We  should  worship  God  with 
them,  i.  209—211.  The  wisdom  and 
goodness  of  God  seen  in  them,  ii.  49,  247, 
248. 

Spaces,  imaginary  beyond  the  world,  God 
is  present  with,  i.  375 — 377. 

Spirit,  that  God  is  so,  plainly  asserted  but 
once  in  scripture,  1.  180.  Various  ac- 
ceptations of  the  word,  i.  181,  182.  That 
God  is  so,  how  to  be  understood,  ib. 
God  the  only  pure  one,  i.  182,  183. 
Arguments  to  prove  God  is  one,  i.  183 — 
188.  Objection  against  it  answered,  i. 
188—190. 

Spirit  of  God,  his  assistance  necessary  to 
spiritual  worship,  i.  224,  225. 

Spirits  of  men  raised  up,  and  ordered  by 
God  as  he  pleases,  ii.  415,  416. 

Subjection,  to  our  superiors,  God  remits  of 
his  own  right  for  preservuig  it,  ii.  301, 
302. 

Success,  men  apt  to  ascribe  to  themselves, 
i.  139.  Not  to  be  ascribed  to  ourselves, 
ii.  324,  325.  Denied  by  God  to  some,  ii. 
411,  412. 

Summer,  how  necessary,  i.  523. 

Sun,  conveniently  placed,  i.  53.  Its  motion 
useful,  i.  53,  57.  The  power  of  God  seen 
in  it,  i.  195,  196. 

Supper,  Lord's,  the  goodness  of  God  in  ap- 
pointing it,  ii.  287,  288.  Seals  the  cove- 
nant of  grace,  ii.  288,  289.  In  it  we 
have  union  and  communion  with  Christ, 
ii.  289—291.  The  neglect  of  it  reproved, 
ii.  291. 

Supererogation,  an  opinion  that  injures  the 
holiness  of  God,  ii.  179,  180. 

Superstition  proceeds  from  vain  imagina- 
tions of  God,  i.  156, 157. 

Swearing  by  any  creature,  an  injury  to 
God's  omniscience,  i.  477,  478. 


Temptati*)is,  the  presence  of  God  a  comfort 
in  them,  i.  399  ;  the  thoughts  of  it  would 
be  a  shield  against  tiiem,  i.  403.  The 
wisdom  and  power  of  God  a  comfort  un- 
der them,  i.  594;  ii.  99.  The  goodness 
manifested  to  his  people  under  them,  ii. 
311—313.  The  thoughts  of  God's  sov- 
eignty  would  arm  and  make  us  watchful 
against  them,  ii.  456. 

Thankfulness,  a  necessary  ingredient  in 
spiritual  worship,  i.  233,  234.  Due  to 
God,  ii.  351,  352,  460,  518—522  ;  a  sense 
of  his  goodness  would  promote  it,  i.  351, 


Theft,  an  invasion  of  God's  dominion,  ii. 
435. 

Thoughts  should  be  often  upon  God,  i.  87, 
88  ;  seldom  are  on  him,  i.  143,  159,  160. 
All  known  by  God  only,  i.  424 — 427 ; 
and  by  Christ,  i.  467 — 469.  Cherishing 
evil  ones  a  practical  denial  of  God's  know- 
ledge, i.  482,  483.  Thoughts  of  God's 
knowledge  would  make  us  watchful  over 
them,  i.  495. 

Tlireatenings,  the  not  fulfilling  them  some- 
times, argue  no  change  in  God,  i.  342 — 
345.  Are  conditional,  ib.  The  goodness 
of  God  in  them,  ii.  255.  Go  before 
judgments. — See  Judgments. 

Time  cannot  be  infinite,  i.  44,  45. 

Times  of  bestowing  mercy,  God  orders  as 
a  sovereign,  ii.  412,  413. 

Tongue,  how  curious  a  workmanship  i.  66. 

Traditions,  old  ones  generally  lost,  i.  37, 
38.  Belief  of  a  God  not  owing  merely 
to  them,  ib. 

Transubstantiation  an  absurd  doctrine,  ii. 
95. 

Trees,  how  useful,  i.  54,  523. 

Trust  in  themselves,  men  do,  and  not  in 
God,  i.  150.  We  should  not  in  the  world, 
i.  304—307,  857,  358.  God  the  fit  ob- 
ject of  it,  i.  484,  485,  569,  570,  583  ;  ii. 
103,  104,  188,  335—337,462,463;  means 
to  promote  it,  i.  497  ;  ii.  454,  455.  Should 
not  in  our  own  wisdom,  i.  600,  601.  In 
ourselves,  a  contempt  of  God's  power 
and  dominion,  ii.  94,  95,  486,  437.  God's 
power  the  main  ground  of  trusting  him, 
ii.  104,  105  ;  and  sometimes  the  only  one, 
ii.  105,  106.  Should  be  placed  in  God 
against  outward  appearances,  ii.  198. 
Goodness  the  first  motive  of  it,  ii.  386. 
More  foundations  of  it,  and  motives  to  it 
under  the  gospel  than  under  the  law,  il 
337.  Gives  God  the  glory  of  his  good- 
ness, ii.  337,  338.  God's  patience  to  the 
wicked,  a  ground  for  the  righteous  to 
trust  in  his  promise,  ii.  516. 

Truths  of  God  most  contrary  to  self,  man 
most  opposite  to ;  and  to  those  that  are 
most  holy,  spiritual,  lead  most  to  God, 
and  relate  most  to  him,  i.  107.  Men  in- 
constant in  the  belief  of  them,  i.  350,  351. 

U. 

Ubiquity  of  Christ's  human  nature  con- 
futed, i.  378. 

Venial  sins,  an  opinion  that  reproaches 
God's  holiness,  ii.  179. 

Virtue  and  vice  not  arbitrary  things  i.  93, 
94. 

Unbelief,  the  reason  of  it,  i.  165.  A  con- 
tempt of  Divine  power,  ii.  95  ;  and  good- 
ness, ii.  819. 

Union  of  soul  and  body  an  effect  of  Al- 
mighty power,  i.  69- 

Union  of  two  natures  in  Christ,  made  no 


INDEX. 


539 


change  in  his  Divine  nature,  i.  339,  340. 
Shows  the  wisdom  of  God,  i.  552 — 568. 
How  necessary  for  us,  i.  563 — 566.  Shows 
the  power  of  God,  ii.  62.  Explained,  ii. 
62,  63. — See  Incarnation, 
Usurpations  of  men  an  invasion  of  God's 
sovereignty,  ii.  430,  431. 

"W. 

Water,  an  excellent  creature,  ii.  224. 

Weakness,  sensibleness  of  a  necessary  in- 
gredient in  spiritual  worship,  i.  232. 

Will  of  God  cannot  be  defeated,  i.  95,  96. 
Man  averse  to  it. — See  Man.  The  same 
with  his  essence,  i.  325,  326.  Always 
accompanied  with  his  understanding,  i. 
326.  Unchangeable,  i.  326—328.  The 
unchangeableness  of  it  doth  not  make 
things  willed  by  him  so,  i.  327,  328. 
Free,  ib.  How  concurrent  about  sin,  ii. 
147,  148. 

Will  of  man  not  necessitated  by  God's  fore- 
knowledge, i.  446 — 451 ;  subject  to  God, 
ii.  385,  386. 

Winds,  how  useful,  i.  522. 

Winter,  how  useful,  i.  523. 

Wisdom,  an  attribute  of  God,  L  507.  What 
it  is,  and  wherein  it  consists,  ib.  Distinct 
from  knowledge,  i.  508.  Essential,  which 
is  the  same  with  his  essence ;  and  per- 
sonal, ib.  In  what  sense  God  is  only 
wise,  i.  509 — 514.  Proved  to  be  in  God, 
i.  515 — 518.  Appears  in  creation,  i. 
518 — 525.  In  the  govei-nment  of  man 
as  rational,  i.  525 — 532 ;  as  fallen  and 
sinful,  i.  532 — 544  ;  as  restored,  i.  544 — 
552.  In  redemption,  i.  552 — 571.  In 
the  condition  of  the  covenant  of  grace,  i. 
571 — 574.  In  the  propagation  of  the 
gospel,  i.  574 — 580.  Asc  ibed  to  Christ, 
i.  580.  Renders  God  fit  to  govern  the 
world,  and  inclines  him  actually  to  gov- 
ern it,  L  5S0 — 582.  A  ground  of  his 
patience  and  immutability  in  his  de- 
crees, i.  582,  583.  Makes  him  a  fit  object 
of  our  trust,  i.  583.  Infers  a  day  of 
judgment,  i.  583,  584.  Calls  for  a  vene- 
ration of  him,  i.  584.  A  ground  of 
prayer  to  him,  i.  585.  Prodigiously 
contemned,  and  wherein,  i.  585 — 593. 
Comfortable  to  the  righteous,  i.  593 — 595. 
In  creation  and  government  should  be 
meditated  on,  and  motives  to  it,  i.  595 — 
598.  In  redemption  to  be  studied  and 
admired,  i.  598—600.  To  be  submitted 
to  in  his  revelations,  precepts,  provi- 
dences, i.  602 — 605.  Not  to  be  censured 
in  any  of  his  ways,  i.  605,  606. 

Wisdom,  no  man  should  be  proud  of,  or 
trust  in,  i.  600,  601.  Should  be  sought 
from  God,  i.  601,  602. 

World  was  not,  and  could  not  be  from 
eternity,  i.  44 — 46,  Could  not  make  it- 
self, L  47 — 49.    No  creature  could  make 


it,  I  49,  50.  Its  harmony,  i.  52—60. 
Greedily  pursued  by  men,  i.  143,  144. 
Inordinate  desires  after  it  a  great  hin- 
drance to  spiritual  worship,  i.  273.  Our 
love  and  confidence  not  to  be  placed  in 
it,  i.  304,  315,  316.  Shall  not  be  annihi- 
lated, but  refined,  i.  311 — 314. — See 
Creatures.  We  should  be  sensible  of 
the  inconstancy  of  all  things  in  it,  i.  356, 
357  ;  our  thoughts  should  not  dwell 
much  on  them,  L  357 ;  we  should  not 
trust  or  rejoice  in  them,  i.  357,  358. 
Not  to  be  preferred  before  God,  i.  358, 
359.  Made  in  the  best  manner,  ii.  24,  25. 
Made  and  richly  furnished  for  man,  ii. 
249 — 251.  A  sense  of  God's  goodness 
would  lift  us  up  above  it,  ii.  351. 
Worship  of  God,  a  folly  to  neglect  it,  i.  87, 
88.  If  not  according  to  his  rule,  no  bet- 
ter than  a  worshipping  the  devil,  i.  118, 
119.  Men  prone  to  corrupt  it  with  their 
own  rites  and  inventions,  i.  133,  134. 
Spiritual,  men  naturally  have  no  heart 
to,  i.  160.  Cannot  be  right  without  a 
true  notion  of  God,  i.  198.  Should  be 
spiritual,  and  spiritually  performed,  i. 
205,  206.  God's  spirituality  the  rule, 
though  his  attributes  be  the  foundation 
of  it,  i.  206—208  ;  ii.  88—90.  Spiritual, 
to  be  due  to  him,  manifest  by  the  light 
of  nature,  though  not  the  outward  means 
and  matter  of  an  acceptable  worship  dis- 
coverable by  it,  i.  208—211.  Spiritual, 
owned  to  be  due  to  God  by  heathens,  i. 
209,  210.  Always  required  by  God,  i. 
211,  212.  Men  as  much  obliged  to  it  as 
to  worship  him  at  all,  i.  212,  213.  Cere- 
monial law  abolished  to  promote  it,  i. 
213 — 219.  Legal  ceremonies  did  not 
promote,  but  rather  hinder  it,  i.  214 — 
216.  By  them  God  was  never  well- 
pleased  with,  nor  intended  it  should  be 
durable,  i.  216 — 219.  Under  the  gospel 
it  is  more  spiritual  than  under  the  law, 
i.  219.  Yet  doth  not  exclude  bodily 
worship,  i.  219 — 222.  In  societies,  due 
to  God,  i.  221.  Spiritual,  what  it  is,  and 
wherein  it  consists,  i.  222 — 242.  Due  to 
God,  proved,  i.  242—249.  Those  re- 
proved that  render  him  none  at  all,  i. 

249.  A  duty  incumbent  on  all,  i.  249, 

250.  Wholly  to  neglect  it  a  great  de- 
gree of  atheism,  i.  250.  To  a  false  God, 
or  in  a  false  manner,  better  than  a  total 
neglect  of  it,  i.  250,  251.  Outward,  not 
to  be  rested  in,  i.  251,  252.  We  should 
examine  ourselves  of  the  manner  of  it, 
and  in  what  particulars,  i.  252 — 256. 
Spiritual,  it  is  a  comfort  that  God  re- 
quires it,  i.  256.  Not  to  give  it  to  God, 
is  to  affront  all  his  attributes,  i.  263 — 
271,  481.  To  give  it  him,  and  not  that 
of  our  spirits,  is  a  bad  sign,  i  268,  269. 
Merely  carnal,  uncomfortable,  unaccept- 
able, abominable,  i.  269 — 271.  Directions 


640 


INDEX. 


for  spiritual,  i.  271 — 2'75.  Immutability 
of  God,  a  ground  of  worship,  and  en- 
couragement to  it,  i.  348 — 360.  Bring- 
ing human  inventions  into  it  an  affront 
to  God's  wisdom,  i.  587 — 589. — See  Cere- 
monies. A  strong  sense  of  God's  holi- 
ness would  make  us  reverent  in  it,  ii. 
194.  We  should  carry  it  holily  in  it,  ii. 
207.  Ingenuous,  would  be  promoted  by 
a  sense  of  God's  goodness,  ii.  348.  Slight 
and  careless,  a  contempt  of  God's  sover- 
eignty, ii.  440,  441 ;  and  so  is  omission 


of  it,  ii.  441.  Thoughts  of  God's  sover- 
eignty would  make  us  diligent  in  it,  ii. 
455,  456. 

Worship  of  creatures  is  idolatry,  i.  194 — 
196.  Not- countenanced  by  God's  omni- 
presence, i.  390,  391. 

Wrong,  God  can  do  none,  i.  I7l,  iL  442, 443. 


Zeal,  sometimes  a  base  end  in  it,  L  154. 


A  TABLE 


PLACES  OF  SCEIPTURE  EXPLAINED  IN  THIS  BOOK. 


GENESIS. 


Chap. 

I. 

i. 

ii. 

ii. 

iii. 

iii. 

iv. 

yi. 

xviil 

xxii. 

xxxii. 

xlvL 

xlviL 


111. 
iii. 
ir. 
vi. 
ix. 

XT. 

xxxii. 
xxxiii. 
xxxir. 


Ver, 


XXXII. 

xxxir. 


VIU. 

viii. 


xz. 

XX. 


1 

26 

1 
It 

8 
15 
26 

6 
19 
12 
30 

4 
31 


11 
14 
24 

3 
16 
11 
10 
19 

9 


Vol. 


EXODUS, 


Page 
519,  ii.    36 
42 
64,  ii.  249 
483 
493 
61 

221,  iL  489 
343 
427 
ib. 
Ill 
310 
222 


482 
2S7 
490 
36 
55 
108 
241 
219 
497 


NUMBERS. 
14      .        .        .       i. 


33,  84 
10      . 


1  KINGS. 


27 
39 


2  KINGS 


3      . 

1,  4,  5       . 

2  CHRONICLES. 
15      .        .        .       i. 


DEUTERONOMY. 


190 


445 
185 


375 

467 


112 
342,  344 


118 


JOB. 


Chap. 

Ver 

Vol. 

Page 

iv. 

18 

ii. 

117 

ix. 

21 

i. 

473 

xii. 

18 

ii. 

415 

xiv. 

5 

i. 

435 

xiv. 

17 

i. 

420 

xvi. 

19 

i. 

486 

xxii. 

14 

ii. 

383 

xxiv. 

12       . 

ii. 

478 

xxvi. 

5—14 

ii. 

.     5—10 

xxxi. 

26—28 

i. 

146 

xxxiv. 

21       . 

i. 

423 

xxxviii. 

7      . 

ii. 

258 

PSALMS. 

Psalm 

L 

4      .        .        .       i. 

353 

ii. 

4 

i. 

385 

viii. 

4 

ii. 

520 

X. 

11,13 

i. 

23 

xir. 

1 

ib. 

xvL 

2 

ii. 

423 

xix. 

1—4 

il 

500 

xix. 

4 

i. 

520 

xix. 

9 

ii. 

130 

xix. 

12 

i. 

427 

xxii 

2—4 

ii. 

198 

xxvi. 

8 

i. 

386 

xxvii. 

4 

il 

113 

XXV  ii. 

10 

i. 

400 

xxix. 

10 

iL 

393 

xxxii. 

1,2 

L 

480 

1. 

21 

ii. 

478,  480 

1. 

23 

i. 

480 

Ii. 

4 

i. 

449 

Ii. 

6      . 

i. 

566 

Iviii. 

3 

i 

90 

Iviii. 

4 

i. 

91 

Iviii. 

10 

ii. 

242 

Ixii. 

11 

ii. 

10 

Ixix. 

19 

i. 

483 

Ixxiv. 

14 

i. 

694 

Ixxvi. 

12 

ii. 

452 

Ixxviii. 

36 

i. 

481 

Ixxviii. 

38 

ii      . 

494 

xc. 

1       . 

L     . 

276 

542 


PLACES   OF  SCRIPTURE  EXPLAINED. 


Psalm 

Ver. 

Vol. 

Page 

xc. 

2      . 

L 

277.  278 

xc. 

8      . 

i. 

470 

cil 

25—27 

i.     310—314 

eii. 

3—28 

i. 

347,  348 

ciii. 

5      . 

ii. 

358 

ciiL 

14 

i. 

489 

ciil 

19 

ii. 

358,  359 

civ. 

2 

i. 

42 

civ. 

31 

i. 

315 

cv. 

25 

ii. 

163 

cvi. 

19 

i. 

195 

cxi. 

20 

L 

41 

cxiii. 

5 

i. 

385 

cxxx. 

4 

i. 

206 

cxxxix. 

2 

i. 

445 

cxxxix. 

"7-9 

i. 

372 

cxxxix. 

16,  16 

i. 

64 

cxxxix. 

16 

i. 

435 

cxxxix. 

23,  24 

i. 

490 

exlv. 

17 

ii. 

218 

cxlvii. 

1—3 

i. 

406,  407 

cxlviL 

4 

i.  40 

7 ;  ii.  382 

cxlvii. 

5 

i. 

408 

PROVERI 

JS. 

viii. 

12      . 

i. 

518 

viiL 

22       . 

i.29' 

t;ii.423 

viii. 

30       . 

i. 

415 

iz. 

10       . 

i. 

41 

XV. 

11       .         .        . 

i. 

425 

xvL 

4      . 

. 

ii. 

155 

XXIX. 

xxxiv. 

xxxviii. 

xl. 

xU. 

xliiL 

xlv. 

xlv. 

xlviiL 

lii. 

liv. 

Ixvi. 


VI. 

vii. 
xii. 

XV. 

xvi. 
xxi. 
xxiii. 
t:xxiL 


a 


ECCLESIASTES. 
11      .       .       .       L 

ISALA.H. 
10,  11,  14 

2 

6 
15 

4 

1,  5 
15,  17 
21,  22 
20,  21 

5  .  .  .  il 
11  .  .  .  ii. 
10      .        .        .      ii. 

4,  5 
16 

1 

JEREMIAH. 
21 
21 
9 

15 
17 

35,  36 
16—24       .        .        i 
31       ;        .        .      ii. 

LAMENTATIONS. 
33      .        .        .      ii. 


90 


217 
60 
465 
483 
312 
342 
379 
431 
115 
416 
449 
310 
ib. 
518 
377 


162 
217 
352 
474 
427 
313 
363—366 
488 


492 


EZEKIEL. 

Chap. 

Ver.                    Vol 

Page 

IV. 

6 

11. 

492 

viu. 

2 

11. 

114 

IX. 

10 

11. 

493 

XI. 

16 

11. 

310 

XVlll. 

25 

u. 

475 

XX. 

33      . 

u. 
DANIEL. 

452 

VIU. 

xiv. 


111. 
iii. 


197 


HOSEA. 


1. 

5 

11. 

2,3 

u. 

16 

u. 

19 

V. 

6 

V. 

12 

VI. 

4 

VI. 

1 

Vll. 

3 

Vll. 

15 

Vlll. 

12 

X. 

15 

XI. 

10 

XI. 

8 

XIU. 

12,13 

XIV. 

2 

11. 

510 

11. 
i. 

494, 

507 
230 

u. 

449 

lU 

134 

11. 

494 

11. 

ib. 

u. 

427 

1. 

121 

11. 

324 

L 

100 

1. 

194 

1. 

236 

11. 

493 

i.494; 

ii.503 

523 

I. 

283 

JOEL. 


u. 


494 


AMOS. 
6      .        .        .       i.      .145,146 
2       .        .         .       i      .        418 

JONAH. 
4,10.        .        .       L      .        342 

MICAH. 

2  .        .        .       I      .        294 

NAHUM. 

1, 2  .        .      ii.      472,  473 

3  .        .        .      ii.    473—477 

HABAKKUK. 
16      .        .        .       i.      .        144 

ZEPHANIAH. 
1,  2  .        .        .      ii.      .        489 

ZECHARIAH. 

1      .        .        .       i.      .        325 

3      .         .         .       L      .         386 

16      .         .        .       i.      .         234 

MALACHL 

31,  14        .        .  i.  .  113 

5  .        .        .  i.  .  471 

6  .        .        .  ii.  .  497 


PLACES   OF  SCRIPTURE  EXPLAINED. 


MATTHEW. 

Chap. 

Ver.         VoL 

Page 

1. 

18   .   .   .   ii. 

60 

lU. 

9   .   .   .   ii. 

13 

V. 

48   .   .   ,   ii. 

478,  523 

VII. 

11   .   .   .   ii. 

188 

VlL 

23   .   .   .   i. 

413 

XV. 

6   .   .   .   i. 

110 

XVUl. 

10   .    .    .   i. 

414 

XXV. 

12   .    .    .1. 

413 

L 

iv. 

iv. 

v. 

vi. 

vii. 

ix. 

X. 

xii. 
xiL 
xvii. 


Vll. 

xvii. 
XV  iL 
xvii. 


L 

i. 

i. 

i. 

ii. 

iii. 

iii. 

V. 

viL 

vii. 

viii. 

viii. 

viii. 

viii. 

ix. 

ix. 

ix. 

X. 

xii. 

XV. 

xvL 


MARK. 
18       ,        .        .      ii.     209—211 


LUKE. 


35 
20 


59 
355 


JOHN. 


3       . 

10—24 
24  . 
19  . 
64      . 

37  . 
3       . 

30      . 

38  . 
39,  41. 

5       . 


ii.  .           83 

i.  176—178 
i.  177—179,  205 

ii.  .           81 

i.  .         468 

i.  .         234 

ii.  .         376 

i.  .         393 

i.  .         449 

ii.  .         186 

i.  293,  340 


ACTS. 


51 
18 
28 
30 


103 
66 

367,  373 
487 


ROMANS. 


19—21     L  27,  2 

23 

25 

4 

9—12 
23 

7 

6 


4 
10 
21 
38,  39 
38,  39 

6 
22 
18 

1 

6 
25—27 


11. 


1.  .  225 
,  42,  519  ;  ii.  216 
386 

80 
502 

90 
180 
219 
214 
102 
666 
484 
313 
609 
395 
214 
482,  507 
601 
220 
615 
498—507 


1  CORINTHIANS. 
21      .        .        .       L 


618 


Chap. 


ui. 
iv. 


Ver. 

2  . 
10,  11 
20,  21 


Vol. 


2  CORINTHIANS. 


18 


GALATIANS. 


EPHESIANS. 


10 
18 

3 

12 
10 

6 


PHILIPPIANS. 


COLOSSIANS. 


16 

20 

3 


10 
19 


16 


2  TIMOTHY. 


TITUS. 


HEBREWS. 


1,  2,  10,  11 


1. 
iv. 

9 
12 

XI. 

3 

XI. 

6 

XI. 

16 

XI. 

21 

JAMES. 


10,  11.        .        .       i. 
15      .        ,        .       i. 


2  PETER. 


1 
5      . 

9      . 
12,  13. 


10       . 
18,  19,  22 
10      . 
14      . 


543 

Page 
427 
414 
118 


652 


214 


262 
654 
166 
158 
553 
370 


122 


82 
262 
580 


277 
355 


i.   .  25,  92 


i.  347;  ii.  82 
ii.  .  136 
i.  .  424 
ii.  104 
27 
277 
222 


i.  44 


REVELATION. 


108 
91 


482 
489 
488 
312 


270 
484 
497 
312 


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285  BROADWAY,  New  York,  Sept.  1,  1852.  \ 

EGBERT  CARTER  &  BROTHERS  \ 

HAVE    JUST    ISSUED  \ 

) 

DISCOURSES  AND  SAYINGS  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST,  ? 

Illustrated  in  a  Series  of  Expositions.     By  John  Bkown,  D.D.,  nuthor  of  the  "  Exposition  ? 

of  First  Peter."     3  vols.  8vo.     Printed  on  tine  linen  paper.     '^Q  00.  i 

"  Here  we  have  sacred  herineneutics  developed     pretalion  ia  given,  it  is  set  forth  with  so  much  clear  - 
nd  applied  ill  a  manner  the  most  satisfactory.     No 
difficulty  of  any  importance   Is  evaded,  and  some 
portion  of  light  is  thrown  upon  all.    Where  SL'veral 

conflicting  opinions  of  the  learned  are  detailed,  his    Brown  is  unrivalled  among  British  divines.  *  *  *  ^ 

discrimination  is  admirable;  wlien  his  own  inter-    The  volumes  are  beautifully  printed." — Kiito.  ^ 


and  applied  in  a  manner  the  most  satisfactory.  No  iiess,  and  appears  so  reasonable,  that  the  reader  will  S 
difficulty  of  any  importance  is  evaded,  and  some  seldom  feel  disposed  to  withhold  his  assent.  As  an  > 
portion  of  light  is  thrown  upon  all.    Where  SL'veral    able  expositor — clear,  candid,  comprehensive— Dr.  S 


ANNOTATIONS  UPON  THE  HOLY  BIBLE,  ■ 

Wherein  tlie  Sacred  Text  is  inserted,  and  various  readings  annexed;  together  with  the  ) 
parallel  Scriptures.  The  more  ditScult  terms  are  explained ;  seeming  contradictions  ? 
reconciled;  doubts  resolved,  and  the  whole  text  opened.  By  Matthew  Poole.  ^ 
3  vols,  imperial  8vo.,  printed  on  fine  linen  paper.     In  cloth,  $         ;  in  sheep,  $  ;  ') 

in  half  calf,  $         .  <> 

Of  the  esteem  in  which  thesi;  "  Annotations"  were  amongst  his  "  Hints  to  Christian  Students,"  recom-  ^ 

held  we  have  an  e.xample  in  the  fact  that  Philip  mended    it    as  "judicious   and    full."     The   Rev.  ', 

Henry  bequi'athed  a  copy  to  each  of  his  four  daugh-  Thomas  Hartwell  Home,  in  his  '■  Inlroduclion  to  the  C 

ters  ;  and  a  still  more  significant  tribute  was  paid  by  Critical  Study  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,"  remarks —  C 

his  son,  who,  assuming  that  they  were  already  in  "The  Annotations  are  mingled  with  the  text,  and  \ 

the  hands  of  his  readers,  in   his  own   Exposition  are  allowed   to   be  very  judicious;   and   he  who  t 

passed  briefly  over  many  matters  there  largely  dis-  wishes   to   understand   the  Scriptures  will   rarely  c 

cussed.    The  late  Rev.  Richard  Cecil  said,  "  If  we  consult  them  without  advantage.    (This)   the  im-  C 

must  have  commentators,  as  we   certainly  must,  perial  8vo.  editiiin  is  very  beautifully  and  correctly  ' 

Poole  is  incomparable,  and  I  had  almost  said,  ahun-  printed."                                                                          c 

dant  of   himself;"   and   the  Rev.   E.  Bickersteth,  ? 

THE  REVELATION  OF  ST.  JOHN.  ^ 

Expounded  for  those  who  Search  the  Scriptures.     By  E.  W.  Hengstenbeeg,  of  Berlin.  S 
Translated  by  P.\tiuck  Fairbairn.     Complete  in  2  vols.  8vo.  $3  50.  / 

"This  is  the  production  of  one  of  the  most  ac-  portion  of  the  inspired  volume,  he  employs  less  of  C 
C(miplished  biblical  scholars  and  eminent  theolo-  learning  than  of  common  sense,  or  rather,  it  is  <^ 
gians  which  Germany  has  produced  during  the  learning  so  guided  and  controlled  by  common  sense,  <^ 
present  age.  He  belongs  to  the  evangelical,  in  op-  and  withal  so  shorn  of  technicalities  beyond  what  is  i, 
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